The Rugby Championship Preview – week 2.

The sooner we forget about that first weekend of Rugby Championship action the better. It was as boring and aimless as an episode of Boots & All, but thankfully not quite as drawn out.

New weekend ahead though and a new weekend of fixtures to sit your arse in front of the TV for.

Saturday: New Zealand vs Australia 09:30

TheBounce says: New Zealand by 18

Crackerometer: 8

New Zealand

15: Israel Dagg 14: Cory Jane 13: Ma’a Nonu 12: Sonny Bill Williams 11: Hosea 10: Dan Carter 9: Aaron Smith 8: Kieran Read 7: Richie McCaw 6: Liam Messam 5: Sam Whitelock 4: Luke Romano 3: Owen Franks 2: Keven Mealamu 1: Wyatt Crockett

Replacements:

16: Andrew Hore 17: Ben Franks 18: Brodie Retallick 19: Victor Vito 20: Piri Weepu 21: Aaron Cruden 22: Ben Smith

Australia

15: Adam Ashley-Cooper 14: Drew Mitchell 13: Rob Horne 12: Berrick Barnes 11: Digby Ioane 10:Quade Cooper 9: Will Genia 8: Scott Higginbotham 7: Michael Hooper 6: Dave Dennis 5: Nathan Sharpe 4: Sitaleki Timani 3: Ben Alexander 2: Tatafu Polota-Nau 1: Benn Robinson

Replacements:

16: Saia Fainga’a 17: James Slipper 18: Liam Gill 19: Radike Samo 20: Kurtley Beale 21: Nick Phipps 22: Anthony Fainga’a

Both teams looked like they had roofied each other last week as the All Blacks jogged in for an uninspiring win. The world champs will have more zip at home this week, and that spells further bad news for the wounded Aussies.

Saturday: Argentina vs South Africa 21:00

TheBounce says: South Africa by 10

Crackerometer: 7

Argentina

15: Martin Rodriguez 14: Gonzalo Camacho 13: Marcelo Bosch 12: Santiago Fernandez 11: Horacio Agulla 10: TBA 9: Nicolas Vergalio 8: Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe 7: Alvaro Galindo 6: Julio Farias Cabello 5: Patricio Albacete 4: Manuel carizza 3: Juan Figallo 2: Eusebio Guinazu 1: Rodrigo Roncero

Replacements

16: Martin Bustos Moyano 17: Marcos Ayerza 18: Juan Pablo Orlandi 19: Tomas Leonardi 20: Leonardo Senatore 21: Martin Landajo 22: Lucas Gonzalez Amorosino

Springboks

15: Zane Kirchner 14:  Bryan Habana 13: Jean de Villiers 12: Frans Steyn 11: Lwazi Mvovo 10: Morne Steyn 9: Francois Hougaard 8: Willem Alberts 7: Jacques Potgieter 6: Marcel Coetzee 5: Andries Bekker 4: Eben Etzebeth 3: Jannie du Plessis 2: Adriaan Strauss  1: Beast Mtwarira

Replacements:

16: Tiaan Liebenberg 17: Pat Cilliers 18: Flip van der Merwe 19: Keegan Daniel 20: Ruan Pienaar 21: Pat Lambie 22: JJ Engelbrecht

I really expected more from the Argies last week at Newlands. But something tells me that what I was expecting then will be delivered this week as they play their first home game in the Rugby Championships. Still expecting a Bok win though regardless of what they bring to the party.

WIN WITH BMW AND THE SPRINGBOKS

Predict the outcomes of the Bok games this year and you could win a trip to Twickenham to watch the Boks in November. All you need to do is play the BMW prediction game by clicking here and you could be the winner of this great prize.