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| Beauden Barrett in action during the 2018 Bledisloe Cup |
Australia will be looking to bag a win that would see them lift the Bledisloe Cup for the first time since 2002 when they take on New Zealand on Saturday the 17th of August.
The second and final Bledisloe Cup fixture of 2019 is set to be an absolute cracker with Australia’s shock victory in Perth last week seeing them have the best chance of lifting the coveted Cup since the class of 2002 did in some 17 years ago.
Copyright Steve Haag Sport Hollywoodbets
New Zealand v Australia
Saturday 17 August
Eden Park
09:35
To Win (80 Mins)
New Zealand
Draw
Australia
Handicap
New Zealand
Australia
New Zealand
*Odd to be added on release
The All Blacks will be determined to put last weekend’s dire showing in Perth behind them when they front up to the Australians for a second successive time. A red card to Scott Barrett for a horrendous tackle saw the flood gates open out in Western Australia with the Wallabies posting a winning scoreline of 47-26.
The aforementioned fixture is a massive stain on New Zealand rugby with it being the most amount of points they have ever conceded in a Tests match as well as the equally biggest losing margin in a Tests.
After the horror show in Perth, coach Steve Hansen is likely to make a number of changes for this one. He may well opt to end the promising double-pivot experiment, with Richie Mo’unga likely to drop to the bench and Beauden Barrett possibly returning to the fly-half berth.
Australia
It’s been a miserable couple of years for Australian rugby but the victory over their old rivals in front of a sold-out Optus Stadium crowd will have certainly lifted rugby fans moods. It’s rather ironic that the win came in Perth as this rugby-mad area of Australia had their Super Rugby team, the Western Force, annexed from the tournament leaving the region’s rugby fans fuming.
While the record-breaking win was massive for the Australians, coach Michael Chieka may be more pleased with the showing from James O’Connor whose solid display at outside centre has gone a long way to helping Michael Cheika resolve his midfield issues.
Verdict: New Zealand
There will be a backlash here. The Kiwis are angry and they are going to a ground where they haven’t lost to Australia since the mid-’80s. My money is on the hosts taking their opponents to the cleaners and beating the handicap.
