After edging out France in their opening Nations Championship match last week, New Zealand will expect to make it two wins from two when they host Italy on Saturday.
The Azzurri showed some positive signs in this year’s Six Nations, but that was undone with a disappointing defeat to Japan last weekend.
It doesn’t get much tougher than an away date with the All Blacks, who have beaten Italy in each of their previous 17 meetings.
New Zealand have won five of their last six Tests going into this meeting in Wellington and it’s hard to see anything other than a comfortable win for the hosts.
New Zealand v Italy Tips Summary
Best Bet - Handicap: New Zealand -35.5 @ 1/1
Alternative Bet - Team to reach 20 points: Italy No @ 4/11
Bet Builder - Over 43.5 Points for New Zealand, Anytime Tryscorer - Jordie Barrett & Highest Scoring Half - First Half @ 9/2
New Zealand v Italy Prediction
Best Bet: Handicap: New Zealand -35.5 @ 1/1
Two defeats, to Argentina and South Africa, in last year’s Rugby Championship led to the end of Scott Robertson’s time in charge of the All Blacks.
Dave Rennie is the man tasked with getting New Zealand back to the top of the rankings, and he started the Nations Championship with a win over back-to-back Six Nations winners France.
Les Bleus made them work for the points, but the All Blacks ran in five tries in Christchurch to edge out their European opponents.
This assignment looks much easier on paper, especially after a poor Italian showing in their 27-10 defeat to Japan in Tokyo last weekend.
The Azzurri have never beaten the All Blacks and have been on the end of a few heavy defeats across the last four years.
In the last six meetings between these teams, Italy have conceded 348 points, which is an average of 58 points per game.
Alternative Bet: Team to reach 20 points: Italy No @ 4/11
No team scored less points than Italy in the opening round of the new Nations Championship and that will be a big concern to Gonzalo Quesada.
The Italian coach has decided to make changes among the backs, bringing Louis Lynagh in on the wing, while the experienced Tommaso Allan starts at full-back.
New Zealand have also made several changes to the team that started against France, but that could be a bad sign for the Azzurri.
The new faces will be out to impress new boss Rennie and show that they deserve a start in their third Nations Championship game - against Ireland in Auckland.
New Zealand v Italy Bet Builder Tip
Over 43.5 Points for New Zealand
Anytime Tryscorer - Jordie Barrett
Highest Scoring Half - First Half
Pays 9/2
The points have been flowing on home soil over the last year for the All Blacks, who have lost just one of their last six Tests in New Zealand.
The three-time world champions have averaged 29.14 points per game in their last seven home matches, which were against the likes of France, Australia and South Africa.
It’s been 12 months since Jordie Barrett last scored a try for New Zealand, but the 29-year-old has happy memories of facing Italy.
The centre scored four tries in the same game when the All Blacks beat the Azzurri 66-3 in Rome in 2018.
It’s worth noting that Italy failed to score a point in the second half of Saturday’s defeat to the Cherry Blossoms. Meanwhile, New Zealand scored 19 of their 34 points against France before the break.
Key Match Stats
The All Blacks have won all 17 previous meetings with Italy, with the Azzurri scoring just 22 points across their three Tests in New Zealand.
Italy’s last visit to New Zealand came in June 2009, when they lost 27-6 in Christchurch.
The All Blacks have scored 70 or more points in six of their previous meetings with Italy.
The Azzurri lost 26 turnovers in their defeat to Japan last weekend.
New Zealand prop Tyrel Lomax will make his 50th appearance for the All Blacks on Saturday.
Italy’s Lorenzo Cannone was ranked fifth for the most tackles made (20) in round one of the Nations Championship.
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This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.
