The underdogs rise continues at this World Cup with Canada
the latest team to spring an upset against Tonga thanks to some awful ball
handling and 2 easy missed penalties from Kurt Morath, albeit a deserved one,
and it’s now the turn of Russia to step onto the world’s biggest Rugby stage
against the USA.
The most impressive thing about Russia’s rise to the world cup
is that there are only 5 players in the squad who do not play in Russia; The
rest are all home based, which is a tremendous achievement given the use of the
Guinness Premiership and Top 14 for other nations.
Melbourne Rebels lock Adam Byrnes, Northampton Saints wing
Vasily Artemyev, Sale Sharks lock Andrey Ostrikov, Viatcheslav Grachev
(France), and Konstantin Rachkov of Stade Phocéen in Marseille all give quality
to the Russian charge, but they’ve got work to do on this stage against a USA
side which gave Ireland a few problems despite being demolished by the scrum regularly
on Saturday.
Russia’s last competitive encounter was against the
Americans in the Churchill Cup when they lost 32-25 and 13 of the starting XV
will take the Eagles on again, so the formguide looks fairly solid while
treated with caution.
While the Bears should be able to put up a good fight with
some solid but technical play, the USA’s pace when asked could be the undoing
of their chances. dangerous wingers Takudzwa Ngwenya (above left) and James Paterson are
joined by Saracens utility back Chris Wyles, which makes the US more of a
threat.
I can’t have them at 6 points on the handicap – Indeed with
wind in the air and possible showers I’d be going under on the points at 42.5
(3 put of the last 5 USA matches under and both teams likely to keep it tight
with an emphasis on results) but I see better value in the USA to win by 1-12
points, which has been the outcome in 4 of their last 5 successes.
Advice: 2 pts USA to win by 1-12 points (15/8 Ladbrokes)
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