Blink, and you miss it. After barely a week, we’re already crossing the halfway point of this year’s Rugby Championship. Given the condensed format courtesy of the upcoming Rugby World Cup, the 2023 Rugby Championship is a sudden-death shootout – and New Zealand and South Africa fired the first shots last weekend. Can Australia and Argentina bounce back this weekend?
The opening round of the Rugby Championship saw two matches that played out as expected. This round, however, the outcomes are far from certain. In what will almost definitely be the deciding round of the competition, South Africa travel to New Zealand to take on the All Blacks in a top-of-the-table clash, while Australia host Argentina in a battle to stay alive.
We break down all the latest 2023 Rugby Championship odds and deliver our 2023 Rugby Championship Round 2 betting tips.
| ℹ️ Tournament: | 2023 Lipovitan-D Rugby Championship |
| 🏟️ Venues: | Stadiums in New Zealand, South Africa, Australia, and Argentina |
| 🗓️ Dates: | 8th to 29th July 2023 |
| 🗓️ Round 2 Dates: | Saturday 16 July to Sunday 17 July |
Before jumping into our 2023 Rugby Championship Round 2 betting tips, let’s see what the rugby union betting apps have to say about how each team is placed to win the tournament outright. Here are the latest 2023 Rugby Championship odds:
Unsurprisingly, the two teams that suffered losses have seen their odds increase drastically. Australia are now on 13.00 (12/1), while Argentina are heavy underdogs at 101.00 (100/1). The winning sides have seen only slight shifts in their odds, with New Zealand strengthening to 1.50 (1/2), and South Africa improving as well to 2.75 (7/4).
Looking ahead to round two of the Rugby Championship 2023, here’s how the odds for Saturday night’s big clash in New Zealand are shaping up:
Playing at home, New Zealand are heavy favorites to defeat the Springboks. They lead the odds by 1.33 (1/3) compared to 3.30 (23/10) for South Africa.
Australia are similarly heavy favorites against Argentina, with the home team paying 1.28 (2/7) to win on the weekend. Argentina are well behind in the odds, sitting at 3.75 (11/4).
After one round of action, here’s how the Rugby Championship 2023 table is looking so far:
| Team | Wins | Losses | Points | Points Differential |
| South Africa | 1 | 0 | 5 | +31 |
| New Zealand | 1 | 0 | 5 | +29 |
| Argentina | 0 | 1 | 0 | -29 |
| Australia | 0 | 1 | 0 | -31 |
Both New Zealand and South Africa put on impressive displays to blow away their opposition. South Africa did it at home against arguably a stronger team, winning 43-12 over Australia. New Zealand, on the other hand, were on the road and still surprised online rugby bookies, beating Argentina 41-12.
This puts a clear rift in the Rugby Championship table already, with the winner of New Zealand and South Africa putting one hand on the trophy this weekend, while the loser of Argentina and Australia will have their title hopes extinguished.
Argentina to Beat Australia @ 3.75 (11/4)
2 (67%)
(33%) 1
Looking at the second match of the weekend, this is where our 2023 Rugby Championship Round 2 betting tips get a little spicy. It’s an upset, and we say Argentina are going to cause a boilover in Sydney.
The honest truth is neither side looked flash last week and were thoroughly dispatched by better opposition. However, Argentina were much improved in the second half against the All Blacks, actually winning the final 40 minutes 12-10. They have fared well in Australia over recent years and won their last encounter 48-17.
Add in the fact that Argentina are coached by Michael Cheika, the ex-head coach of Australia, and we say the Argentines will have even some advantage in this match and come out victorious.
We’re picking an upset in our Round 2 Rugby Championship 2023 predictions, it comes at the hands of Argentina. While the top of the table clash between New Zealand and South Africa is attracting all the attention, we say it will be Argentina who come out on top of the weekend with a big win over Australia.
