I have just got back from a whirlwind trip to the Eastern Cape and it is great to have yet another weekend of great sport to look forward to. I thought I had hit a perfect 4/4 on last week's predictions only to find that my bet on Australia to win by 12 or more was actually a loss if the result was exactly +12. Australia won 32-20. Doh! Ah well 3/4 is not too bad, and I was so close to that streak.
Here are this week's predictions (using my stake which has grown to R653).
Rugby World Cup 2007
France vs Ireland - 21st September - France to win by 15 points or more (R200 at 1/1)
South Africa vs Tonga - 22nd September - SA to win by at least 45 points (R200 at 1/1)
England vs Samoa - 22nd September - Samoa to win outright or lose by 14 points or less (R150 at 9/10)
Australia vs Fiji - 23rd September - Australia to win by at least 40 points (R100 at 1/1)
There you go. I am not so solid on those predictions as last week, but I reckon France are going to annihilate Ireland. It is going to be tough for SA to beat Tonga by 45, but Eddie Jones has worked wonders with the boks' running lines and I reckon they will run in a bunch of tries in the second half. Samoa have a chance of putting last week's defeat to Tonga behind them and really giving it to England in what I reckon will be a low scoring match. Australia are my dark horse for the tournament and are looking bloody dangerous - they should put 40 on Fiji without too much of a problem.
Update - Sunday 23 September - ugh, those SA and Samoa predictions were awful. I have just squeezed in a last R300 bet for the weekend on New Zealand to win by 46 points or more against Scotland. With my luck this weekend Scotland will win!