How will England, Wales, Ireland and France fare in their first round of November internationals this Saturday?

Eddie Jones likely won’t be too worried about England’s visit from Argentina, at 3pm on Sky Sports Main Event. Before that thrilling British and Irish Lions tour in New Zealand, the English actually visited Argentina for a 2 game series, with Jones’ men winning both fixtures.

It is worth noting, however, that they were pushed hard in the first match; it took a 78th minute try from Denny Solomona (and subsequent conversation from George Ford) for England to secure a 38-34 victory. The second game was almost as close, with the 35-25 final result failing to capture what Jones labelled a ‘see-saw’ contest.



This time out Jones has a fuller squad at his disposal – that trip to South America saw the coach hand out 11 new caps – and the visitors are coming off a Rugby Championship where they lost all 6 of their fixtures, with Spreadex offering a hefty England/Argentina Points Supremacy spread of 21-24.

Wales face a far tougher challenge when they host Australia at 5.15pm on BBC Two. The Welsh avoided anything too taxing over the summer; they hammered Tonga 24-6, before narrowly beating Samoa 19-17 thanks to a 73rd minute try from Steffan Evans.

The Wallabies, meanwhile, are already 3 games deep into their autumn/winter internationals – and Wales should be worried. Australia beat New Zealand 23-18 in October, before edging past the Barbarians 31-28; Saturday’s trip to Japan then saw the Aussies at their attacking best, stamping on the Cherry Blossoms 63-30.

The Aussies aren’t infallible; for example, they lost 24-19 to Scotland back in June. Yet they are in damn fine form, and sit at an Australia/Wales (h) Point Supremacy spread of 3-6.

Almost at the same time as that clash is another major bout, with Ireland hosting South Africa at 5.30pm on Sky Sports Action. Both sides had a successful summer. The Irish overran Japan in their 2 game series, winning the first 50-22 and the second 35-13. The Springboks, meanwhile, shut out France across 3 games, a remarkably consistent set of fixtures that ended 37-14, 37-15 and 35-12 (they were admittedly far weaker in the Rugby Championship).

The last time the countries met was in summer 2016, where an Irish tour of South Africa ended in a 2-1 defeat for the visitors. They may get their revenge this time out, however, with Spreadex offering an Ireland/South African Point Supremacy spread of 5-8.

Saturday’s final game sees New Zealand travel to France, at 7.45pm on Premier Sports. While the All Blacks have had the odd flash of weakness in 2017 – namely their losses to Scotland and Australia – most of the time they have been indomitable, especially when romping through the Rugby Championship with 6 wins in 6.

France, on the other hand, followed up a fairly decent showing at the Six Nations with that miserable series in South Africa. That leaves Les Bleaus in a precarious position heading into the weekend, leading Spreadex to offer a New Zealand/France (h) Point Supremacy spread of 16-19.