Australia vs New Zealand Predictions - All Blacks to dominate Bledisloe Cup fixture

Ralph Staniforth

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Last updated: 26 Jul 2023

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Ralph Staniforth 26 Jul 2023

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Watch Australia vs New Zealand in the Rugby Championship on Saturday (11:45 SAST)
All Blacks have won 7 of their last 8 against the hosts
Can the Wallabies upset the odds in the Bledisloe Cup?

Expired

All Blacks to win with ease (Getty Images)

Australia vs New Zealand Preview

Australia can no longer win the Rugby Championship but will want to make an impression at home in the first Bledisloe Cup test. They must win both games against the All Blacks to wrestle it away for the first time in a decade.

Australia vs New Zealand Preview
Head to Head
Australia Form
Australia Team News
New Zealand Form
New Zealand Team News

Form over the last two rounds however point towards the All Blacks dominating. I’m backing the visitors to cover the -14 handicap with ease.

Australia have lost their last 2 matches.
New Zealand have won their last 2 matches.
New Zealand have won 7 of their last 8 matches against Australia.
New Zealand have covered the -14 handicap in 5 of their last 8 matches against Australia.

Head to Head

New Zealand have won seven of their last eight matches against Australia. When they met last in the Rugby Championship in 2022, the All Blacks won 40-14 at Eden Park

Australia Form

Australia have lost both of their Rugby Championship matches in 2023. Eddie Jones will have to make a dramatic turnaround if they are to avoid the wooden spoon this year.

While it is a tough environment for Jones to immediately get results, with the World Cup around the corner, he needs the Wallabies to start putting it big performances.

On the opening weekend, Australia were comfortably beaten in South Africa before losing in dramatic fashion to Argentina on home soil a fortnight ago.

While that game could have gone either way, Argentina were largely the better side over 80 minutes. If the Wallabies don’t up their game in this Bledisloe Cup test, things could get ugly quite fast.

Australia Team News

Eddie Jones is once again expected to make changes to his side. He has very little time ahead of the World Cup to test players and combinations, so he’ll have to use games such as this.

New Zealand Form

New Zealand had an inconsistent 2021 and 2022 where many thought their rugby was on the down. Late last year and this year they have been extraordinarily consistent though which has them on a nine-game winning run.

The All Blacks comfortably saw off Argentina away from home in round one of the Rugby Championship. Their big test was, however, against the Springboks in Auckland the following week.

That went even better as they played some of their best rugby over the last few years in the opening 20 minutes. That blitz carried them into a 17-0 lead and a 20-3 half-time lead.

While the second half was a lot tighter and the South Africans briefly fought their way into the game, the All Blacks were too good in the end, winning 35-20.

New Zealand Team News

While New Zealand were superb in their last outing, they will almost certainly make changes. Ahead of the World Cup Ian Foster will have to ensure everyone gets sufficient time in their legs.

Verdict

Australia v New Zealand

I am backing the All Blacks to cover the -14 handicap against Eddie Jones' Australia.

New Zealand -14

Handicap

@-109.89 - 5 Units

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