Round 8 was not a bad round for us, with only the Stormers letting us down after their ‘narrow’ loss against the Reds. This week we see a few hard-to-call games pop up and we should do well to correctly predict five of the seven. We never say no to a challenge though:
CHIEFS vs CRUSADERS, HAMILTON, FRI 09:35
We start the weekend with a New Zealand derby where the Crusaders travel to Hamilton to take on the Chiefs. The game should not be a high scoring one as the New Zealand teams lift their game much like South African teams do against each other, but I do suspect the Crusaders will be too strong and will walk away victors by around 12 points.
Chiefs: 15. Mils Muliaina (Captain), 14. Lelia Masaga, 13. Richard Kahui, 12. Dwayne Sweeney, 11. Sitiveni Sivivatu, 10. Mike Delany, 9. Brendon Leonard, 8. Fritz Lee, 7. Tanerau Latimer, 6. Liam Messam, 5. Isaac Ross, 4. Romana Graham, 3. Ben Afeaki, 2. Hikawera Elliott, 1. Toby Smith
Replacements: 16. Aled De Malmanche, 17. Nathan White, 18. Craig Clarke, 19. Scott Waldrom, 20. Tawera Kerr-Barlow, 21. Tana Umaga, 22. Tim Nanai-Williams
Crusaders: 15. Israel Dagg, 14. Sean Maitland, 13. Robert Fruean, 12. Sonny Bill Williams, 11. Zac Guildford, 10. Matthew Berquist, 9. Kahn Fotuali`i, 8. Kieran Read (Captain), 7. Matt Todd, 6. George Whitelock, 5. Chris Jack, 4. Brad Thorn, 3. Owen Franks, 2. Corey Flynn, 1. Ben Franks
Replacements: 16. Quentin MacDonald, 17. Wyatt Crockett, 18. Luke Romano, 19. Richie McCaw, 20. Andy Ellis, 21. Tom Marshall, 22. Adam Whitelock
REBELS vs HIGHLANDERS, MELBOURNE, FRI 11:40
The Rebels have had a magical start to their Super Rugby career and are currently lying third in the Australian conference, after the media had written them off completely. They have had a few good wins and will grow in confidence with every game. The Highlanders, written off in much the same way, have also had a great run and both teams will want to take the points this weekend. The Highlanders will have the experience and want it more and should get the win by a 7 point margin.
Rebels: 15. Richard Kingi, 14. Lachlan Mitchell, 13. Mark Gerrard, 12. Stirling Mortlock (Captain), 11. Cooper Vuna, 10. Daniel Cipriani, 9. Nick Phipps, 8. Gareth Delve, 7. Michael Lipman, 6. Jarrod Saffy, 5. Hugh Pyle, 4. Alister Campbell, 3. Greg Somerville, 2. Ged Robinson, 1. Rodney Blake
Replacements: 16. Luke Holmes, 17. Laurie Weeks, 18. Adam Byrnes, 19. Tim Davidson, 20. Hoani MacDonald, 21. Luke Rooney, 22. Afusipa Taumoepeau
Highlanders: 15. Ben R Smith, 14. Kade Poki, 13. Kenny Lynn, 12. Shaun Treeby, 11. Siale Piutau, 10. Colin Slade, 9. Aaron Smith, 8. Nasi Manu, 7. Alando Soakai, 6. Adam Thomson, 5. Josh Bekhuis, 4. Jarrad Hoeata, 3. Chris King, 2. Jason Rutledge, 1. Jamie MacKintosh (Captain)
Replacements: 16. Brayden Mitchell, 17. David Te Moana, 18. Tom Donnelly, 19. Nick Crosswell, 20. Jimmy Cowan, 21. Robbie Robinson, 22. James Paterson
BLUES vs WARATAHS, AUCKLAND, SAT 09:35
We start Saturday with a bang, with undoubtedly the game of the weekend where the Blues take on the Waratahs, and the team that wins this game will give themselves a good jump in points for when the play offs come around. The Blues have had a week off and will be raring to get back into action in front off their home crowd, whereas the Waratahs will be looking to continue their winning run since losing to the Cheetahs. I predict a very close game with the Waratahs sneaking a late win.
