If Italy are going to progress to the Quarter Finals of the
World Cup then they’ll need to play out of their skins to do so before they can
even being to think of beating Ireland and this spells trouble for Russia when
they play them tomorrow morning.
Following Ireland’s massive win against the
Wallabies (below), with Italy having already lost to them and having an unenviable
record against Ireland - They’ve not beaten the in green for nearly 14 years (although
they nearly got one over on them in the Six Nations, where missed kicks cost
them) qualification looks beyond them if things go the way that the market sees
them.
Back to the task in hand, and Italy have made steady
improvement now to the point that they are no longer the cast iron certs for
the 6 Nations wooden spoon – They really shouldn’t have been last this year –
And their record against the second tier is largely outstanding.
To underline this, the Azzuri have won all of the matches
since 1990 between these two, and they beat Japan (one of world Rugby’s most improved
sides) 31-24 while also beating Fiji 24-16. While they were beaten fairly
heavily by Australia, Italy held them to 6-6 at the break and the Russians are
a significant drop in class for a side that rarely gets a break in terms of
test Rugby.
As valiant as Russia were against the USA (they only went
down 13-6 against a decent yardstick in the USA) their inexperience showed –
Many handling mistakes were made out wide – And despite looking more at home in
wet conditions they failed to make that many chances.
That’s not to say Russia are there to make up the numbers
but in what is forecasted to be good Rugby weather Italy look fair value to
rack up a decent win and the way to go might be the half time handicap – Italy are
known for strong showings before the break and with plenty of pace in the side
on dry ground, may well be worth value to cover 10 points on the first half
handicap.
Advice
2 pts Italy -9.5 on 1st half handicap (4/5
Bet365)
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