Who are you picking to win The Rugby Championship Round 6 matches?
The 2012 Rugby Championship has been decided with one round remaining, but there is still plenty to play for in Round 6. The All Blacks will be looking to get another victory as they march towards the world record for most consecutive test wins. A little known fact is that they have won 15 test matches on the trot since their defeat to Australia in the Tri Nations last year, but Lithuania holds the current record with 18 consecutive wins. Standing in their way will be a rejuvenated Springboks team who easily accounted for Australia and if their goalkicking was better earlier this season would have probably beaten the All Blacks in Dunedin. The Pumas are hoping to get their maiden win in the Rugby Championship this season and a win would surely justify their inclusion in the competition.
South Africa vs New Zealand
The All Blacks have made two changes to their starting team with Hosea Gear's experience being preferred to Julian Savea on the left wing, while big Brodie Retallick starts in place of the slightly injured Luke Romano. The Springboks have made no changes to their team. Plenty will depend on the two goalkickers from both team as unusually for the Springboks their kickers haven't been very successful. The Springboks will be fired up for this clash and both teams come off big wins last week. Even though the All Blacks have sewn up the Rugby Championship, they will be wanting to break this record for most consecutive test match wins which has eluded them for such a long time.
This game could go either way. The All Blacks should win, but the Springboks look better without Morne Steyn.
My pick - All Blacks by 10 points.
Players to buy - Israel Dagg, Dan Carter, Kieran Read, Ma'a Nonu, Bryan Habana, Cory Jane, Adrian Strauss, Francois Louw.
Bargains - Johan Goosen, Brodie Retallick.
Team: 15-Zane Kirchner, 14-Bryan Habana, 13-Jaco Taute, 12-Jean de Villiers, 11-Francois Hougaard, 10-Johan Goosen, 9-Ruan Pienaar, 8-Duane Vermeulen, 7-Willem Alberts, 6-Francois Louw, 5-Andries Bekker, 4-Eben Etzebeth, 3-Jannie du Plessis, 2-Adriaan Strauss, 1-Tendai Mtawarira
Replacements: 16-Tiaan Liebenberg, 17-Coenie Oosthuizen, 18-Flip van der Merwe, 19-Marcell Coetzee, 20-Elton Jantjies, 21-Juan de Jongh, 22-Pat Lambie
New Zealand: 15-Israel Dagg, 14-Cory Jane, 13-Conrad Smith, 12-Ma'a Nonu, 11-Hosea Gear, 10-Dan Carter, 9-Aaron Smith, 8-Kieran Read, 7-Richie McCaw (captain), 6-Liam Messam, 5-Sam Whitelock, 4-Brodie Retallick, 3-Owen Franks, 2-Andrew Hore, 1-Tony Woodcock.
Replacements: 16-Keven Mealamu, 17-Ben Franks, 18-Luke Romano, 19-Adam Thomson, 20-Piri Weepu, 21-Aaron Cruden, 22-Tamati Ellison
Argentina vs Australia
Argentina has an outside chance at avoiding the wooden spoon and would love nothing more than winning a match in their debut season in the Rugby Championship and prove that they are worthy of their inclusion in the competition. Argentina attacked the All Blacks well last week, but got blown away after a promising start. Expect the home side to win the physical battle against the weary Wallabies. This match in many regards is even more intriguing than the other match of the round. Argentina has become everyone's second team in the competition with their refreshing style of play and fans. The teams for this match haven't been named yet, but Argentina are slight favourites with bookies since the Wallabies are struggling with injuries. Who will wear the Number 15 jersey is anyone's guess!
Argentina vs Australia
Argentina: 15 Lucas Gonzalez Amorosino, 14 Gonzalo Camacho, 13
Marcelo Bosch, 12 Santiago Fernandez, 11 Horacio Agulla, 10 Juan Martin
Hernandez, 9 Martin Landajo, 8 Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe (c), 7 Juan
Manuel Leguizamon, 6 Julio Farias Cabello, 5 Patricio Albacete, 4 Manuel
Carizza, 3 Juan Figallo, 2 Eusebio Guinazu, 1 Rodrigo Roncero.
Replacements:
16 Agustin Creevy, 17 Juan Pablo Orlandi, 18 Leonardo Senatore, 19
Tomas Leonardi, 20 Nicolas Vergallo, 21 Nicolás Sánchez, 22 Juan Imhoff.
Australia: 15 Mike Harris, 14 Nick Cummins, 13 Ben Tapuai, 12 Pat
McCabe, 11 Digby Ioane, 10 Kurtley Beale, 9 Nick Phipps, 8 Radike Samo,
7 Michael Hooper, 6 Sitaleki Timani, 5 Nathan Sharpe (capt), 4 Kane
Douglas, 3 Ben Alexander, 2 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 1 James Slipper.
Replacements:
16 Saia Fainga'a, 17 Benn Robinson, 18 Dave Dennis, 19 Scott
Higginbotham, 20 Liam Gill, 21 Brett Sheehan, 22 Dominic Shipperley.
My pick - I think the Wallabies will enjoy getting some of their injured players back and deny Argentina a victory. Australia by 7.
Players to watch - assuming they are playing - Juan Martin Hernandez, Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe, Nathan Sharpe, Tatafu Polatu Nau, Kurtley Beale.
Bargains - Michael Hooper, Gonzalo Camacho.
Who are you picking to win The Rugby Championship Round 6 matches?
http://www.superrugbytips.com/2012/10/the-rugby-championship-round-6-preview.html
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