We preview Saturday evening’s clash between Argentina and Georgia, being played at the Estadio 23 de Agosto.
Los Pumas have been undone twice by Eddie Jones’ England this month, but should pick up their first victory of the year when they host Georgia on Saturday evening. The Georgians meanwhile, go into this one riding high on confidence after successive away wins over Canada and the USA respectively, and will have no fear come kick-off time.
Argentina v Georgia | Saturday 24 June | Estadio 23 de Agosto | 21:15
To Win (80 Mins)
Argentina 1/25 | Draw 58/1 | Georgia 8/1
Handicap
Argentina (-21.5) 9/10 | Georgia (+21.5)
Argentina
Despite coming up against the second-ranked team in the world, the Argentines will feel aggrieved at not having won at least one of their two Tests against England. The Barmy Army were without a whole host of British & Irish Lions and were full of inexperienced heads. Indeed, Daniel Hourcade’s side could well have won both Tests – losing by scoring margins of four and 10-points respectively – and Georgia may feel the full brunt of their hurt this weekend.
A near full-strength starting XV fronted up last week, and little is expected to change come Saturday. Agustin Creevy will again lead his forwards into battle, where the game is surely set to be decided. Georgia play a very physical, direct brand of rugby, and Creevy and company should underestimate this aspect of play at their own peril.
A halfback duo of Nicholas Sanchez and Martin Landajo will again be tasked with controlling proceedings and, should their forwards dominate the gain-line battle, will lay the platform for many interesting runs from the midfielders, led by the irrepressible Jeronimo De La Fuente and Matias Orlando. They should record a comfortable victory here.
Georgia
The Georgians are undefeated in 2017, and will look to keep it that way when they head down to Argentina. The last two weeks have seen them record victories in Canada and the USA, and they would so love to go into the Rugby Europe Championship (which they’ve won for the past six-seasons in a row) with a win over a tier-one nation.
With the legendary Mamuka Gorgodze having retired from the international setup, Georgia will now look to their next generation of stars to advance their rugby-playing potential… but boy would they love him this weekend!
It will all start up front for the visitors, who could well get under the noses of their much-fancied opponents and put them under all sorts of pressure should they front up to Argentina’s physical challenge – likely nullifying the impact of the likes of Creevy and Pablo Matera in the process. It will be easier said than done, however, and they may well need a performance of the ages to pull off an upset on Saturday.
Verdict: Argentina (-21.5) 9/10 *Handicap to be added upon release
Anything’s possible, but Argentina should outmuscle the visitors – the USA and Canada are one thing, but Los Pumas are a different challenge entirely. They should stroll to a comfortable win.
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Written by Shaun Goosen for @Hollywoodbets.net!
