Argentina v Tonga, Japan v Ireland, South Africa v Namibia betting tips, odds, predictions – Rugby World Cup, September 28, 2019

Two of the top four teams in overall betting to win the Rugby World Cup are in action on Match-day 8 in Japan.
The pick of the matches is the hosts up against Ireland, who were impressive in shutting down the lively Scotland in their opening match. The Irish are fourth favourites around the $8 mark to lift the Williams Webb Ellis trophy in a few weeks time.
Meanwhile, second favourites South Africa ($5) dominated for long periods in their first-up clash against New Zealand but could not cope when the All Blacks turned the heat on them. The Springboks will have little trouble accounting for neighbours Namibia in their second clash of the tournament.
The third match pits Argentina against Tonga in what should be a bone-crunching clash between two powerhouse sets of players. The Pumas are walking the tightrope now after their heartbreaking first-up loss to France and need a big win to stay in the mix. Of course, there is also the small matter of them needing to beat England to have any chance of advancing but we will get to that later on!
So to our predictions for the Argentina v Tonga, Japan v Ireland, South Africa v Namibia matches on Saturday, September 28.

Check out our team previews to get the pre-World Cup form, our tips for leading try-scorer from each team and where we think they will finish in the tournament.

Argentina
Tonga
Japan
Ireland
South Africa
Namibia

Here are our free picks, odds and predictions for day 8 of the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan.

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Match 13: Pool C – Argentina v Tonga

Kick-off: 1.45pm local time (GMT +9)
Venue: Hanazono Rugby Stadium
Previous World Cup 2019 matches:
Argentina: France 23 (Antoine Dupont, Gael Fickou tries; Romain Ntamack 2 cons, 2 pens, Camille Lopez drop goal) d Argentina 21 (Julian Montoya, Guido Petti tries; Nicolas Sanchez con, Benjamin Urdapilleta 2, Sanchez pens). Referee: Angus Gardner.
Tonga: England 35 (Manu Tuilagi 2, Luke Cowan-Dickie, Jamie George tries; Owen Farrell 3 cons, 3 pens) d Tonga 3 (Sonatane Takulua pen). Referee: Paul Williams.

Head to head odds: Argentina $1.03, Tonga $13
Handicap line odds: Argentina (-29.5 points) $1.91, Tonga (+29.5 points) $1.91
Argentina v Tonga prediction: The Pumas have long been renowned for the power and technique of their scrum. While Tonga can likely match them for power, they fall short on technique against a high-class scrum. We expect Argentina to dominate up front and in field position and then power away in the second half. No confidence in them covering the line though, with Tonga always capable of scoring runaway tries.

Best bets for Argentina v Tonga RWC2019 match

Tonga +29.5 points at $1.91

The lines have been difficult to cover in this World Cup. While we expect plenty of points from penalties for Argentina, Tonga are unlikely to be held try-less for a second consecutive match. Back them to keep it under the handicap line.

Match total over 59.5 points

This option should be around the $2 mark. As mentioned we think there will be plenty of points from penalties, plus the weather is clear. We see a 20-odd-point win for Argentina in a high-scoring clash.

Match 14: Pool A – Japan v Ireland

Kick-off: 4.15pm local time (GMT +9)
Venue: Shizuoka Stadium Ecopa
Previous World Cup 2019 matches:
Japan: Japan 30 (Kotaro Matsushima 3, Pieter Labuschagne tries; Rikiya Matsuda, Yu Tamura con, Tamura 2 pens) d Russia 10 (Kirill Golosnitskiy try; Yuri Kushnarev con, pen). Referee: Nigel Owens.
Ireland: Ireland 27 (Rory Best, Andrew Conway, Tadhg Furlong, James Ryan tries; Conor Murray, Jonathan Sexton cons, Jack Carty pen) d Scotland 3 (Greig Laidlaw pen). Referee: Wayne Barnes.

Head to head odds: Japan $8.60, Ireland $1.07
Handicap line odds: Japan (+19.5 points) $1.91, Ireland (-19.5 points) $1.91
Japan v Ireland prediction: We would have liked to see Japan offer a little more than they did in their opening 30-10 win against Russia. Meanwhile, Ireland were a little banged up but impressive in shutting down Scotland. Japan have caused huge upsets in the past and we can see one coming soon, but not here against a rock-solid scrum and defensive line-up.

Best bets for Japan v Ireland RWC2019 match

Total points under 44.5 at $2.25

We think Ireland will against put the clamps on a rival. They will use a few players from their extended squad too so may not be fluent enough as yet to really crush Japan either.

Jacob Stockdale to score a try

He missed out against Scotland but we are happy to be on him as he does not miss out too often. This should be around the $2 mark with most top bookmakers.

Match 15: Pool B – South Africa v Namibia

Kick-off: 6.45pm local time (GMT +9)
Venue: City of Toyota Stadium
Previous World Cup 2019 matches:
South Africa: New Zealand 23 (Scott Barrett, George Bridge tries; Richie Mo’unga 2 cons, Mo’unga 2, Beauden Barrett pens) d South Africa 13 (Pieter-Steph du Toit try; Handre Pollard con, pen, drop goal). Referee: Jerome Garces.
Namibia: Italy 47 (Penalty try; Tommaso Allan, Carlo Canna, Matteo Minozzi, Edoardo Padovani, Jake Polledri, Tito Tebaldi tries; Allan 3, Canna 2 cons) d Namibia 22 (JC Greyling, Chad Plato, Damian Stevens tries; Cliven Loubser 2 cons, pen). Referee: Nic Berry.

Head to head odds: South Africa n/a, Namibia n/a
Handicap line odds: South Africa v Namibia
South Africa v Namibia prediction: In their only two previous clashes South Africa have score an average of 96 points against Namibia. While we don’t expect to see that continue, it looks like a big win coming up for the Springboks, who will be smarting after their loss to the All Blacks.

Best bet for South Africa v Namibia RWC2019 match

Match total over 79.5 points

This option should be around $2 and we think it’s a pretty safe bet. The weather forecast for this match is not great so it’s worth checking before kick-off. If the weather really sets in clearly it will become more difficult to get above this mark. Good punting.

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