France at home to New Zealand has to be the top pick of the weekend.
This weekend throws up a umber of mouth watering international fixtures of which the Twickenham test between England and South Africa I had hoped to see live will have to wait another year. Sometimes nothing aligns and travel this year has not been kind and has been difficult to arrange.
Tonight we start the weekend off with Ireland hosting Argentina and this is a tough one to call. The Irish have not been playing to the standards we have been accustomed to expect and Argentina are a side on the up.
The only thing I can see stopping an Argentine victory is their disciplinary record and we know you cannot win games with players being carded sitting in the bin. Dare say it but the game s 2 minutes old and Argentina already have someone in the bin. Who knows this could be one of those games that could end up in a draw. Some how I do think the Irish will or should sneak this one and would be a shock result if the Argentinians won.
Tomorrow afternoon we see Wales host Australia and this is not a game I expect Wales to win as they are that bad. Australia shocked England last week and if they manage to win again tomorrow they are well on their way to establishing themselves again after a torrid few years dropping down the world rankings.
England take on South Africa having lost 4 in a row and expect to see that number become 5. The forward pack and especially the scrum is going to highlight their weaknesses ad why I give them only a 5% chance of an upset.
The rivalry between these two countries is very strong and South Africa sees it more of an embarrassment to lose to the English. The fans would rather see their side lose to any other team, but not the English. I have not looked at the teams selected for either side, but do expect a comfortable SA win when the final whistle is blown.
Can you imagine being a England fan knowing your best chance of victory in this 4 match Autumn Test Series now lies with Japan. Many expected to beat Australia last week so they are now getting desperate.
The pick of the weekend has to be the France versus New Zealand match played in Paris which is a repeat of the World Cup opening fixture from 2023. France won that game comfortably yet we never know which French side will turn up. I have to go with the All Blacks making another clean sweep this week for the Southern Hemisphere teams.
The last World Cup was all about the press talking up a Northern Hemisphere team to lift the trophy and the teams from down South are too proud to let that happen. The press are their home teams worst enemy and always provide enough ammunition for coaches to fire up their teams.
International matches are normally won on fine margins with a moment of brilliance or a moment of madness. This is what I hope to see and to be fully entertained so we shall see if the Northern Hemisphere can fight back this weekend or not, but if I was a betting man I do not see any major upsets.