It’s the big one. This Saturday sees the British and Irish Lions faceAustraliain their first test of the series against the Wallabies down under. The Lions will run out at the Suncorp Stadium inBrisbaneoff the back of the first defeat of the tour to the Brumbies who stole a 14-12 victory and left plenty to think about for the team as they go into the first test match of the tour. Despite this, the lads from this muddy North-Atlantic archipelago are the bookies favourite to triumph in this fixture and I am tipping them to scrape a hard-fought victory today too, best priced at 4/6 with Ladbrokes.
There have been many criticisms bandied about regarding the weakness of the Lions Line-out and the subsequent difficulties experienced in controlling meaningful territory. We can be sure that Warren Gatland will have been doing everything he can to iron out this glaring crease in the Lions’ game in the last week. A further criticism faced by the team following the match are the doubts about the kicking quality, a 67% completion rate of four from six is good, but in elite test Rugby the Lions need an 80% conversion rate at least. That isn’t to blame the inexperienced kicker, 20 year old Stuart Hogg, but the lack of a third kicking fly-half in the original Lions squad; which brings me on to the issue of the squad.
It’s no secret that this Lions Squad has been hit by injury, in fact, it’s gone 15 rounds in the ring with injury. The result has been a squad in recovery and a weakened side that lost inCanberrawith many players being flown in to replace the injured men. Fortunately the side has been bolstered by the return of the Winger George North to the side with the hope that the powerful footballer can terrorise the Wallabies from the off. Confidence is said to be high within the camp and we should have a cracking match on our hands.
What’s on the Specials Menu?
If O’Driscoll scores a try then Paddy Power will return all losing try scorer bets on the match. Similarly, Ladbrokes are refunding first tryscorer and winning margin bets if an Irish player scores the first or last try of the test. On the other hand, Betvictor are offering to refund any first, last or anytime try scorer bets with a free bet should the Lions lose in any of the three tests against the Wallabies.
Close, but there may actually be a cigar.
The recovering nature of the Lions squad will be a levelling influence on the first test, bringing the two teams closer and promising a game with very little margin for error. A punt on a British and Irish Lions winning margin of 1-12 covers this narrow win and a possible late surge from either team at 13/10 with Skybet.
Handy tips on the Handicaps
I’m tipping a -3.5 no draw handicap bet on the Lions, best priced at 10/11 with Coral. This essentially means that the Aussies get a bit of a head start and levels the playing field slightly more in their favour. Following their defeat to the Brumbies the Lions will come out all guns blazing, so this seems to be a sensible way to get the most from a Lions victory.
Min deposit requirement. Registration Required. Free Bets are paid as Bet Credits and are available for use upon settlement of qualifying bets. Min odds, bet and payment method exclusions apply. Returns exclude Bet Credits stake. Time limits and T&Cs apply
Click to ClaimJack produces topical blogs for Howtobet4free tackling the key issues in the world of sport. Jack also publishes articles for a number of publications each week, and can be found on Twitter by following @JWinterr.
