Round one of The Cardiffian’s predictions face-off is complete.
Phil expertly predicted that Scotland would defeat Argentina by a margin of three, but it is the consistency of John – correctly predicting Scotland, New Zealand and Australia victories to within five points – that sees him take top spot with 110 points to Phil’s 90.
Elgan languishes in last with a paltry 30. Bold predicting is required.
A reminder of the scoring system for anyone playing along at home:
- 10 points if you successfully predict the winner of the match
- 30 points if you successfully predict the winner and the margin you predicted is within five of the correct margin
- 50 points if you successfully predict the winner and the correct margin
This weekend, we have nine titanic tussles to predict:
Samoa vs Canada
A battle between two teams who are yet to win this autumn. Samoa followed up a 52-8 loss to France with a 20-16 reverse in Tbilisi against Georgia, while Canada were defeated 21-16 by Romania a week after a 52-21 defeat to Ireland. The match is taking place in Grenoble, France.
Philip Samoa by 5
John Canada by 6
Elgan Canada by 4
Italy vs Tonga
Fresh from an historic victory over South Africa, who would bet against Italy toppling Tonga? The South Sea Islanders have registered wins by 28-13 over Spain and 20-17 against the USA.
Philip Italy by 12
John Italy by 8
Elgan Italy by 15
England vs Argentina
An ominous-looking England have comfortably beaten South Africa and Fiji without hitting top gear. Argentina will need to find their scoring shoes, missing so far in defeats to Wales and Scotland.
Philip England by 18
John England by 12
Elgan England by 22
Scotland vs Georgia
An improving Scotland side will take heart from their 19-16 win over Argentina after an agonising defeat to Australia the week before. Georgia make the trip to Scotland after a win over Samoa and a defeat to Japan.
Philip Scotland by 3
John Scotland by 17
Elgan Scotland by 19
Romania vs Uruguay
Uruguay make the trip to Bucharest to face a confident team after victories over the USA and Canada. It’s been a very different autumn for the visitors, having lost 24-21 to Germany and 33-16 to Spain.
Philip Draw
John Romania by 14
Elgan Romania by 6
Ireland vs Australia
An absolute humdinger in store in Dublin with the home side coming off the back of two monstrous encounters with the All Blacks, while Australia are still on track for an autumn grand slam.
Philip Australia by 7
John Australia by 3
Elgan Ireland by 14
Wales vs South Africa
Wales have stuttered their way to two wins over Argentina and Japan, while a troubled South Africa will be fired up to right the wrongs of a 37-21 defeat to England and a first defeat against Italy.
Philip Wales by 7
John South Africa by 4
Elgan South Africa by 1
France vs New Zealand
The All Blacks face-off against the only European side to have beaten them on more than 10 occasions, but this France team isn’t quite what it used to be. Last time the two sides met, New Zealand won and it got ugly.
Philip New Zealand by 15
John New Zealand by 13
Elgan New Zealand by 36
Fiji vs Japan
These two sides meet up in Vannes, France, fresh from two defeats to England and Wales respectively. The Twickenham defeat was Fiji’s first match of the autumn, while Japan lost 54-20 to Argentina in their opener before beating Georgia 28-22.
Philip Japan by 9
John Fiji by 4
Elgan Japan by 7
Reply with your predictions and come back next week to see who’s top of the table.
