The buffet of sports continues to roll in here for us fans, with this weekend’s slate looking like nothing short of spectacular. No matter what you are into, we have it on tap, with the Rugby Championship round two in business, or if you’re looking for more of a local product, the NPC season roars on relentlessly. Just to round up the rugby action, we have the Women’s Rugby World Cup kicking off, so keep an eye out as that competition gets off the ground. Switching up the codes, we have the Premier League Matchday Two, which will be full of high-energy action, with all teams trying to get their season off on the right foot.
There are so many more codes we could touch on here, but we would be a whole article in without actually giving some tips, so let’s get started.
Chelsea got out of the blocks with a false start against Palace last weekend at home with a 0-0 draw, while West Ham didn’t even get to the start line after being blown away by newly promoted Sunderland in a 3-0 loss in what was an embarrassing result for the Hammers. This means both teams are in need of their first three points of the season and will use this London derby as the launchpad for some kind of table ascendancy.
Regarding the two squads, Chelsea boast a team that has plenty more quality across the park, with the likes of Cole Palmer and Moises Caicedo being some of their key players. Meanwhile, West Ham’s biggest glimmer of hope is their striker Jarrod Bowen.
To me, Chelsea could be even larger favourites in this matchup than what they are, which is why I like the value that is being offered on them. I would expect Maresca’s men to bounce back with a vengeance this weekend and secure a well-needed full complement of points.
After their opening weekend blip, the Mako have been on a bit of a tear that many expected they should be on based off their supreme talent level. They will face North Harbour this weekend and no doubt enter the game as major favorites, which is no slight on what North Harbour are putting together.
However, with the talent disparity, I expect Tasman to find the chalk a few times this weekend, and one of the main tools they have used to generate five-pointers has been their lineout maul. Hooker Eli Oudenryn has back-to-back weekends with a meat pie off the back of their dominant lineout maul.
This weekend, the Mako have a new starter in the No. 2 jersey who can be the conductor of that dominant maul. You betcha that if they kick a penalty to the corner, they are dialing up a maul, and new starter Tomasi Maka will be eyeing up his own try this weekend. To be perfectly honest, if that scenario plays out I like his chances.
This one here is an absolute beauty, as hot off the press the betcha team have the Warriors Super Boost as RTS to dot down this weekend vs the Titans at supreme value. Now, I understand he has only scored two in his last five, and the points have been drying up with all the injuries to their playmakers, but they are coming up against a Titans squad who just surrendered 54… yes, you read that right, 54 POINTS last weekend vs the Sharks.
For a bit further context, in those 54 points, the Titans allowed four tries to be scored by Sharks wingers, with both picking up two respectively. This should only mean good things for the Warriors’ two wingers, who should be able to be put in advantageous situations to find their own four-pointers in the corner.
After one of the biggest upsets in recent rugby memory, the Springboks will be like a wounded dog after last weekend’s embarrassing loss at Ellis Park against the Wallabies, their first in 62 years. They have an opportunity for a get-back game this weekend, and I promise you Rassie Erasmus is going to have his team firing on all cylinders after making some much-needed changes to the starting unit.
For the Wallabies, they have proven they can do it in the hardest of environments and that they may have turned a page into a new, exciting era of rugby union for the nation. However, with the depth of changes South Africa have been able to make, Australia don’t have that at their disposal, and their injury list is filling up rapidly.
All of these factors being brought into account, I feel that South Africa, no longer being world number one and with the negative discourse surrounding their camp, are going to prove a point this weekend. Unfortunately for the Wallabies, they are the team the Springboks will be hunting, and I have a feeling this one could get ugly for the men in gold.
First home game of the season for Palace this weekend as they will host last year’s Premier League darlings Nottingham Forest, in what will be a big battle for pecking order between a couple of upper mid-table level squads this season.
Palace got a solid result last weekend away from home against Chelsea, while Nottingham are coming off a dominant 3-1 thumping of Brentford on their opening day at the City Ground. This weekend, Palace will be without their talisman Eberechi Eze, who has been given the “here we go” from transfer guru Fabrizio Romano, as he will move to North London to play for the Gunners.
For a team that struggled to generate any open play opportunities last weekend, his departure will hurt them as they come up against a Forest attack led by Kiwi PFA Team of the Season striker Chris Wood, who opened his account with a brace vs Brentford.
With all that being said, I’m liking Nottingham’s chances of coming away from their trip to London with some kind of points haul.
