Blues vs Reds Prediction: Cotter’s men can dent Reds hopes

There is another New Zealand vs Australia clash in Super Rugby this Saturday when the Blues face the Reds in Christchurch.

All of this weekend's matches take place at the One NZ Stadium and Warren Ashurst looks forward to what promises to be one of the most entertaining (8:05am BST, live on Sky Sports+).

Rugby Union Odds

Team News

Blues will hand first starts of the season to two of their squad members, with Ben Ake and Kade Banks named in the starting XV.

Former New Zealand U20 player Ake has been selected at loosehead prop, while right winger Banks starts for the first time in this campaign.

Tonga international Pita Ahki returns to the midfield, while All Black Stephen Perofeta is back on the bench after recovering from injury.

Queensland coach Les Kiss has made two changes to the Reds team that beat the Crusaders 31-26 two weeks ago.

Harry McLaughlin-Phillips comes in at fly-half while prop Zane Nonggorr, who has played 16 times for Australia, starts at prop.

Blues vs Reds Odds

Blues, currently two places and seven points ahead of their opponents, are priced at 2/7 to win Saturday’s match-up.

Queensland Reds, who have lost two of their last three games, can be backed at 11/4, while the draw is available at 20/1.

Blues -13 @ 11/10

Blues have had the edge over Reds in recent seasons, with the Kiwis running out victors in four of the last five meetings between the sides.

Vern Cotter's Blues have scored 297 points in nine games - averaging 33 points per match - and are going in search of a seventh Super Rugby win this term.

Cotter has spoken this week about the need for his team to build consistency and the coach admitted they need to be "locked in for the full 90 minutes".

Four of the Blues' last five matches have seen at least one team score 40+ points, with the Auckland-outfit looking to build on last week's 47-40 win over Highlanders.

Blues go into Saturday's clash having won their last three matches in New Zealand against the Reds, with an average margin of 27 points per game.

It's also worth noting that Queensland have lost four of their last six Super Rugby games and have failed to score 15 points in four of those fixtures.