RUGBY BETTING PICK - AUSTRALIA V IRELAND

Rugby

2010-06-26 - Australia vs Ireland

A Sports Betting Pick by Costanzo

Australia v Ireland
Rugby : International
Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
Saturday, 26th June 2010, Kickoff 20:00 AEST

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An interesting match looms after the Aussies tasted defeat to the English last Saturday in Sydney. Ireland suffered a big loss to the All-Blacks then a narrow defeat by NZ Maori 31-28.

The Irish will be looking at getting something from their tour down under before they head home while the Wallabies need to regain some confidence before the Tri-Nations series begins in less than a month’s time.

Match Analysis

For the Irish their mainstay Ronan O’Gara has been denied a run on start in his 100th test match which is a little confusing, but obviously Declan Kidney is thinking of next year’s World Cup at every possible opportunity. Jonathan Sexton will replace O’Gara after kicking 8-8 in the loss to NZ Maori.

Star centre Brian O’Driscoll will get the nod as captain and his individual game will be something the Irish need to ensure the Wallaby defence is pressured. O’Driscoll’s ability to break tackles at pace make him one of the best 3-4 centres of the last decade in my opinion and he has led Ireland to many great results particularly in the Six Nations tournaments.

Rhys Ruddock and Damien Varley are contenders to get a test cap after they were named on the bench for the coach. Other changes include Chris Henry, Niall Ronan and Shane Jennings. These three will all get starts in a new look Irish back-row. There is no doubt Kidney is tinkering with line-ups at every opportunity possible and this will go one of two ways. Either a blowout win to the Wallabies or the new guys will fight for their spot and play a blinder.

There are a couple enforced changes for the Wallabies. Will Genia and Digby Ioane will miss because of injuries while Luke Burgess and Adam Ashley-Cooper make their way into the team. Ioane will miss the Tri-Nations tournament as he requires surgery on his shoulder, while Genia will miss 6 weeks after suffering a broken thumb against the English last Saturday.

The concern will once again be the Australian front row. Saia Faingaa, Salesi Ma’afu and Ben Daley will form the front of the scrum again this weekend. They were slightly better last week but still need a lot of improvement. This week they face a less experienced scrum and will hop they can turn the tables finally after 2 very tough weeks.

In the backs it is good to see Drew Mitchell retained as well as James O’Connor. They are exciting talents who make some great runs and it will be good to see how they combine with Quade Cooper at fly-half and Matt Giteau at inside centre. If the Irish defence doesn’t show up it could get ugly because the Wallaby backs are serious rugby players.

The Betting Verdict

With some new faces in the Irish line-up the Wallabies should be pretty comfortable here.

The Pick :

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