More action from the 2015 Rugby World Cup’s “Pool of Death” will continue in Birmingham this coming Sunday when Australia squares off with Uruguay.
The Wallabies had a formidable test in Fiji for the team’s first game, but still prevailed with the win. Meanwhile, Uruguay barely got to put up points on Wales in its opening bout. Can Los Teros give the Aussies more than they can handle this weekend?
Find out more with our preview of their compelling match below, and don’t forget to check out our other preview on Pool A’s heavyweight matchup in England vs. Wales afterwards.
[sc:Other240banner ]Australia’s 2015 Rugby World Cup campaign got off to a great start given the 28-13 win over World No. 9 Fiji in Cardiff this past Wednesday. The victory marks the team’s 15th-straight World Cup Pool Stage match without a loss.
An early boost was provided by flanker David Pocock, who put up a pair of tries before the half. And just when the Pacific Islanders were starting to make a run in the second frame, prop Sekope Kepu crossed the whitewash for the team’s third try of the game to put the Aussies up by 17 and cement their hold on the impending victory.
Unfortunately for Australia, those three tries against the Flying Fijians weren’t enough for the team to garner a bonus point from their win, leaving them one mark behind juggernauts Wales and England in Pool A’s current standings. As such, look for the Wallabies to take out their aggression by piling up more tries on lowly Uruguay this coming Sunday.
And if Australia can’t get four valuable tries against the South Americans, at least it can rest easy on the knowledge that Bernard Foley will boot in some quality points to secure a win. The fly-half kicked-in three penalties and a pair of conversions for the Aussies on Saturday to keep Fiji in check.
Betting on Uruguay
Uruguay’s return to the grandest stage of the sport was greeted with a rude welcome by Wales, who demolished the South Americans, 54-9, this past Sunday in Millennium Stadium.
Los Teros actually got an early 6-0 lead, but that was before Wales went on a tear of its own by putting up four tries before the half to run away with an insurmountable lead. The Welsh’s Cory Allen recorded a hat trick in a span of 20 minutes as the main contributor to those four tries, while Rhys Priestland racked up seven more conversions to pad Wales’ deficit over Uruguay.
Outside of fly-half Felipe Berchesi, the Uruguayans saw no other scoring support from the rest of their squad. Berchesi accounted for all of the team’s nine points in the match, all on penalties.
Crossing the whitewash continues to be the main problem for Los Teros in the World Cup, where they have tallied just 10 tries in eight RWC matches to date. On the flipside, kicking for points doesn’t seem to be an issue, as 21 of their other points have come from either conversions (6) or penalties (15).
Booting their way to victory will not cut it for the Uruguayans against the frightening Wallabies. And while Sunday’s upcoming match will be the first-ever meeting between these two teams, there’s no prior proof that Uruguay can realistically compete with World No. 2 Australia.
In the 2003 World Cup, which was also the last time that Uruguay qualified for the tournament, perennial Cup contenders South Africa and Scotland outscored the team for a combined 82-15 mark. Los Teros, unsurprisingly, lost both of those matches given the fact that all 15 points also just came from mere penalties.
Writer’s Prediction
Australia effortlessly routs Uruguay, 58-6.
Create a betting account now before the Rugby World Cup sizzles up even hotter as the pivotal knockout stage approaches ever so closer.
