Rugby
2011-10-01 - England vs Scotland
A Sports Betting Pick by Paddy
Rugby : Rugby World Cup 2011 : Group B
Saturday, 1st October 2011 - Kickoff 8:305pm (local)
With one match to go in Pool B, the qualification chances of both England and Scotland rest on the outcome of the pair’s meeting in Auckland this Saturday.
Nothing but a win is likely to be good enough for Scotland, whereas a significant defeat for England could still see them eliminated before the knockout stages. It promises to be a nerve wracking game at Eden Park.
England aware of ‘dangerous’ Scottish challenge
A win for England will see them top the group and face a likely quarter final against France, although no-one in the England camp is taking anything for granted.
27 year old London Irish back Delon Armitage told the BBC: “They are dangerous but we are in the same situation. Every year they come and try and turn us over. We will be ready for it.
“We are not thinking about what might happen - we are just thinking about playing Scotland and trying to get the result. Our focus is going in there ready to play a Test match against a tough Scotland team who need to win. We have to be ready for it.”
England showed signs of improvement in their 67-3 win over Romania and are the favourites to book their place in the quarter-finals. Even a narrow defeat should be enough to see them through, but of course a failure to top the pool will see them face New Zealand in their quarter final. If avoiding the All Blacks isn’t enough motivation to go for the win, I’m not sure what is.
Scotland confident ahead of crunch clash
Only a win for Scotland will see them avoid their first group stage elimination. Scotland have never failed to reach the quarter final stage of the World Cup although nothing less than a win in this clash will be enough to preserve that record.
Scotland have to beat England by eight points or more to guarantee their progress although they may still qualify if Georgia beat Argentina in Palmerston North on Oct 2. (but it's not likely)
Scotland coach Andy Robinson is confident that his team can upset the odds after their narrow 13-12 defeat to Argentina last weekend. Robinson was in charge last year when Scotland were beaten 49-3 by New Zealand before bouncing back a week later with a 21-17 defeat of world champions South Africa.
The former England coach said: “I think you just have to look at what happened after we played the All Blacks last year, where we were comfortably beaten. The following week we beat South Africa and we beat them with a comprehensive performance from everybody.
“We know what we need to do and there is total trust in the whole squad that mentally and physically they are able to rise to the challenge. Everybody understands that it is still in our control and we’ve got to go out and put in a top performance on Saturday against England.”
Verdict:
While Scotland have been improving over recent months, England should be too strong for them at Eden Park this weekend. Martin Johnson’s team will be keen to avoid New Zealand in the quarter finals and, unfortunately, I can’t see Georgia being able to do the Scots a favour by beating Argentina in the other match.
Scotland need to win by eight points to guarantee their quarter final berth and the minimum they need to stand any chance of going through is to score a losing bonus point.
It may be close, and Scotland could even be worth an investment at 10/11 with an 11 point start, but I fancy their excellent World Cup record of reaching every quarter final will end on Saturday.
Scotland to fall at the group stage for the first time.
The Pick :
Scotland with an +11 point start
