England vs Argentina

England begin their Rugby World Cup campaign in Marseille on Saturday evening as they face Argentina in a huge Group D match.

Steve Borthwick’s side have endured a miserable build-up to the tournament losing three of four warm-up games including their first ever loss to Fiji. Argentina haven’t fared much better in 2023 but have recent memories of beating the All Blacks and Australia in the Rugby Championship.

England vs Argentina Prediction

Betting Tip: Gonzalo Bertranou Anytime Tryscorer (15/2)

Diminutive scrum-half Gonzalo Bertranou might not be one of the first names that jumps off the team sheet for Los Pumas, but after some strong performances in the Rugby Championship he will certainly be a player England have to be wary of. 

He crossed twice during that tournament (both against South Africa) and given how ragged England’s defence has been in the run up to the World Cup - particularly around the ruck - they could be vulnerable to his sniping runs. He is currently a best price of 15/2 to score anytime and is well worth backing at those odds. 

Betting Tip: Highest Scoring Half – Second Half (Evens)

Looking back over the two teams form heading into this game, there is a clear pattern of tight first 40 minutes, followed by flurries of points in the second half.

In England’s nine games under Steve Borthwick the second half has produced the most points on eight occasions, with a total of 148 first half points compared to a whopping 243 second half points. 

It’s been a similar story for Los Pumas; their five games in 2023 have produced 122 first half points compared with 145 second half points. Looking at how the teams set up as well they will both look to be pragmatic early, before opening up as the game progresses.

Also when the two sides met in November at Twickenham the second half saw 31 points scored, compared to 28 in the first half. For those reasons I really like the even money available on bet365 for the second half to be the highest scoring in the game.