The Rugby Spectator

Get Your Bets In For Rugby World Cup 2019 Never in my lifetime has predicting the next owner of the William Webb Ellis been so difficult, and thank goodness for this uncertainty! To break it down to odds in betting circles, New Zealand are still outright favourites, but at 2.3. They are then followed by England (5.5), South Africa (5.5), Ireland (7.5), Wales (9.0) and Australia (13.0), guaranteeing any gambler to at least double their winnings with a bet. I only started chancing my arm at betting recently, and with such handsome odds, join me in going for what might be a rather rewarding payday come the end of October! Springboks Knock Rugby World Off Its Tilt What was very surprising is how relatively easy South Africa's first ever Rugby Championship trophy (and fourth southern hemisphere Tier One title) was. A 16-16 draw with New Zealand notwithstanding, the Boks blew Australia away 35-17, before crushing Argentina 46-13. Contextually, they should have beaten the All Blac...

Sundowns Are Still The Team To Beat Chasing their own 'La Decima', coined by coach Pitso Mosimane, Mamelodi Sundowns will not relinquish their Absa Premier League title without a big fight. It's not ideal starting off a league campaign with a derby, and Masandawana were put through the wringer by SuperSport United at the Lucas "Masterpieces" Moripe Stadium. However, they continued their recent domination of Matsatsantsa, sounding a warning to challengers Orlando Pirates that the latter has a job on their hands if the want to win the league for the first time since 2012. The depth from which Mosimane can choose is enough to frighten anyone. Buccaneers Will Push Sundowns Hard Again While heaping praise on Sundowns, one cannot forget how they pipped Orlando Pirates to consecutive league titles on the final day of each season. The Sea Robbers look to have the bit between their teeth once again, coming off a dominant win in the Carling Black Label Cup agai...

Just give the Bokke the Rugby Championship trophy today and forfeit their incoming cakewalk wins against the All Blacks and Los Pumas. Those two are just wasting their time after watching South Africa ‘Green’ dismantle Australia at Ellis Park! Imagine what our ‘Gold’ squad will do in Australasia and South America! You can’t blame me and others for being gassed – and thus totally getting carried away - with what we saw on Saturday. Realistically, though, it only gets harder for Rassie Erasmus’ lads as New Zealand are still favourites to win their 917 th Rugby Championship on the bounce, while the glorified Jaguares will back themselves to bend the Boks again on home turf. However, the try that Cobus Reinach scored deep into injury time long after the Boks had sealed another win over the Wallabies in Jozi could go a long way in deciding where the trophy goes in a shortened, one-chance-or-die competition. It confirmed a bonus point victory, leaving the Boks on top...

Currie Cup SuperBru Was A Mess For the first time ever, yours truly receive the dreaded “duck” badge for my SuperBru. An example of distinct underachievement, getting zero out of three picks is quite humiliating, and my mates have ensured that I will never live this down! I’m involved in a rather lucrative money pool concerning the Currie Cup, so I have to sort my story out next week… Upset City Every result this past weekend was an upset! A monumental upset. No one in their right mind – except their touchy fans – expected the Lions to march into Bloemfontein and turn over title favourites, the Cheetahs, but it happened. The Sharks were in full Banana Boys mode, somehow tossing away what seemed like a certain win against the motivated Pumas, who must be given credit for hanging in there and actually finishing strongly. As for the Griquas thumping the Bulls at Loftus, I did say that we should consider them as dark horses to win the tournament, and they showed why...