Peter Ryan – @PeterRyanSports
This weekend’s rugby match between Ireland and New Zealand kicks off at the Aviva Stadium on Friday night.
It’s always fun to see these two juggernauts out on the field.
Ireland will be seeking revenge for the 2023 World Cup where the All Blacks sent them away in France. New Zealand came to Dublin with a point to prove after a narrow win at Twickenham. The game could have been won by a much bigger margin.
Both are sensational aspects and look like close games. The contest also has some great betting options.
Ireland
Ireland are currently heading into the fall as the No. 1 team in the world.
The reigning Six Nations champions will look to cement their place at the top with a strong autumn. They will begin their campaign against New Zealand with meetings against Argentina, Fiji and Australia.
They are a very stable team and there is great chemistry within the Irish camp. The team will embark on a competitive summer tour of South Africa, where they demolished the Springboks in the second game of the series.
As mentioned earlier, Ireland will be looking for revenge at the 2023 World Cup. Back in Ireland, many expected Ireland to win the tournament, but New Zealand narrowly won and qualified for the finals.
This team is relatively unchanged from the team that competed in that exciting quarter-final. Of course, Jonathan Sexton has since bid farewell to rugby, but Munster’s Jack Crowley has made a smooth transition to the international stage.
The Ireland side is loaded with talent and the likes of James Lowe, Hugo Keenan and Bundee Aki are all set to start. Ireland are a versatile team, as evidenced by their statistics from their last five games.
Andy Farrell’s side averaged over 20 points per game and gave up 20 points. Ireland will look to have a great start to the autumn season and perform with confidence in front of their home crowd.
New Zealand
There’s always a special feeling whenever New Zealand enters a rugby stadium, you can feel the history and tradition running through the veins of every player who wears the famous black shirt.
We had a close, hard-fought win against England last week. New Zealand looked better than ever in some phases of the game, particularly the attacking phase, but ultimately struggled to maintain the same quality throughout the 80 minutes.
They come into this contest having averaged 32.8 points per game over their last five meetings. Scoring isn’t an issue for the All Blacks at the moment, but their characteristic handling errors and conceding too many penalties are holding them back.
They will have to play without two key players on Friday. Beauden Barrett and Codie Taylor were eliminated from the competition.
However, New Zealand will not be short on firepower going into the contest with the likes of Will Jordan, Mark Tele’a and Jordie Barrett looking to make an impact against Ireland.
There will be an exciting battle between the two blindside flankers, Wallace Sititi and Ireland’s Tadhg Beirne.
Sititi caused England serious problems and was the best player on the pitch that day. He’ll do the same on Friday against an experienced player like Beirne.
New Zealand will be looking for another outstanding win against Ireland and would love to be branded the underdogs.
bet
There are some interesting betting options for this game, with the best bet looking to keep New Zealand within six points.
The All Blacks enter the contest as underdogs, but the two sides are usually evenly matched, usually only a few points apart.
There is value in betting that New Zealand will win. The quality of the squad is very good and they proved against England that they can still win even if they are not at their best.
For those who like long shots, the bet is for Ireland to win by 1 to 7 points.
It will be a close game and even if Ireland wins, it is unlikely to be a huge blow.
Your best choice: New Zealand stays within 6 points – 10/11
Value Betting: New Zealand to win – 2/1
Longshot Betting: Ireland wins by 1-7 points – 3/1
Read more: Finlay Bealham and Ronan Kelleher will represent Ireland against New Zealand.
