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Neither side have been anywhere near their best in this Rugby Championship but both will be aiming to end on a positive note in Wellington.
START DATE/TIME: Saturday 28th September, 2024: UK – 8:05am / US ET – 3:05am / US PT – 12:05am
HOW TO WATCH ON TV: UK – Sky Sports / US – Not televised
HOW TO WATCH ONLINE: UK – Sky Go / US – FloRugby
NEW ZEALAND FORM: NOT THE KIWIS’ FINEST HOUR
Although their two contests with South Africa will be remembered for some time, New Zealand will want to quickly move on from this Rugby Championship as their four-year reign as holders has come to an end.
The All Blacks were somewhat complacent last week as, after racing into an early 21-0 lead against Australia, they almost relinquished control of the match as the Wallabies came racing back. However, New Zealand ultimately held on for a 31-28 victory that earned them the Bledisloe Cup.
LAST FIVE: LWLLW
AUSTRALIA FORM: DESTINED FOR THE WOODEN SPOON
It’s been a thoroughly miserable tournament for Australia, who are all but mathematically certain of finishing bottom of the Rugby Championship. The Wallabies have been well short of the performances required to compete with their southern hemisphere rivals, and are yet to perform under Joe Schmidt’s leadership.
Their one highlight of the tournament was a last-gasp win over Argentina in round three, although they followed that with a humiliating 40-point defeat to the same opponents just a week later.
LAST FIVE: LLWLL
NEW ZEALAND TEAM NEWS: IMPRESSIVE CALEB CLARKE STARTS AGAIN
SQUAD: 15 Will Jordan, 14 Sevu Reece, 13 Rieko Ioane, 12 Anton Lienert-Brown, 11 Caleb Clarke, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 TJ Perenara, 8 Ardie Savea, 7 Sam Cane, 6 Wallace Sititi, 5 Tupou Vaa’i, 4 Scott Barrett (captain), 3 Tyrel Lomax, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Ethan de Groot
REPLACEMENTS: 16 Asafo Aumua, 17 Tamaiti Williams, 18 Pasilio Tosi, 19 Patrick Tuipulotu, 20 Luke Jacobson, 21 Cortez Ratima, 22 Damian McKenzie, 23 David Havili
AUSTRALIA TEAM NEWS: DYLAN PIETSCH TO MAKE FIRST START
SQUAD: 15 Tom Wright, 14 Andrew Kellaway, 13 Len Ikitau, 12 Hunter Paisami, 11 Dylan Pietsch, 10 Noah Lolesio, 9 Jake Gordon, 8 Harry Wilson (captain), 7 Fraser McReight, 6 Rob Valetini, 5 Jeremy Williams, 4 Nick Frost, 3 Taniela Tupou, 2 Matt Faessler, 1 Angus Bell
REPLACEMENTS: 16 Brandon Paenga-Amosa, 17 Isaac Kailea, 18 Allan Alaalatoa, 19 Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, 20 Langi Gleeson, 21 Tate McDermott, 22 Ben Donaldson, 23 Josh Flook
NEW ZEALAND VS AUSTRALIA
PREDICTION
It’s been clear throughout this Rugby Championship that Australia have plenty of work to do if they are to climb back to the pinnacle of world rugby, and their shortcomings have been exposed time and time again. Their relatively inexperienced squad did show some fight last weekend in Sydney, but ultimately came up short again, and with this weekend’s contest taking place in Wellington, another defeat looks on the cards.
With the All Blacks still in with a chance of finishing second in the table should Argentina fail to beat South Africa in the other fixture, expect a comfortable victory for the hosts.
NEW ZEALAND VS AUSTRALIA
TIP: NEW ZEALAND TO WIN WITH -14 HANDICAP
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