{"id":3539,"date":"2024-08-09T16:00:38","date_gmt":"2024-08-09T04:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tab.co.nz\/punters\/?p=3539"},"modified":"2024-08-09T16:04:53","modified_gmt":"2024-08-09T04:04:53","slug":"rugby-championship-tips-preview-round-1-games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tab.co.nz\/punters\/2024\/08\/rugby-championship-tips-preview-round-1-games\/","title":{"rendered":"Rugby Championship Tips & Preview | Round 1 Games"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
\n \n
\n <\/use><\/svg><\/span>\n
\n
New Zealand<\/div>\n
vs<\/div>\n
Argentina<\/div>\n
Sky Stadium, Wellington | Saturday, 7:05pm<\/div>\n
New Zealand -17.5 ($1.87)<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/use><\/svg><\/span>\n <\/div>\n \n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n
\n

History<\/em>
\nThere have been 37 Test matches between New Zealand and Argentina since they first met in 1985. The All Blacks have dominated those meetings, having won 34 of which, alongside one draw in their second-ever meeting and two defeats. Those two defeats, however, have come relatively recently, first in 2020 in Sydney and then in 2022 when Los Pumas caused a massive upset by winning in Christchurch. New Zealand have won three on the bounce since, by an average of 39 points.<\/p>\n

Form
\n<\/em>New Zealand have gone three-from-three in 2024. The Scott Robertson era started with a tough assignment, welcoming England for a two-game tour, and the All Blacks were somewhat fortunate to finish the series as 2-0 winners, but all they will care about will be the final results. They followed those two games up with a rare excursion to the USA to play a one-off game against Fiji. A second-string All Blacks team cruised to victory in that game, winning 47-5.<\/p>\n

Argentina have also played just three games in 2024, having won two of which. Hosting France for a two-game series, Los Pumas would have been expecting to win both games, with Les Bleus sending an understrength team to South America. However, the visitors won the opening game convincingly, 28-13, before the Argentinians fought back for a 33-25 victory in the second Test. From there, Los Pumas romped to a 79-5 demolition of Uruguay the following week.<\/p>\n

Teams
\n<\/em>New Zealand:\u00a01 Ethan De Groot, 2 Codie Taylor, 3 Tyrel Lomax, 4 Tupou Vaa\u2019i, 5 Sam Darry, 6 Ethan Blackadder, 7 Dalton Papali\u2019i, 8 Ardie Savea, 9 TJ Perenara, 10 Damian McKenzie, 11 Mark Tele\u2019a, 12 Jordie Barrett, 13 Anton Lienert-Brown, 14 Sevu Reece, 15 Beauden Barrett.\u00a0Reserves: 16 Asafo Aumua, 17 Ofa Tu\u2019ungafasi, 18 Fletcher Newell, 19 Josh Lord, 20 Wallace Sititi, 21 Cortez Ratima, 22 Rieko Ioane, 23 Will Jordan.<\/p>\n

Argentina:\u00a01 Thomas Gallo, 2 Ignacio Ruiz, 3 Eduardo Bello, 4 Franco Molina, 5 Pedro Rubiolo, 6 Pablo Matera, 7 Marcos Kremer, 8 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 9 Gonzalo Bertranou, 10 Santiago Carreras, 11 Mateo Carreras, 12 Santiago Chocobares, 13 Lucio Cinti, 14 Matias Moroni, 15 Juan Cruz Mall\u00eda.\u00a0Reserves: 16 Agustin Creevy, 17 Mayco Vivas, 18 Joel Sclavi, 19 Tom\u00e1s Lavanini, 20 Ephraim Elias, 21 Joaqu\u00edn Oviedo, 22 Lautaro Bazan Velez, 23 Tomas Albornoz.<\/p>\n

Stats That Matter<\/em><\/p>\n