Another highly unpredictable weekend of Autumn Internationals saw Ireland and New Zealand contest a brutal match, England and Fiji play out a 12-try battle, Wales nick a late drop goal to beat Japan in a thrilling game, Australia edge France, and Italy stun the Springboks.
This should be another fine week as England take on Argentina, who went down to a last minute Greig Laidlaw penalty in Scotland last week, before strugglers Wales and South Africa hope to end their series' on a high as they face each other in Cardiff.
Ireland finish what has been a fine series against Australia while France play New Zealand, looking to make up for last year's 62-13 thrashing. Finally Scotland play Georgia, with the latter looking to prove they deserve to play Six Nations Rugby.
My predictions have been lousy so far, and this week I contest 2! handicap golfer and sport nut Theo Granstrom-Livesey, who will be hoping to prove he has superior sporting knowledge by outwitting me...
England vs Argentina
England are on the verge of making it 3 wins in an Autumn Internationals series since 2002, that would be a great achievement, but they have Argentina standing in their way this week. So far, England have been good going forward, scoring 4 tries against South Africa and 9 against Fiji, but have also conceded 5. Whilst Argentina have not hit their heights in this international series, they can be incredibly dangerous with the 10/12 combination of Nicolas Sanchez and Juan Martin Hernandez A.K.A "The Magician". England have got a strong defensive team this week though, and their back five in the scrum will be vital in nullifying the forward threat Argentina have.
Argentina have lost to both Scotland and Wales and while those Murrayfield and the Principality are tough stadia to play at, they would be expecting better against 2 teams they have beaten several times in the past. Whilst this season has shown glimpses of brilliance, beating South Africa, thumping Japan, beating France, it has also had some rough moments, like the 27-0 defeat to France, getting thrashed by Australia and New Zealand home and away and losing their most recent two games.
At the end of a long, hard season, Argentina are there for the taking for England. They will play an expensive game and will score at the very least one try, but England are looking sharp offensively at the moment and will score more. It won't be a thrashing, but they'll get the job done.
England by 18 points
Theo: England by 27 points
England 27-14 Argentina
Scotland vs Georgia
Scotland are really on the up. By the time Gregor Townsend arrives next summer they will be in a position to really challenge the top teams. This is the best period for Scottish rugby in the professional era in my opinion. They do have some front row injuries however, and that can sometimes be a big problem, especially when playing Georgia.
Georgia will be brutally physical, with any lapses in physicality being punished. They have one of the best back-row players in the world in Mamuka Gorgodze who will be essential in both attack and defence. They really will see this as an opportunity to claim a first scalp, as this will be only their fourth ever meeting against a Tier One nation outside the World Cup.
A Georgia win would spark the Six Nations relegation/promotion debate into life, and I think they'll give Scotland a real game, however, Scotland will have the experience and attacking quality to come through and I think they'll take this one.
Scotland by 11 points
Theo: Scotland by 23 points
Scotland 48-16 Georgia
Wales vs South Africa
Last year, these two produced a World Cup quarter-final classic and were ranked 2nd and 3rd in the world...What a difference a year makes. After Wales' mediocre Six Nations Campaign they had a disastrous tour of New Zealand, before being ripped to shreds by Australia, only to flop to successive victories against Argentina and Japan. The big concern is, while everyone is moving forward, they are static, and don't really look like shifting anywhere soon. They aren't really adapting their style, their defence is getting worse, their players are getting older, with a 36 year old loosehead. They don't really look like they are moving forward at the moment, and this current team is really struggling.
South Africa are having a dire year as well. Beaten by the Pumas, suffering their first defeat in a summer international since 2000, their 10 year unbeaten record against England being wiped out and just last week a first ever defeat to Italy, who had suffered a 68-10 defeat to a second string All Blacks team just a week before. Things are looking very bleak. A team that was built on its defence can't defend anymore, and haven't exactly become an attacking force either.
Both these teams are really struggling, but the difference is, Wales have actually won their last two games, while South Africa took a pounding at Twickenham before being beaten in an extraordinary upset in Florence. Wales always finish a series well and I fancy them to do that here, there has been no better time to beat South Africa, and I reckon they'll edge it. That said, if one of these two sides actually plays to their potential, the other team will get a hiding.
Wales by 5 points
Theo: "Wales vs South Africa is tough because they're both terrible, ummmm" Wales by 7 points
Wales 27-13 South Africa
Ireland vs Australia
Game of the weekend. This should be an absolute cracker. After an abject start to the year, Australia are on a 3 game winning run on their grandslam tour whilst Ireland have beaten South Africa and New Zealand this year, and will be hoping to complete the tri-nations today. Ireland have played well during this Autumn series, but will be disappointed they couldn't get the win, and had they had the rub of the green with the referee, they would have got the win.
They have some quality players but are missing Johnny Sexton, Robbie Henshaw and Simon Zebo, all the subjects of dubious challenges last week but do have quality in Paddy Jackson, Keith Earls and Garry Ringrose who will replace them. They also have their strongest available forward pack, which was vital in the win against New Zealnd.
Australia have had a decent tour, smashing Wales before edging to one and two point wins in Scotland and France respectively. Whilst those aren't the greatest of margins they are winning, and when it works for them in attack, it REALLY works. They can tear sides apart with their runners and once they are in behind, five or six players can finish the chances off for them.
It's going to be very close. The injuries will hurt Ireland a bit but they've still got a lot of class. They won the last meeting between these two by a three point margin in a terrific game, and here, I fancy it to be extraordinarily close again. Whilst I want to say Australia, given their class, I just think the Irish will grind it out in front of a vocal Aviva Stadium, in another classic.
Ireland by 3 points
Theo: Australia by 5 points
Ireland 27-24 Australia
France vs New Zealand
France are finally going somewhere. After being average for the best part of 6 years, Guy Noves seems to have finally cracked the nut that is how to make France great again. They looked really strong as they ran in tries for fun against Samoa (8 to be exact, compared to Samoa's 8 points) and came so close to beating Australia, (they would have deserved to win that game).
New Zealand did get team, player and coach of the year and deserved that recognition in the World Rugby awards as this really has been their year. That said a loss against France would make people question how far ahead they really are having lost to Ireland and only just beaten them the second time round. Last week's game exposed their off-the-ball aggression and how they play right to the edge of the law and I don't think they'll have that easy out here, or hopefully into 2017.
The All Blacks will win, but I can't see it being spectacularly one-sided. France are improving and this might just be the performance that begins to turn a few heads in their direction.
New Zealand by 8 points
Theo: New Zealand by 27 points
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