New Zealand v Ireland - 2nd Test

It’s been 25 test meetings since Ireland eat New Zealand and that stat doesn’t look like it’s about to change when the best of three test series moves to Christchurch this morning (with the venue hosting its first test in 2 years after the earthquake that ravaged it so badly), with Ireland as big as 14/1 to level the series, and New Zealand as short as 1/50. The World Cup winners give up 24 points on the handicap with some firms and it wouldn’t surprise anyone to see that marker stretched in face of support for the hosts.

With only half an hour to go until kickoff, things have to be kept short and sweet but the best bets this week might be on middle distance winning margins of 21 – 30 and 25-36. Ireland were below away with ease at Eden Park but they didn’t want for lack of creative opportunities in the first half, moving the ball out wide with good pace at times, and will be bolstered by the return of some figures.  Gordon D’Aarcy , famed for having an excellent understanding with Brian O’Driscoll not only offensively but also coming back on himself, while Andrew Trimble also provides a sharp finisher in the case that they should get any opportunities.  Mike Ross and Kevin McLaughin might also add some extra strength into the engine room, while hopefully the freshness that’s brought in from not only those new faced, but a rest of a week – Leinster particularly had an excruciating season – could move the two sides a little closer, so also consider the 26-30 point winning margin at 6/1 with Blue Sq.

Beating Steve Hansen’s side should be out of the question for the men in green, but with the above factors listed and the weather, there’s reason to think they might take a couple of points off the board and that makes a dutch of the two correct winning margins quite tempting – it would have landed in last week’s game – while New Zealand to score 36 points or more should also be considered strongly with Ladbrokes. The All Blacks were playing their first competitive game since winning the World Cup Final in October last week, so in the event that they might actually improve upon their performance. It’s been a cold, wet day in Cristchurch so far but conditions are set for running rugby and both Richie McCaw and Steve Hansen have said that lifting their foot off the pedal is no option for them. "If you think you've got it sorted, you'll come unstuck, so there's quite a few areas where we need to be better," he (McCaw) was quoted as saying before the match on Friday, while an unchanged side apart from one forced absence in Victor Vito is an obvious sign of the head coach’s contentedness with life at the moment in the camp.

Advice

1 pt New Zealand to win by 25-36 points (2/1 Betfred)

1 pt New Zealand to win by 21-30 points (9/4 Betfred)

1 pt New Zealand to win by 26-30 points (6/1 Blue Sq)