This weekend will see the majority of Southern Hemisphere teams conclude their Northern Hemisphere tours with one final game. As the last packed weekend of international rugby for months, there’s plenty of anticipation and big betting to be had.
The past month has seen yet another contest between the two hemispheres that is almost too close to call. While some of the visiting teams have represented the Southern Hemisphere well with the All Blacks undefeated so far and Argentina upsetting England in Twickenham, others have struggled—South Africa are surprisingly win-less and Australia lost to lowly Italy last weekend.
With that said, the contest between North and South comes down to the final few fixtures. Whichever hemisphere can put in some wins this weekend will feel they have the upper hand heading into the 2023 Rugby World Cup.
※ Current Odds Date & Time: November 18th, 2:00 A.M. (EST)
Looking at the line up of matches, we can see that there are four big Northern Hemisphere vs. Southern Hemisphere clashes occurring this weekend:
- Italy vs. South Africa (Saturday, November 19 at 9:00 a.m. EST)
- Scotland vs. Argentina (Saturday, November 19 at 11:15 a.m. EST)
- England vs. New Zealand (Saturday, November 19 at 1:30 p.m. EST)
- Ireland vs. Australia (Saturday, November 19 at 4:00 p.m. EST)
Of these matches, two are expected to be particularly close. 
Scotland hold a narrow lead over Argentina heading into their match with bookmaker William Hill putting the home side on odds of 1.53 against Argentina’s 2.60. Both teams have been playing good rugby this year making this match a tantalising prospect. Argentina defeated England in Twickenham a fortnight ago as they claimed another big scalp this year after downing the All Blacks in New Zealand a few months ago. Scotland, on the other hand, have only one win from their past two matches, but were very competitive against both the All Blacks and Australia, losing by only eight and one points respectively.
The clash between Scotland and Argentina on Saturday represents something of a rematch from earlier in the year when Argentina scored a last minute try in the third game to claim the series 2-1 between these two. On home soil, Scotland will back their chances for retribution and are a good bet at 1.53 here.
The other big match of the weekend is England vs. the All Blacks, which is shaping up to be one of the matches of the month.
Three years ago, England knocked New Zealand out of the World Cup in what still represents their peak performance in rugby this generation. The Kiwis will still be stinging from that loss and have their first opportunity to avenge the loss this weekend.
New Zealand have been looking better after suffering four losses earlier this year as they have now strung together six wins and won the Rugby Championship. England appear rocky with a recent home loss to Argentina proving unconvincing.
With a lot on the line and a big, physical 23 named ahead of Saturday’s game, expect New Zealand to win an excellent contest here. Odds for this one agree with the All Blacks at 1.67 against England’s 2.25.
