Jeff played 37 times for England so he knows what he’s talking about. The only problem is that we got chatting in the back bar of Langan’s Brasserie after a long lunch so I’ll stick with the main tip I can remember.

He is very keen on the chances of Ireland on Saturday against a South Africa side missing key players and facing unrest on the coaching side and disagreements over team selection.

Jeff thinks the Irish should win this one comfortably. And who am I to argue with a man who stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Jason Leonard and Brian Moore in one of the most feared front rows in international rugby?

The handicap market gives the South Africans a three point start so we’ll back Ireland with a -3 handicap at evens with Sportingbet and cheer on a home victory.

The construction industry certainly seems to have an affinity for Langan’s and the back bar has seen its fair share of fun and games.

The London Irish Golf Society was also holding one of its regular meetings in there and those lads certainly talk a good game. If they hit the ball as hard as the bar I can imagine how competitive their competitions are.

But enough of the boozy banter – let’s dig out another punt to make-up for last week’s double disappointment which saw us draw a blank for the first time in weeks.

The best bet of the weekend comes in the blue form of Chelsea who are odds against in places to win away against Liverpool.

Quite why I have no idea. Liverpool have been a shambles for most of these season while Chelsea have hardly put an expensive boot wrong.

The bookies are still pricing Liverpool on reputation – and I’m more than happy to profit from that so lump on at 11/10 with Betfred.

If you fancy a more speculative punt it could pay to oppose Manchester City.

Roberto Mancini must be fearing the worst after a string of poor results which don’t go down well with impatient billionaire owners – so a trip to vibrant West Brom is not what you need.

The Baggies are 11/4 with Ladbrokes for a home win and that’s a price I like the look of as the problems mount up for the sky blues so hopefully we’ll be boing-boinging down to the bookies to pick up a decent haul.

Running Total for all bets to a £10 stake:   +£67