Blues: 15. Isaia Toeava, 14. Joe Rokocoko, 13. Jared Payne, 12. Luke McAlister, 11. Rene Ranger, 10. Stephen Brett, 9. Alby Mathewson, 8. Peter Saili, 7. Luke Braid, 6. Jerome Kaino, 5. Anthony Boric, 4. Kurtis Haiu, 3. John Afoa, 2. Keven Mealamu (Captain), 1. Tevita Mailau
Replacements: 16. Tom McCartney, 17. Pauliasi Manu, 18. Filo Paulo, 19. Chris Lowrey, 20. Chris Smylie, 21. Lachie Munro, 22. Benson Stanley
Waratahs: 15. Lachlan Turner, 14. Tom Kingston, 13. Ryan Cross, 12. Daniel Halangahu, 11. Drew Mitchell, 10. Kurtley Beale, 9. Luke Burgess, 8. Ben Mowen, 7. Patrick McCutcheon, 6. Dave Dennis, 5. Kane Douglas, 4. Dean Mumm (Captain), 3. Sekope Kepu, 2. Tatafu Polota-Nau, 1. Benn Robinson
Replacements: 16. John Ulugia, 17. Al Baxter, 18. Pat O`Connor, 19. Sitaleki Timani, 20. Chris Alcock, 21. Brendan McKibbin, 22. Sosene Anesi
REDS vs BULLS, BRISBANE, SAT 11:40
The Reds come off a very successful two win tour of South Africa and will be full of confidence going into this game in front of their home crowd against a Bulls team that come off a bad beating at the hands of the Crusaders. The Reds will see this as their opportunity to claim a win over the mighty Bulls team, whereas the Bulls will be hoping to save face after a poor performance last week and gaining some form before their last game of the tour against the Force. I predict a confident win for the Reds by around 14 points.
Reds: 15. Luke Morahan, 14. Rod Davies, 13. Anthony Faingaa, 12. Mike Harris, 11. Digby Ioane, 10. Quade Cooper, 9. Will Genia, 8. Scott Higginbotham, 7. Beau Robinson, 6. Radike Samo, 5. James Horwill (Captain), 4. Rob Simmons, 3. James Slipper, 2. Saia Faingaa, 1. Ben Daley
Replacements: 16. James Hanson, 17. Greg Holmes, 18. Adam Wallace-Harrison, 19. Leroy Houston, 20. Liam Gill, 21. Ben Lucas, 22. Will Chambers
Bulls: 15. Zane Kirchner, 14. Gerhard van den Heever, 13. Stephan Dippenaar, 12. Wynand Olivier, 11. Bjorn Basson, 10. Morné Steyn, 9. Francois Hougaard, 8. Pierre Spies, 7. Dewald Potgieter, 6. Derick Kuun, 5. Victor Matfield (Captain), 4. Bakkies Botha, 3. Werner Kruger, 2. Chiliboy Ralepelle, 1. Dean Greyling
Replacements: 16. Gary Botha, 17. Rossouw De Klerk, 18. Danie Rossouw, 19. Deon Stegmann, 20. Fourie du Preez, 21. Francois Brummer, 22. Akona Ndungane
LIONS vs STORMERS, JOHANNESBURG, SAT 17:05
The only South African derby of the weekend and I can only see one team winning this encounter. The Lions might be at home, but I feel that it doesn’t matter where you play, if you play kak rugby you will lose. The Stormers, after their loss to the Reds last weekend, will be hell bent on getting themselves back on the winning track that had them leading the Super Rugby standings. I predict a scrappy but comfortable win for the Stormers, by 18 points.
Lions: TBC
Stormers: 15. Conrad Jantjes, 14. Danie Poolman, 13. Jaque Fourie, 12. Juan de Jongh, 11. Gio Aplon, 10. Gary van Aswegen, 9. Dewaldt Duvenage, 8. Duane Vermeulen, 7. Francois Louw, 6. Schalk Burger (Captain), 5. Andries Bekker, 4. De Kock Steenkamp, 3. CJ van der Linde, 2. Deon Fourie, 1. Wicus Blaauw
Replacements: 16. Ethienne Reynecke, 17. Brok Harris, 18. Anton van Zyl, 19. Nick Koster, 20. Ricky Januarie, 21. Lionel Cronje , 22. Johann Sadie
CHEETAHS vs HURRICANES, BLOEMFONTEIN, SAT 19:10
The Cheetahs are back home after a whirlwind tour of Australia and New Zealand where they managed a shock win over the Waratahs and very little else. The Hurricanes are playing their first game of their South African tour, and have been even less impressive than the boys from Bloem. This is a real non-contender game where we see the bottom feeders scrapping for points. I predict a win for the Cheetahs, who have to start coming to the party.
