The Bledisloe Cup Show Heading for Hong Kong

The Rugby world has sunk its claws into the lucrative Asian Market. This week we saw the Australian and New Zealand Rugby board announce that a Bledisloe Cup match is to be played in Hong Kong later this year. This will be the first time the two teams have played a Bledisloe Cup game outside of Australia or New Zealand and it promises to showcase the game in the best way possible.

Hong Kong has a rich rugby history with its famous 7's competition which bought a carnival of color to the game and saw the emergence of the "Flying Fijians". The tournament and 7's rugby really has turned into a joke unfortunately but this news is certainly a step in the right direction for the future of the game in this part of the world. This certainly paves the way for a Super 14 team to come out of Asia. An Asian team and a Pacific Island team is most certainly the way to go and will create a much stronger market share for the competition.

There are some interesting games this week in the Super 14's. Partybets.com has markets on all of the Super 14 games and there are two favorites that I like at the handicap. In the local Derby the Waratahs take on the Brumbies. The Tah's should be too good at home against an average team and if they are any chance this year should easily cover the -4.5 handicap. I will also give the Chiefs one more chance and they should cover the -7.5 against the Cheetahs who will be fresh off the plane from South Africa and the Waikato boys should post a cricket score.

The best game of the week is the Sharks taking on the Auckland Blues in Durban. This should be an absolute classic encounter. The Blues will join the Crusaders as break away favorites if they can beat the Sharks. The Sharks with a victory will become a clear third pick for the title. I think the game is just too tough to call so I will take the value which is most certainly the sharks where you can get +3.5 at the line.

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