South Africa vs. Wales Odds: Back The Springboks to stroll to success on Saturday

The third Test of a bumper Saturday of rugby will see Wales look for their first ever win against the Springboks on South African soil. The game will kick off at 4:05pm GMT, and you can watch it live on Sky Sports.

After a poor Six Nations, Wales will be looking to bounce back in style here, but face a formidable task ahead of them. Having lost all 10 of their previous encounters in South Africa, coach Wayne Pivac knows that they can create history, and is set to make changes from their 22-21 defeat to Italy just months ago.

There’s a number of changes in the Springboks starting XV, with French Top 14 Finalist Elton Jantjies getting the nod at fly half over Handre Pollard, and the electric Damian Willemse slotting in at full-back over Willie le Roux.

Wales will be boosted by the availability of George North and Dan Lydiate after long term injuries, and the question remains over whether 150-cap man Alun Wyn Jones will start in the second row.

The Welsh side will be announced on Thursday, so take the starting lineup into consideration with your bets. As ever, we’ve looked ahead to the game, and picked out two tips that look good to us.

Starting off with our first bet of the game, we’re going to look at the second half to bring the most tries, at 5/6 with Paddy Power. The thinking behind this is a relatively simple train of thought. Given these two sides haven’t played on South African soil for eight years, and factoring in the components of the crowd and the altitude of the Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria, you have to think that Wales will want to keep it tight early, and hold off the Springboks pressure.

But the altitude is something the Welsh won’t be used to here, and that will more than likely lead to tired legs in the second 40, creating plenty of chances for the South African midfield to drive through to cross the white line.

Leading on, the markets are suggesting that this is going to be a walk in the park for the home side on Saturday, and whilst it’s difficult to underestimate the Welsh, I can’t personally see anything other than a comfortable South African win.

With the Springboks as short as 1/25 with some bookies’, we’ve gone elsewhere in our elusive hunt for value, and landed with a familiar friend, in the form of the winning margin market.

Given that at the time of writing, the Welsh side hasn’t yet been announced, player markets aren’t currently up, so factoring in all of the previously mentioned components, we’re taking a punt of the home side to end the game with an 11-15 point winning market, priced at 13/2 with Betfair and William Hill.

Best of luck if you’re following any of this weekend’s rugby tips, and please remember to gamble responsibly.