A new weekend of sport means we have another shortlist of our five best bets for the exciting slate. While we say goodbye to NPC as an option, we welcome back the All Blacks and all the other international rugby. Throw in the NFL, college football, basketball, Cricket, and all the European football, and there’s so much to sink our teeth into.
Let’s start with a bit of action in our own backyard, as the Blackcaps look to make it a 3-0 sweep against England to really kick off the summer of cricket.
The Blackcaps have done the job with the ball in the first two games of this series and are poised for a historic win, not just over a high powered England side preparing for the Ashes, but one coached by a number of Blackcap stalwarts.
The final game of the three-match series will be played at the Cake Tin in Wellington, which has no doubt been home to a couple of high-scoring affairs. I think that could be the case this weekend, as I struggle to see both teams failing with the bat three games in a row.
What that means for me is that we might see a couple of players from each team step up come Saturday, and the name I like for the Blackcaps is young superstar Rachin Ravindra. The ODI format has likely been the best of his young career so far, scoring plenty of big runs for his country. Add in the fact he is playing at his home ground and coming off a well-fought 50 in tough conditions opening the batting last time out, and I’m backing Ravindra for his runs prop.
The man who launched his own Heisman campaign within the past week, Deigo Pavia, will travel to Austin Texas, to take on the Longhorns. The Burnt Orange haven’t had the season they desired, already slipping up twice after being a consensus top three side entering the season. However, in recent weeks, the players who earned that high grading have certainly been showing up.
Arch Manning has looked much better in the second portion of the season, but he is operating with a group of playmakers who aren’t living up to the billing. On defence, superstar edge rusher Colin Simmons is becoming a nightmare for any offensive tackle he lines up against and is no doubt a force multiplier at this point in his career.
The away side, as mentioned have Deigo Pavia, who is a bit Johnny Football-ish in the way he carries himself and plays the game. While he isn’t the biggest, fastest, or strongest and doesn’t have the best arm, he plays with an edge that tends to make up for his physical shortcomings.
He has taken the perennial doormat of the SEC to a top-10 ranked team in the nation, and many in the national media expect them to beat this Texas team, which is quite remarkable given where the program used to be.
However, for reasons I am not entirely sure of, I think Texas at home are ready to spoil the party for Vandy. Their superstar recruits are finally looking like the players they promised to be, and in front of a home crowd in what could be a season defining matchup, I am backing the powerhouse home team.
The All Blacks are back in action this weekend as they look to exorcise some demons against a nation that last time they played at this venue recorded a historic win over the New Zealand side.
Ireland will be playing their first big test match in a while, and I think the All Blacks have the upper hand with essentially a full international calendar behind them.
What many will also be aware of in the camp is that this is the biggest test left for the year. Based on preseason expectations, winning this one seems essential for the All Blacks to meet the season fans would have hoped for.
From what they showed in the Rugby Championship, the All Blacks play two different kinds of rugby. They have the style they use against South Africa and a separate system they deploy against other teams. To me, this suggests we might see them give the ball some air and move around an Irish defensive unit that could be a bit underdone from a match fitness standpoint.
The players who will benefit most from that strategy are no doubt the All Blacks wingers, this weekend being Leroy Carter and Caleb Clarke. I think at Soldier Field in Chicago we will see one, if not both find the chalk, but the one I’m backing the most is Carter, who in his young test career has scored in every game. He has done so in a variety of ways, which gives me confidence he will find his way over again.
The Kiwis will have the second game of their Pacific Championship campaign this weekend as they face a Tonga side that is reeling from a 34-6 defeat, where their only points came in the final two minutes.
The Kiwis, who beat Samoa in the first weekend, are coming off a week’s break and should be ready to roll come Sunday evening. They have announced four changes to the squad that beat Samoa but retain much of their spine, with James Fisher-Harris, Dylan Brown, Casey McLean and Jamayne Isaako all set for another start this weekend.
I think when it comes down to it, while Tonga have a few superstars like Addin Fonua-Blake and Isaiya Katoa, the Kiwis, like Samoa did, likely have too much depth and quality for them to keep this one close.
With that said, on home turf in front of what should be a decent Eden Park crowd, I expect the Kiwis to not only come away with the win but do so with at least a couple of tries advantage.
The Colts are rolling to start the season, especially on the offensive side of the ball, where head coach Shane Steichen resurrected Daniel Jones off the scrap heap and Jonathan Taylor is playing like an MVP. While their offence is no doubt strong, I think there is room for improvement on the defensive side if they want to be true contenders.
The Steelers, on the other hand, were hyped up to have a historic defence, and to start this season they have been historic in the worst way possible. They have conceded 30 points four times in seven games and are now set to face the best offence in the NFL. The Steeler offence has luckily been pretty solid this season, averaging around 25 points per game, which is the only reason they currently sit above .500.
With both teams being relatively strong in attack while leaving plenty to be desired defensively, I like this one to go over the set total.
