The 2024 Rugby Championship: New Zealand Vs Argentina Betting Tips

New Zealand Vs Argentina Predictions:

• Under 52.5 Total Points - 1.9 With RTBet
• Sevu Reece To Score A Try - 1.91 With BetVictor
• Santiago Carreras To Score A Try - 5.5 With Luckster Sport

Legendary Crusaders head coach Scott Robertson has a lot of pressure on his shoulders leading into this Rugby Championship, not just the heavy burden that comes with being All Blacks coach at any point in time, but the seven-time Super Rugby winner has been tasked with building a dynasty of his own at international level.

New Zealand betting sites have handed the All Blacks a spread around 17.5 points in their opening Rugby Championship fixture, which they more than doubled when meeting Argentina at the 2023 World Cup (44-6). 

Argentina only have to go back only to the 2022 edition of this tournament for inspiration when they made a mockery of a +21.5 point handicap to win 25-18, though that was during perhaps the worst All Blacks calendar year in modern history, and is unlikely to be repeated based on how the teams have since gone. 

As we did during the World Cup with great success, we have crunched the numbers and scanned some of our favourite rugby betting apps to bring to you our three best bets for each match.

New Zealand’s Low Scoring Affairs To Continue

The World Cup meeting between these two teams cleared the main total points handicap by only 1.5 points, and since then all three matches involving the All Blacks fell under, even as they piled on 47 points against Fiji in San Diego.

They conceded just 39 points across their three Rugby Championship games last season and troubled every attack they faced bar the French on their way to the tournament final.

Also pointing in favour of the Under is a significant majority of recent clashes between the All Blacks and the Pumas. 

A massive eight of the last 10 meetings produced fewer than the 52.5 total points projected by bookmakers, the other two weren’t far off with 53 and 56 - with all eight falling short of the main total points handicap of the day. 

Best Bet: Under 52.5 Total Points - 1.9 With RTBet

The Pumas Best Keep An Eye On Both Flanks

Argentina have moved Matias Moroni from outside centre to the right wing for this match and we suspect it’s a move made by head coach Felipe Contepomi to deal with the threat posed by world class All Blacks winger Mark Tele’a. 

Moroni has been a defensive asset at both club and national level, with one of the highlights of his international career being a try-saving tackle of former Welsh winger Louis Zammit at last year’s World Cup.

For that reason, we’re instead looking to Sevu Reece to cross the line at the same odds as Tele’a, especially as Reece has been a try scoring machine for the Crusaders and for the All Blacks since his return to international rugby. 

He finished joint-top of the Super Rugby Pacific try scoring charts with 12 this year, putting together a streak of six straight try-scoring appearances, and then followed it up by crossing the whitewash in two of the All Blacks’ three July internationals against England and Fiji.

Reece’s form is nothing short of compelling and this appears a solid investment.

Best Bet: Sevu Reece To Score A Try - 1.91 With BetVictor

Potential Value For A Pumas Scorer

There was just one man who crossed the line in two of Argentina’s three July tests and he’s back in the number 10 jersey for the Pumas again despite playing most of his club rugby wearing 15.

Santiago Carreras dummied and then beat three defenders to score to the left of the posts in Argentina’s hard-fought 33-25 win at home to France last month, before using his fresh legs off the bench to put the icing on the cake in their record-breaking 79-5 win over Uruguay.

Looking back to the third-place game of last year’s World Cup, who could forget him bravely stripping two Englishmen out of nowhere to put Argentina ahead after half-time?

He’s one of the most impressive in the team when it comes to lateral vision and situational awareness, and with 15 carries in a single Rugby Championship win over Australia last year, is not afraid of running and attacking with ball in hand. 

Albeit with less confidence than our Reece selection, we’re going to have a little something on the utility to continue his try scoring form.

Best Bet: Santiago Carreras To Score A Try - 5.5 With Luckster Sport