New Zealand vs Australia Prediction & Betting Tips - Test Matchs

Prediction published on 03/08/2023, 09:30  by Devesh Jaganath | Modified on 04/08/2023 at 14:35 in Rugby Predictions

New Zealand and Australia will square off for the second time in as many weeks in a Test match that will serve as preparation for the upcoming Rugby World Cup 2023 in France. These sides met last weekend in the 2023 Rugby Championship, which the All Blacks claimed for the third successive season. New Zealand romped home to a 38-7 victory over the Wallabies at the MCG last week, with Shannon Frizzell, Codie Taylor, Will Jordan, Caleb Clarke, Mark Telea, and Rieko Ioane all getting over the try line. That win came after what was a title-deciding win over the Springboks and a 41-12 mauling of Argentina in the shortened tournament. With those wins, New Zealand are now unbeaten in their last ten matches, winning nine and drawing one. They have also moved above France into second in the world rankings behind Ireland. The All Blacks showed that they have the most settled squad of all the sides in the Southern Hemisphere, and Ian Foster has opted to make 13 changes to the team that beat the Wallabies last weekend. Still, they should have more than enough reinforcements to retain the Bledisloe Cup here. 

Meanwhile, Australian rugby is in a bad way at the moment, and Eddie Jones is running out of time with the World Cup a matter of weeks away from commencing. The Wallabies received the wooden spoon for the first time in six years at this year's Rugby Championship after losing to the All Blacks last week. In the preceding match, Argentina managed a rare win down under, beating the Wallabies 34-31, which followed the Australian being demolished 42-12 by the Springboks on opening weekend. They have now lost six of their last seven international matches and eight of their last ten. Tate McDermott has been selected to lead Australia in the upcoming Test and will be tasked with bringing an end to a six-match losing streak against the mighty All Blacks. The Wallabies are massive outsiders and will need to be at their absolute best, or they could find themselves on the wrong side of another big scoreline.