Western Force vs British & Irish Lions Betting Tips: Stuttering start down under
Western Force vs British & Irish Lions Prediction
The British & Irish Lions get their tour of Australia underway on Saturday against Super Rugby side Western Force seeking to put last week's shock loss to Argentina behind them (11am BST, Sky Sports Main Event).
The Pumas were 7/1 outsiders with betting sites to win last Friday's clash but stunned the Lions, coming out on top 28-24 to inflict the Lions' first defeat on Irish soil.
It was also the first time the Lions had lost their opening tour game since 1971, and Andy Farrell's side will need to show more to avoid further embarrassment.
The Lions, who arrived last Sunday ahead of their first tour of Australia since 2013, are building towards the start of the Test series against the Wallabies on July 19 and the Western Force is the first of five tour games to be played before the first Test.
Seven of the Western Force squad have been named in the Wallabies squad for the forthcoming series, but the Lions have demanded that the Western Force players all feature for their club side. Six members of the Australia squad have been selected in the matchday 23 and this could be a tough first outing for the tourists.
Western Force vs British & Irish Lions Betting Preview: Lions to find their feet
Rugby betting sites cut the Lions' odds for victory from 1/20 to a best-price of 1/33 after Farrell unveiled a strong squad for the first game on Australian soil.
Debutant Dan Sheehan will captain a team featuring eight Irishmen, while England's Henry Pollock starts at No.8. Farrell is still without scrum-half Jamison Gibson-Park and Hugo Keenan, but several members of this starting XV are expected to feature against Australia on July 19.
Tom Robertson, Darcy Swain, Nick Champion de Crespigny, Nic White, Dylan Pietsch and Ben Donaldson have all been named in the Western Force side before linking up with the Australia squad on Sunday, but there's no Kurtley Beale after he picked up a hamstring injury this week.
Australia vs British & Irish Lions Test Odds
Despite the quality of the Force team, bookies are expecting an easy win with the Lions favoured by 25 points on the handicap and priced at just 2/7 to win by 13 points or more. The last time the two sides met, the Force were routed 17-69 in Perth.
With the quality in the Lions squad this one should be a routine victory, but after Farrell described the performance against Argentina as "disconnected", this could be another test, especially due to the short turnaround since arriving down under following a 20-hour journey.
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