Looking to claim their first end-of-year tour clean sweep in 11 years, the Springboks take their first steps against a confident Scotland side at Murrayfield on Sunday, writes Quintin van Jaarsveld.
It’s set to be a full weekend of Test rugby, kicking off with an epic clash on Friday night in Dublin, where Ireland tackle the All Blacks.
There are three games on Saturday, with England welcoming the Wallabies to Twickenham, Italy taking on Argentina in Udine, and France facing Japan in Saint-Denis.
On Sunday, Wales collide with Fiji in Cardiff before the Boks lock horns with the Scots.
Ireland v New Zealand
Friday, 8 November – 22:10
New Zealand head into the battle at the Aviva knowing they’ll have to be significantly better than they were at Twickenham last weekend.
The Kiwis deserve a ton of credit for the way they came back from eight points down to snatch a 24-22 win, especially given their second half struggles this season. In saying that, they had some good fortune and struggled with the physicality of the English, even being bullied at times.
A positive was that they showed the ability to score from nothing while a big concern will be the way their lineout malfunctioned after the starters had gone off. If discipline was such an issue for them against England, then they have another thing coming against the fast-charging, relentless Irish.
Sitting atop the world rankings, Ireland are a green machine of continuity. Settled and extremely well coached, the Six Nations champions have won three of the last five fixtures against the All Blacks and will have revenge on their mind after their 28-24 World Cup quarterfinal loss to the Kiwis last year.
With New Zealand experiencing growing pains under Scott Robertson and set to be without injured duo Beauden Barrett and Codie Taylor, Irish eyes will be smiling.
Suggested Bet: Ireland -6.5 at 1.84.
England v Australia
Saturday, 9 November – 17:10
England will be looking to make up for last weekend’s heartbreaking loss against the All Blacks when they tackle the out-of-sorts Wallabies.
England’s inability to close out games cost them dearly last weekend as they allowed the Kiwis back and missed two opportunities to win the game in the dying moments.
Overall, it was a performance worthy of victory. Their rush defence put the All Blacks under all sorts of pressure, their aggression and physicality were enormous, and Marcus Smith showed a lot of maturity at flyhalf. Now, it’s time for them to kick on and get a timely win before they battle the Boks next weekend.
Australia are a far cry from the powerhouse of old. Finishing dead last in the Rugby Championship and having plummeted to 10th in the rankings, the Wallabies are looking to selvedge what they can from what has been a tough first year under Joe Schmidt on just their third Grand Slam tour in 40 years.
They simply don’t have the firepower to stand up against top teams, including England, so I’m banking on a convincing win for the hosts.
Suggested Bet: England -11.5 at 1.84.
Italy v Argentina
Saturday, 9 November – 19:40
Italy have won more games than they’ve lost this season, which is rarely the case. They scored big victories over Scotland (31-29) and Wales (24-21) and drew 13-all with France in the Six Nations, which they followed up by thumping Tonga (36-14) and Japan (42-14) in August.
Argentina beat the Boks (29-28), All Blacks (38-30) and Wallabies (67-27) in a single Rugby Championship campaign for the first time this year and has grown exponentially in their maiden season with Felipe Contepomi in charge. The Azzurri won’t make it easy, but the Pumas should prevail as they have more bullets in the chamber.
Suggested Bet: Argentina -3.5 at 1.83.
France v Japan
Saturday, 9 November – 22:10
France haven’t had a great year, winning four games, losing two and drawing one. Japan, however, have been dreadful.
Though the Brave Blossoms reached the Pacific Nations Cup final, they were hammered 41-17 by Fiji in the decider and smashed 64-19 by a largely second-string All Blacks side last time out.
With Les Bleus preparing for a showdown with New Zealand next weekend and with Antoine Dupont back in the mix, they’ll run rampant.
Suggested Bet: France -32.5 at 1.84.
Wales v Fiji
Sunday, 10 November – 15:40
Things can only get better for Fiji after their Murrayfield nightmare last weekend.
Sans their star players who ply their trade in Europe due to the match falling outside the Test window, they got off to the worst possible start, conceding two yellow cards in the opening quarter and trailing 26-0 in a hurry.
Even though they pulled it back to 29-17, they couldn’t hang with the superior Scots and suffered a 57-17 shellacking in the end. Aside from their obvious defensive deficiencies, they were too lateral on attack and were punished in the scrums.
At full strength this weekend, they’ll see the Cardiff clash as a different ball game and will fancy themselves against an embattled Welsh side who are winless in 2024. On an eight-match losing streak, the Dragons are desperate for a win and will be well-prepared for this matchup.
It’s tempting to back a strengthened Fiji outfit, however, I do feel Wales would’ve targeted this game as a must-win and will come away with a much-needed morale-boosting triumph.
Suggested Bet: Wales -5.5 at 1.84.
Scotland v South Africa
Sunday, 10 November – 18:10
Not since 2013 has the Boks gone through an end-of-year tour unbeaten. Coached by Heyneke Meyer at the time, South Africa beat Wales 24-15, Scotland 28-0 and France 19-10 to cap off their year.
The current crop of back-to-back World Cup winners are history makers and after having clinched their first Rugby Championship title in five years, their next mission is to sweep Scotland, England and Wales in the coming weeks.
Injuries have forced Rassie Erasmus’ hand somewhat with Johan Grobbelaar, Wilco Louw, Cameron Hanekom and Jordan Hendrikse called up after initially missing the cut following injuries to Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Frans Malherbe and Damian Willemse. However, the Boks are close to full strength and favoured to see off Scotland come Sunday.
Scotland will be up for the challenge mentally and will be full of confidence after their record thrashing of Fiji last weekend. Jake White recently stated that the Boks have lost their mystique when it comes to Northern Hemisphere sides due to frequent exposure against them and that the success of the Glasgow Warriors, who upset the Bulls in last season’s United Rugby Championship final in Pretoria, and recently defeated the Stormers in Stellenbosch will boost the national team’s confidence against the Boks.
The 2007 World Cup-winning Bok coach certainly makes an interesting point, but the South African national side are a group of super soldiers whose depth is unrivalled and if the Scots aren’t able to convert their newfound confidence into a healthy early lead, they’d be toast as it’s highly unlikely they’ll hang with the Boks for the full 80 minutes.
With the likes of Finn Russell and Blair Kinghorn back for the hosts, they’ll be at their most dangerous, but there’s only so much they can do behind a backpedalling pack. The highly motivated men in Green and Gold are primed to overpower the Scots and should prevail comfortably.
Prediction: South Africa by 14.
Suggested Bet: South Africa -8.5 at 1.83.