Wales vs Argentina Betting Tips: Two predictions for Saturday's Rugby World Cup quarter final
An epic weekend of Rugby World Cup action will take place in France and the first quarter-final will see Wales and Argentina do battle in Marseille on Saturday afternoon. Both will fancy their chances of booking a last-four spot and setting up a semi-final clash with either Ireland or New Zealand, who do battle on Saturday night.
Here at BettingOdds.com we are all set for a fantastic weekend of world class rugby union and our man Steve Chambers has picked out his two best bets for Wales v Argentina, which could be a very close encounter....
Wales v Argentina Tips
Semi-finalists at the 2019 Rugby World Cup, Wales are well fancied to book their place in the last-four again as Warren Gatland's side go into Saturday afternoon's clash with Argentina as the red-hot 4/7 favourites with BoyleSports. Argentina have been pretty ordinary throughout the tournament, but managed to scrape through alongside England, but the South Americans are as big as 15/8 with bet365 to win the match in 80 minutes, while the possible draw is available at 22/1 with BetMGM.
Four wins from four in Pool C sees Wales head to Marseille in high spirits and they showed earlier in the tournament with their 40-6 thumping of Australia that on their day they are a really talented side. A repeat of that performance against the Wallabies would prove too much for Argentina, but the South Americans surely have a lot more in the locker than what they have showed in the tournament, as having been drab against England in defeat in their first match they were far from dominant when dispatching of Samoa and Japan.
Wales dominate the head-to-head record winning 15 of the previous 22 clashes, but Argentina did defeat them at the Millennium Stadium two mettings ago 33-11, so they have the tools to down their European opponents. Both Wales and Argentina have both had pretty straightforward paths to the knockout stages, but Argentina showed glimpses in the closing stages of their win over Japan in their last match that they could potentially edge past Wales in the closing stages of the game. Despite winning all four games, Wales were perilously close to being beaten by Fiji in their first match, as Fiji racked up some late tries against a shaky Wales rearguard, so if Argentina can put pressure on Wales then they could prevail.
A key thing for Argentina is to stop Wales playing quick-ball from the breakdown, so they need to turn it into a real turgid affair, so it may be a clash for the purist, but if Argentina can pressurise Wales with ball in hand and not allow them to get the ball wide then Argentina could be the value play to sneak the win.
Wales winger Louis Rees-Zammit is the only man to start all five Rugby World Cup games for Gatland's men and he has already grabbed himself five tries during the tournament, so the 9/1 with BetMGM for him to score the first try looks a decent bet, as it would be no shock to see Wales go into the break with a lead.
Dan Biggar's ability with the boot is certainly a huge bonus for Wales and if they can grab some early penalties with Argentina stepping over the mark at the breakdown then Wales could get in front. But, as the South Americans learn through the game what referee Jaco Peyper will allow at the breakdown then they could well give away a lot less penalties. So, with that in mind, it could be worth snapping up the very attractive 10/1 with Betfred for Wales to be winning at half-time and for Argentina to be winning at full-time.
Wales showed in the last 10 minutes against Fiji earlier in the tournament they can be a rather shaky if the pressure is put on them in the closing stages and with Argentina blossoming against Japan late on then the 10/1 is far too big to let go in a contest that may not have the quality of some of the other knockout games this weekend, but it should certainly be a real nail-biter for players and fans alike of both nations.
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