British Lions Tour Betting

Last week truly was a game of two halves. The Lions were woeful in the first half and Phil Vickery struggled so much it is hard to nimagine him on a top class field again as Tendai 'Beast' Mtwarira managed to lift and pop him from the scrum at will.

Controlling the scrum was the basis of the Springboks' superiority. The truth is despite the near comeback the Lions were oputclassed. Yes, they had opportunities to score but they were gifts from De Villiers, the South Africa coach, who inexplicably mass substituted in the second half.

SA needed game time so once ahead he should have let them strangle the Lions. So what do expect this week?

A tougher battle in the scrum for starters. Also a greater aggression by the Lions around the tackle and for the ball on the floor. Heaslip was anonymous last week. But, and it pains me to write this, I can only see SA getting better. What they need is less tinkering by the coach. They did lack creativity in the backs and the Lions were much better ball in hand but their dominance at set pieces, the SA lineout was its usual superb self, more than compensated.

Again I am going for SA to win but not on the handicaps. 2/5 straight up is my main bet.

For those who do not want to take such a skinny price then there is an alternative. At over 41.5 total points in the match Victor Chandler are offering 5/6. This is a generous price, even with South Africa's stoic defense. It should be backed as the altitude will exhaust players making gaps appear in the second half when the sprinters could find tacklers falling off or not making the ground. There are some proven scorers on the field for both sides and the Lions need to attack. Add in the chance of longer ranges for penalty kicks at goal and it is a must back.

Now all we need is the Lions to win to make the third Test interesting.