Reds vs Blues Prediction: Brisbane blues on cards for Reds as visitors can prevail with little fuss

Vern Cotter’s Blues are in scintillating form in the Super Rugby Pacific and will be looking to keep pace with leaders Hurricanes when they travel to Queensland to face the Reds at Suncorp Stadium.

The visitors have won each of their last five and have lost just once all season, while the hosts have lost three of their last four and could struggle to rediscover some form when the sides meet on Saturday.

Match odds

Despite having home advantage, Queensland Reds are big underdogs in this contest at 3/1 while the Blues are 3/10 shots to take the points back to New Zealand.

The draw is a 25/1 chance, while a Blues victory by a margin of one to 12 points can be backed at 19/10.

Team news

 Three changes are named in the starting line-up by Reds coach Les Kiss from the side who ran out comfortable 31-0 winners over Highlanders last time out.

One of these fresh faces goes into the scrum with Angus Blyth going into the second row to partner Ryan Smith while Irishman Cormac Daly drops out of the matchday squad.

Jordan Petaia is out for the season after sustaining an injury in last Friday’s victory and so is replaced at outside centre by Josh Flook, while a change at left wing sees Tim Ryan named in place of Mac Grealy.

Blues boss Vern Cotter makes six changes to the starting XV who emphatically saw off fourth-placed ACT Brumbies 46-7, with four new faces in the forward pack.

Only Ofa Tu’ungafasi keeps his place in the front three as hooker Ricky Riccitelli and prop Marcel Renata are replaced by Soane Vikena and Angus Ta’avao. Renata is named among the replacements.

Sam Darry and Anton Segner are promoted from the bench ahead of Laghlan McWhannell, who is a replacement, and dropped Akira Ioane. Meanwhile, AJ Lam comes in at right wing ahead of Caleb Clarke, moving Mark Tele’a over to the left.

Blues to win by more than 12 points @ 11/10

 Not only have the Blues won each of their last five in the league, but four of these victories have been impressive defensive showings, restricting their opponents to single-figure point tallies.

No side can boast a better defensive record than the Blues in the Super Rugby Pacific this season, with a total of just 102 points conceded in their opening eight games.

Therefore, the Reds are likely to have a tough task on their hands to come away with anything from this encounter. Recent head-to-heads with the Kiwi outfit do not point to a surprise result, with Queensland having lost five of their last six meetings including each of the last three.

The hosts were beaten 45-26 at their Suncorp Stadium home in this fixture last season and another defeat via a similarly large margin could be on the cards for Les Kiss’s side.

Rugby Union Betting Tips from Betfred Insights.