The Super Rugby AU Grand Final will take place at GIO Stadium on Saturday night as the two best teams in the competition battle it out for the trophy. As usual, Matta91 is here to breakdown the game in full and give his betting tips below.
Super Rugby Preview Grand Final Betting Tips
ACT Brumbies vs Queensland Reds
Sat, Sep 19 7:15pm (AEST)
The Brumbies enjoyed the week off after finishing atop the table after the regular season and will obviously be favoured to win the title on their home turf this Saturday night. So any players that were carrying a niggling injury should be fresh and ready to tackle the Reds. During the regular season, they were the best defensive team in the competition in terms of points allowed and that'll be their key factor in stopping this Reds team, that does like to throw the ball around. In a shock selection move, the Brumbies have added Noah Lolesio to their squad for this final. The 20 year old is a dynamic playmaker and should give the Reds plenty of trouble when he has the ball. Other team changes will see Murray Douglas come into the second row and Lachie McCaffrey will lineup at blindside flanker. In the halves, Joe Powell will join Lolesio in a new combination.
For the Reds, they'll aim for their first win in Canberra since 2014 and they're in good enough form to give the highly favoured Brumbies a scare. In a tight final with the Rebels last week, the Reds outlasted Melbourne 25-13 to earn their spot in the Grand Final. Jordan Petaia was the star early on with a brilliant intercept try and the Rebels struggled to penetrate the Reds line with just the single try. In team news for the final, the Reds have JP Smith back in the lineup for Hoopert. After being named in the Wallabies squad for the first time, Hunter Paisami will start at outside centre. Meanwhile, Petaia will play right wing due to Chris Feauai-Sautia's injury.
While the Reds recently beat the Brumbies 26-7 in the last round of the season, it was kind of a nothing game for ACT as they had already locked up top spot on the table. So a better example of how these two sides lineup is looking back at the 22-20 nailbiter in Round 5. The Reds looked to have caused a massive boilover but a very late penalty goal in the 83rd minute broke their hearts as the Brumbies got home by 2 points. Hopefully, we get a similar result in the final and we're once again looking for a close finish in Saturday's Grand Final with the tri-bet market at PlayUp. We have the two best teams in the competition facing off and we just can't see a blowout result.
Either Team by Under 7.5
$2.05
