Rugby Autumn International Series

Bit late, but well, it's not like that's a surprise.

Wales v Argentina
this should be the best of the matches. I suspect the UK press has underestimated the Pumas, and their emphasis on the Puma scrum suggests they haven't seen much of their recent play. The logical money should be on Wales, although their tight 5 have been, as usual, decimated by injury. What might be more of a factor is that Argentina are battle hardened from the Aus/NZ/SA/Arg series, whereas this is the first Welsh test for awhile.
I would expect the Welsh fitness to be higher, as thats something they do focus on, so the clincher is likely to be Welsh discipline - they do give away a lot of penalties, and the Pumas have good kickers.

Pick: Wales by 5-10.

England v Fiji
The press has been trumpeting a new beginning to English rugby, as they do every year, and every year howls of derision are heard outside of the RFU. Stuart Lancaster does seem to have a clue on how to meld a team, and the complete restructure of the RFU does hold out some hope. Having said that, if they don't beat Fiji convincingly then Lancaster maybe following the house of L last King (Henry VI).

Pick: England by 20.

Ireland v SA
Not the best season for SA, but unless Ireland have found some fresh ideas and new blood, SA should still win this. The lack of tighthead props in Ireland has been dramatically exposed with a new boy, from NZ, being parachuted in - of the four major Irish rugby teams, three have foreign tightheads, and the only local boy is injured. Heh heh.

Pick: SA by 10-15.

Italy v Tonga
Couldn't care less.

Pick: Pasta eaters by 10

France v Aussie
Could be an interesting game, not sure if it's on TV tho'. France could play very well, and Aussie are not having a great time of it. So it should be close. The French provincial teams are playing well, so I think I'd back the French.

Pick: cheese eating surrender monkeys by 3-5.

Scotland v NZ
Scotland haven't beaten NZ in 107 years of rugby. This weekend will not change that. The potential exists in the Scottish team as their players are good, and play well as a team - mainly as they're drawn from the Glasgow and Edinburgh Euro teams so know each other well. NZ are on a blinder, and are probably playing better now than they did during the world cup, new blood is performing well (that is not a twilight reference), and I'll try to avoid bringing it up on Tues.

Pick: NZ by 20+.

Love, B