Best Bet 1: Auckland -2.0 (vs Waikato) @ $1.91 – William Hill

Best Bet 2: Ireland +5.5 (vs England) @ $1.93 – Sportsbet

Best Bet 3: Australia -45.5 (vs USA) @ $1.90 – Sportsbet

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England ($1.40) vs Ireland ($2.97)

On Saturday night, England will host this year’s RBS 6 Nations Champions, Ireland in what promises to be a cracking Rugby World Cup dress rehearsal at the home of this year’s Final, Twickenham. England return home after coming off a disappointing 20 – 25 loss in Paris two weeks ago, however, the score line did flatter the visitors with the French dominating the match for the first 70 minutes, only to let in two consolation tries. Ireland are also coming off their first loss of their International season, having gone down by 10 – 16 in a thriller in Dublin last weekend to Wales. Looking at the history between these two proud rugby nations, Ireland won the only clash this year 19 – 9 at their beloved Aviva Stadium, however, that snapped a four game streak that England were on over the men in green.

England team:

Joe Marler, Tom Youngs, Dan Cole, Courtney Lawes, Geoff Parling, Tom Wood, Chris Robshaw (Captain), Ben Morgan, Ben Youngs, George Ford, Jonny May, Brad Barritt, Jonathan Joseph, Anthony Watson, Mike Brown
Reserves: Jamie George, Mako Vunipola, Kieron George, Joe Launchbury, Billy Vunipola, Richard Wigglesworth, Owen Farrell, Sam Burgess

Ireland Team:

Jack McGrath, Rory Best, Mike Ross, Devin Toner, Paul O’Connell (Captain), Peter O’Mahoney, Sean O’Brien, Jamie Heaslip, Conor Murray, Jonathan Sexton, Dave Kearney, Robbie Henshaw, Jared Payne, Tommy Bowe, Simon Zebo

Reserves: Richardt Strauss, Tadhg Furlong, Nathan White, Donnacha Ryan, Chris Henry, Eoin Reddan, Ian Madigan, Darren Cave

Prediction:

This is a really tough match to call given that both teams are coming off losses and considering both teams are favourites to win their pool, heading into the Rugby World Cup on a losing streak wouldn’t really instil a lot of confidence in players, coaches and fans alike. England have home field advantage and we all know that their crowd is unforgiving, especially when they are in full voice singing ‘Swing Low’. England have won three of their last four home matches against Ireland, however, Ireland did win the all important clash in Dublin earlier this year, which propelled them to their second successive RBS 6 Nations title. England haven’t jumped out of second gear so far this campaign and it is getting to the point where they need to put in a performance that makes their rivals take notice. It simply has to come this weekend or I can see their own media might start turning on the team, much like what happened to England in the Cricket World Cup this year. There are a lot of unknowns about this current England team and a the spotlight will be on a number of players including Captain Chris Robshaw, flyhalf George Ford, and inside-centre Brad Barritt. The tight five will also come up against some stiff opposition and given the way their scrum went backwards in Paris, Ireland will be licking their lips.

When Ireland play well, their pack is dominant, flanker Sean O’Brien controls the breakdown and the rest is left to Conor Murray and Jonny Sexton to play field position and kick penalties. In saying that, they don’t play a lot of rugby, something that Welsh Coach Warren Gatland eluded to in the post-match conference last week. They have a great kicking game with chasers that are adept under the high ball, but you wouldn’t say they are innovative in terms of running lines and intricate passing. This is a really difficult match to call given all the unknowns that surround this match. Put simply, England need to beat Ireland to restore belief in themselves. On their day, they can match it with all of the top teams, however, it is hard to forget what Ireland has achieved over the past two months and as a result, I will be taking the visitors with the points.

Predicted result: Too close to call- take the handicap

Best Bet 2: Ireland +5.5 @ $1.93 – Sportsbet

USA ($17.00) vs Australia ($1.01)

The United States of America Eagles will clash with this year’s Rugby Championship winners, the Qantas Wallabies in an historic matchup at Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois on Sunday morning (Australian time). With the match being broadcasted live on NBC in primetime, it speaks volumes of the growing popularity of rugby in the United States and it is the first time these two will play on American soil since 1976, a match in which the Wallabies won 24 – 12 in Berkeley, California. Prior to that, they always played in 1912. Since then, the Wallabies have won six matches, two of those which were during the 1999 and 2011 Rugby World Cups, all by convincing margins.

USA team:

Eric Fry, Scott Fenoglio, Titi Lamositele, Cameron Dolan, Greg Paterson, Al McFarland, Andrew Durutalo, Samu Manoa, Mike Petri, AJ MacGinty, Chris Wyles (Captain), Thretton Palamo, Seamus Kelly, Tajudzwa Ngwenya, Blaine Scully

Reserves: Phil Thiel, Olive Kilifi, Chris Baumann, Louis Stanfill, John Quill, Danny Barett, Shalom Suniola, Folau Niua

Australia Team:

James Slipper, Tatafu Polota-Nau, Greg Holmes, Kane Douglas, Rob Simmons, Ben McCalman, Sean McMahon, Wycliff Palu, Nick Phipps, Bernard Foley, Rob Horne, Matt Giteau, Henry Speight, Joe Tomane, Kurtley Beale

Reserves: James Hanson, Scott Sio, Toby Smith, Dean Mumm, Sam Carter, Will Genia, Quade Cooper,  Taqele Naiyaravoro

Prediction:

United States Coach Mike Tolkin has selected what some would say as a mixed Eagles side to face the Wallabies this weekend. Ten players currently ply their trade in Europe, which is an increase of seven from last year’s match day 23 against the All Blacks. Some players to watch out for include Samu Manoa, who will be playing for Toulon next year as a rampaging lock/number eight, Thretton Palamo who is a physical inside-centre and the outside backs combination of Wyles, Ngwenya and Scully who all have a lot of pace.  Another player to watch out for is Olive Kilifi, who is a massive unit as a front row replacement and Danny Barrett, who is a solid number eight that has made a name for himself in the Sevens game.

Although Michael Cheika and the Wallabies have essentially selected their ‘B’ team for this match, it would take a brave punter to bet against them given their rich history and their consistency near the top of world rugby this season. The Eagles lost their most recent fixture to Aviva Premiership (UK) side the Harlequins 19 – 24 on Saturday evening in Pennsylvania. Adding to that, Harlequins were also without a number of their stars who are currently on Rugby World Cup duty. The Wallabies would’ve watched footage of this match and they will know that the home team has poor driving maul defense, so expect either Sean McMahon or Tatafu Polota-Nau to get on the scoreboard via this method. It will be another huge day for the game of rugby union in North America, piggybacking on last year’s success with the All Blacks. The Wallabies have been in camp since the culmination of the Rugby Championship and will be raring to go in Chicago, with a number of players still looking to work their way into the starting 15 for Michael Cheika’s opening Rugby World Cup fixture. Although the Wallabies might not fire on all cylinders due to a lack of combinations and potentially some jet lag, they will still cruise to an easy win and adopt some new fans ahead of the World Cup in the process.

Predicted result: Australia to win by a half century @ $1.01 – Sportsbet

Best Bet 3: Australia -45.5 @ $1.90 – Sportsbet