The Super League heads to St James’ Park for the annual Magic Weekend where all 12 sides will be in action across two special days of rugby league. The action begins with the bottom two in the table as Wakefield Trinity host Toulouse Olympique.
We are deep into the second half of the campaign which means that relegation is beginning to become a closer proposition for those at the bottom half of the table, of which these are clearly two. This is a great way to open up Magic.
Where to watch
The match will be shown live and in full on the Sky Sports Arena and Sky Sports Mix channels with the build-up to the weekend opener beginning at 2pm and the match kicking off at 2.30pm.
Wakefield Trinity
Wakefield Trinity head to the Magic Weekend knowing that the pressure is right on them after a couple of heavy defeats heading to Newcastle. The pressure isn’t just on them from a form point of view but also from the way the table lies. They won’t finish the round bottom of the table if they lose here but they will be just two points off bottom spot with nine matches left to play so they would be in a precarious position.
If Wakey are to get anything from this match then they are going to need to stand up and be counted defensively because they have been ripped apart in the last two weeks. They have conceded 120 points in their last two games and clearly that is a recipe for disaster. They did show against Wigan last week that they can put points on the board but they can’t be needing 40 and more to win matches. That isn’t sustainable.
Toulouse Olympique
The second French side in Super League, Toulouse Olympique, looked right out of their depth at the beginning of the season but they stayed at it, improved as they have gone along and now are a win away from giving themselves a real chance of a second season in the top division. They gave themselves hope with a good win over Hull KR last week and although it isn’t a standout piece of form, it is a result which will have boosted confidence.
That snapped a streak of four defeats on the trot, which although they were competitive in a couple of those defeats, moral victories aren’t really going to serve Toulouse well now. In their last six matches, only Wigan and St Helens, arguably the two best teams in the league, have scored more than 20 points against them so that is certainly encouraging. If they can continue to improve in attacking areas they could give themselves every chance of beating the drop.
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Team News
Wakefield Trinity still have no Tom Johnstone and Reece Lyne available to them but other big players such as David Fifita, Jacob Miller and Mason Lino have all been named in Willie Poching’s squad for this contest.
Toulouse Olympique will be without three players in this match with Lloyd White, Hugo Pezet and Andrew Dixon all unavailable for the trip to Newcastle. The French outfit will have Eloi Pelissier and Ilias Bergal available though.
Betting
I’m reluctant to bet the under at Magic Weekend as it is a showpiece occasion and teams tend to raise their game but there are enough reasons to take under 44.5 points in this match. The first of them is that Toulouse Olympique struggle quite badly on their travels. They haven’t won a match away from home and only once have they put up more than 14 points in an away game this season. This isn’t an away game in the strictest sense of the world but it is a road trip.
Clearly in taking the under we would be trusting Wakefield Trinity to improve defensively but given what is on the match if they can’t muscle up and defend here they are not going to. These two have played two tight and tense matches this season already. Wakefield on their first encounter 18-6 while Toulouse got their revenge a few weeks ago when they won 20-14 so neither match went close to 44.5 points. With the stakes increased here I don’t think this one gets there either.
Tips
Back Under 44.5pts for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Boylesports
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