Argentina vs Samoa Prediction & Betting Tips - Rugby World Cup

Prediction published on 20/09/2023, 08:07  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 22/09/2023 at 03:45 in Rugby World Cup Prediction

Argentina take on Samoa in a must-win Group B match. The Pumas are down in fourth place in the group with Samoa in second position. This is the second match for the Pumas after being beaten by England 27-10 in their opening match. That was played on September 9 so it'll be nearly two weeks since that defeat when they play this match. They are yet to earn a point and are five behind Samoa so really need to win this match or their hopes of reaching the last eight will diminish immensely. Argentina struggled to cope with the English side in their opening match but didn't concede any tries. All the England points came from the boot of George Ford. They will try better not to concede drop goals in this match. Argentina reached the semi-finals of the 2015 Rugby World Cup but failed to get out of their group four years ago. A repeat of that is not desired by them this year.

Samoa began their 2023 Rugby World Cup campaign with a 43-10 win over Chile. They struggled for supremacy in the first half but ran away with the match after the break. Manu Samoa will find these South American opponents a lot harder than Chile. They last beat a tier-1 nation in 2014 when defeating Italy. On three occasions they have defeated Argentina but the last time was against a much-changed Argentinan side. It'll be a much stronger one they face on Friday.  The Samoans are ranked a place below Argentina in the world rankings but they haven't reached the last eight since 1995. This could be a tight match but Argentina should come out on top and we back them to win on a -9 point handicap.