Rugby
2011-10-02 - New Zealand vs Canada
A Sports Betting Pick by Mike
Rugby : Rugby World Cup 2011 : Pool A
Sunday, 2nd October 2011 - Kickoff 15:30pm (local)
Current IRB World Rankings: New Zealand 1st, Canada 12th
The All Blacks have played Canada only four times, twice at World Cups, winning 29-13 in 1991 (a quarterfinal) and 68-6 in 2003 (pool play). The non RWC games were a 73-7 win in 1995 and a 64-13 victory in Hamilton in 2007, the last time the sides met.
The All Blacks
The All Blacks have cruised through Pool A - winning all three games comfortably - showing some quality back play, but a little lack of control in the forwards.
New Zealand's Rugby World Cup 2011 Results :
09/09 New Zealand 41 - 10 Tonga
16/09 New Zealand 83 - 7 Japan
24/09 New Zealand 37 - 17 France
Team and Tactics
Coach Graham Henry has picked the side he believes will best serve the World Cup campaign, not the one that will score the maximum number of tries or points against the Canadians.
Starting New Zealand Team Lineup :
Tony Woodcock 1, Andrew Hore 2, Owen Franks 3, Sam Whitelock 4, Ali Williams 5, Jerome Kaino 6, Richie McCaw 7, Kieran Read 8, Jimmy Cowan 9, Daniel Carter 10, Zac Guildford 11, Sonny Bill Williams 12, Conrad Smith 13, Israel Dagg 14, Mils Muliaina 15
Substitutes:
Keven Mealamu 16, Ben Franks 17, Brad Thorn 18, Anthony Boric 19, Piri Weepu 20, Colin Slade 21, Isaia Toeava 22
Any surprises? Not really, Kieran Read and Zac Guildford get their first starts of the Rugby World Cup. Muliaina finally gets his fullback jersey back for his 99th test, and Israel Dagg moves to the right wing.
LATE INJURY UPDATE: Both captain Richie McCaw and first five-eighths Daniel Carter are out for this game with a foot problem and a groin injury respectively. Victor Vito and Colin Slade are their replacements. Slade is not the play maker Carter is and the ABs have apparently only 2 fully fit forwards in the whole squad at present.
Canada
So far in this RWC the Canadians have had a reasonable world cup with a good win over Tonga and the hard-fought draw against Japan.
Canada's Rugby World Cup 2011 Results :
14/09 Tonga 20 - 25 Canada
18/09 France 46 - 19 Canada
27/09 Canada 23 - 23 Japan
Team and Tactics
Coach and former All Black, Kieran Crowley, has picked a full strength side with only fullback James Pritchard out injured. Conor Trainor comes into the side on the wing with Matt Evans moving to fullback.
Starting Canada Team Lineup :
1 Hubert Buydens, 2 Pat Riordan, 3 Jason Marshall, 4 Jebb Sinclair, 5 Jamie Cudmore, 6 Adam Kleeberger, 7 Chauncey O'Toole, 8 Aaron Carpenter, 9 Ed Fairhurst, 10 Ander Monro, 11 Phil Mackenzie, 12 Ryan Smith, 13 DTH Van Der Merwe, 14 Conor Trainor, 15 Matt Evans
Substitutes :
16 Ryan Hamilton, 17 Scott Franklin, 18 Andrew Tiedemann, 19 Tyler Hotson, 20 Nanyak Dala, 21 Sean White, 22 Nathan Hirayama
Other Variables
Referee : Romain Poite (FRA)
The Venue : Wellington
The Weather : Northerly winds and a bit of rain. Nice... expect some ball handling errors and a swirling high ball.
The Verdict
This will be a resounding win to the All Blacks, that is unless the Canadian Mounties take the field at half time.
But the bookmakers are offering a very large +63 points on Canada on the handicap bet and the relevant group results suggest that the Canadians are a better side than that.
The Pick :
New Zealand 63, Canada 10