Cheetahs: 15. Riaan Viljoen, 14. Philip Burger, 13. Robert Ebersohn, 12. Barry Geel, 11. Rayno Benjamin, 10. Sias Ebersohn, 9. Sarel Pretorius, 8. Davon Raubenheimer, 7. Ashley Johnson, 6. Kabamba Floors, 5. Wilhelm Steenkamp (Captain), 4. Francois (FS) Uys, 3. WP Nel, 2. Ryno Barnes, 1. Coenie Oosthuizen
Replacements: 16. Adriaan Strauss, 17. Lourens Adriaanse, 18. Martin Muller, 19. Leon Karemaker, 20. Tewis de Bruyn, 21. Naas Olivier, 22. Corné Uys
Hurricanes: 15. André Taylor, 14. Alapati Leiua, 13. Jayden Hayward, 12. Ma’a Nonu, 11. Hosea Gear, 10. Dan Kirkpatrick, 9. Tyson Keats, 8. Victor Vito, 7. Serge Lilo, 6. Jack Lam, 5. James Broadhurst, 4. Jeremy Thrush, 3. Michael Bent, 2. Andrew Hore (Captain), 1. John Schwalger
Replacements: 16. Dane Coles, 17. Neemiah Tialata, 18. Jason Eaton, 19. Faifili Levave, 20. Chris Eaton, 21. Beauden Barrett, 22. Charlie Ngatai
BRUMBIES vs FORCE, CANBERRA, SUN 08:10
The last game of the weekend is on Sunday where we end the weekend with a Australian derby, and we all know what happens when the Aussies take each other on. Let’s see if you can keep your eyes open for this match! Both these teams are not even close to be in the running for a play off spot and will be scrapping for points much like the Cheetahs and Hurricanes will be. I suggest you sleep in and catch the highlights. Brumbies by 8 points.
Brumbies: TBC
Force: TBC
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Went with Brumbies on LMS. Don’t let me down now. 🙂
A weekend without the Sharks is boring yawn! But I am already all decked out in my red and white! Sorry stormer friends and bull followers but a Shark has to do what a Shark has to do 😉
My prediction differ in one instance – I have the Blues up for a win
@Ben (Comment 1) : Me too. Dont want to have to use them again and this is a game they may just win.
Blues and Rebels to win this weekend I reckon! Rebels have been good at home!
@Ben (Comment 1) : I’ve got the Cheetah’s on LMS 🙄
When in doubt I always pick the home team for a win!
Sharks to beat the season’s wooden spoonist Bye and gain valuable four pointer…
@Pokkel (Comment 6) : Ek ok
@Pokkel (Comment 6) :
Join the club..
Holding thumbs…
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 10) : I see the Sharks now has 4 pick on LMS 😯
@Pokkel (Comment 11) : I cant be shocked anymore 🙄
I went with the Rebelious ones on LMS 😕 Atleast I wont be stressing the WHOLE weekend like the guys who picked the Brumbies 😈
@Pokkel (Comment 11) :
You have some real clever ones hanging around here..
@Pokkel (Comment 11) : Are they family…? 😆
@Ice (Comment 15) : Dunno!!
Good picks bar the Rebels one. Mortlock also out now. Lions to get smashed.
I picked the Brumbies in LMS Round 1 and they ended up losing to the Rebels. They owe me this one!
Or should I say they the Brumbies lost to Jonathan Kaplan
“it doesn’t matter where you play, if you play kak rugby you will lose” har-har. that was succinctly put.
Dammit, Lions do us a favour, pleeeez!
@Speed7 (Comment 17) :
You think the Rebels will beat the Highlanders?
@CapeShark (Comment 20) : Although…. with Peter Grant now confirmed injured and Gary van Asswagon in his place, the Lions chances will have gone up a little.
My first lms pick, and not an easy one that is, brum brum…
Peter Grant out of Stormers team.
@Salmonoid (Comment 24) : A big blow for the Stormers. He’s contributed 100 points to their cause so far!
@CapeShark (Comment 25) :
Thats about 90% of their entire amoount. 😈
Its a big blow for the Stormers and I think a few answers to some unasked questions will become clearer.
@Salmonoid (Comment 24) :
Updated above!
There are now 5 LMS picks for the Sharks 😈
And unless a miracle happens, I’m going to have a kak FL round 🙁
I have the Blues and Rebels to pull it through but RF is making me doubt myself now. Interstring picks though. This weekends games are wide open and up for the taking.
@Jarson (AddicteD) (Comment 28) : What happens if you pick the Sharks on LMS. I got the cheetahs.
@Viking (Comment 30) : Because the Sharks have a bye, they cant win. U must pick a winning team. The people who picked the Sharks are DEAD 😛
@Jarson (AddicteD) (Comment 31) : Hahaha…They must reckoned that they cant loose and woudl advance automatically.
@Salmonoid (Comment 24) : For real this time? 🙄
@Jarson (AddicteD) (Comment 28) : You and me both.
I only have one playing FH and my team is full of Sharks I just hope the Brumbies take the win.
@Danman110 (Comment 34) : Same here, and the FH standing plays like sh!t at this stage. For LMS, Go Rebels, Go Force, Go Hurricanes 😈
@Jarson (AddicteD) (Comment 35) : In that case Go Highlanders, Go Brumbies, Go Hurricanes 😈
The Rebels are going to struggle without Mortlock.
@Danman110 (Comment 36) :
Lets hope Rob reads this:
Where is my Sharks XV vs Pumas tab so i can do score updates live from the game?
@G West (Comment 38) :
Its up boet, sorry..