For the first time this season, the Sharks aren’t playing! Let’s see if we can pick the correct winner in all 6 games, with emotion taken out of the equation!
Blues v Reds 27 April at 09:35
Anyone remember the movie “The Colour Purple”? Me neither… Anyway, stupid jokes aside, let’s see what will happen when these two imaginatively-named sides clash in Auckland. Both have been pretty poor for large parts of their respective campaigns, but the Reds have a worse injury toll and the Blues have “the Headmaster” on board to help out. Blues to win by 5.
Blues: 15. Hadleigh Parkes, 14. George Moala, 13. Rene Ranger, 12. Ma’a Nonu, 11. Rudi Wulf, 10. Gareth Anscombe, 9. Piri Weepu, 8. Peter Saili, 7. Luke Braid (Captain), 6. Daniel Braid, 5. Ali Williams, 4. Filo Paulo, 3. Charlie Faumuina, 2. Tom McCartney, 1. Tevita Mailau
Replacements: 16. James Parsons, 17. Pauliasi Manu, 18. Liaki Moli, 19. Chris Lowrey, 20. Alby Mathewson, 21. Michael Hobbs, 22. Benson Stanley
Reds: 15. Luke Morahan, 14. Dom Shipperley, 13. Digby Ioane, 12. Mike Harris, 11. Rod Davies, 10. Ben Lucas, 9. Will Genia, 8. Scott Higginbotham, 7. Liam Gill, 6. Beau Robinson, 5. James Horwill (Captain), 4. Rob Simmons, 3. James Slipper, 2. James Hanson, 1. Ben Daley
Replacements: 16. Albert Anae, 17. Greg Holmes, 18. Adam Wallace-Harrison, 19. Jake Schatz, 20. Ed Quirk, 21. Nick Frisby, 22. Anthony Faingaa
MTN Lions v Brumbies 27 April at 19:10
Two young teams, two good coaches… one, I fear, better than the other, though. The Brumbies came very close against the Bulls (in fact, they deserved to win) and will have far too much for a Lions side that hasn’t found any rhythm at all this year. Brumbies by 15.
Lions: 15. Andries Coetzee, 14. Deon van Rensburg, 13. Jaco Taute, 12. Alwyn Hollenbach, 11. Lionel Mapoe, 10. Elton Jantjies, 9. Tian Meyer, 8. Joshua Strauss (Captain), 7. Derick Minnie, 6. Cobus Grobbelaar, 5. Franco van der Merwe, 4. Hendrik Roodt, 3. Pat Cilliers, 2. Callie Visagie, 1. Caylib Oosthuizen
Replacements: 16. Martin Bezuidenhout, 17. Jacobie Adriaanse, 18. Grant Hattingh, 19. Christo le Roux, 20. Ross Cronje, 21. Butch James, 22. Michael Killian
Brumbies: 15. Jesse Mogg, 14. Henry Speight, 13. Andrew Smith, 12. Pat McCabe, 11. Joseph Tomane, 10. Christian Lealiifano, 9. Nic White, 8. Fotu Auelua, 7. Michael Hooper, 6. Peter Kimlin, 5. Leon Power, 4. Scott Fardy, 3. Ben Alexander, 2. Stephen Moore (Captain), 1. Ruaidhri Murphy
Replacements: 16. Anthony Hegarty, 17. Scott Sio, 18. Sam Carter, 19. Ita Vaea, 20. Ian Prior, 21. Robbie Coleman, 22. Tevita Kuridrani
Chiefs v Hurricanes 28 April at 09:35
This New Zealand derby will probably be the game of the weekend. The Canes will throw everything they have at the Chiefs, who have now gone undefeated in their last 7 games and frankly don’t look like stopping now. Let’s ignore for a second the fact that the Chiefs have just returned from a long tour – I think they’ll still be good enough to win at home. Chiefs by 7.
Chiefs: 15. Andrew Horrell, 14. Lelia Masaga, 13. Richard Kahui, 12. Sonny Bill Williams, 11. Tim Nanai-Williams, 10. Aaron Cruden, 9. Brendon Leonard, 8. Alex Bradley, 7. Tanerau Latimer, 6. Liam Messam, 5. Brodie Retallick, 4. Craig Clarke (Captain), 3. Ben Tameifuna, 2. Hikawera Elliott, 1. Sona Taumalolo
Replacements: 16. Mahonri Schwalger, 17. Toby Smith, 18. Michael Fitzgerald, 19. Sam Cane, 20. Augustine Pulu, 21. Jackson Willison, 22. Asaeli Tikoirotuma
Hurricanes: 15. André Taylor, 14. Cory Jane, 13. Conrad Smith (Captain), 12. Tim Bateman, 11. Julian Savea, 10. Beauden Barrett, 9. TJ Perenara, 8. Victor Vito, 7. Karl Lowe, 6. Faifili Levave, 5. Jason Eaton, 4. Jeremy Thrush, 3. Jeffery Toomaga-Allen, 2. Dane Coles, 1. Ben May
Replacements: 16. Motu Matu’u, 17. Norman Reginald (Reg) Goodes, 18. Mark Reddish, 19. Jack Lam, 20. Chris Eaton, 21. Charlie Ngatai, 22. Alapati Leiua
Force v DHL Stormers 28 April at 11:40
Never mind that the Stormers have suffered a huge injury toll ahead of this match; they remain a quality outfit with good structures and don’t struggle to integrate young replacements at short notice. The Force, on the other hand, are a bit of a disgrace and have just fired their coach, for one thing. A young Stormers team will need to dig deep, but win they will. Stormers by 5.
Farce: 15. Alifeleti (Alfi) Mafi, 14. Rory Sidey, 13. Nick Cummins, 12. Winston Stanley, 11. Napolioni Nalaga, 10. David Harvey, 9. Brett Sheehan, 8. Ben McCalman, 7. David Pocock (Captain), 6. Matthew Hodgson, 5. Nathan Sharpe, 4. Toby Lynn, 3. Salesi Ma’afu, 2. Nathan Charles, 1. Pekahou Cowan
Replacements: 16. Elvis Taione, 17. Salesi Manu, 18. Phoenix Battye, 19. Richard Brown, 20. Josh Holmes, 21. Ben Seymour, 22. Samu Wara
Stormers: 15. Joe Pietersen, 14. Gerhard van den Heever, 13. Bryan Habana, 12. Juan de Jongh, 11. Danie Poolman, 10. Peter Grant, 9. Dewaldt Duvenage, 8. Nizaam Carr, 7. Rynhardt Elstadt, 6. Siya Kolisi, 5. Andries Bekker (Captain), 4. De Kock Steenkamp, 3. Frans Malherbe, 2. Tiaan Liebenberg, 1. Steven Kitshoff
Replacements: 16. Siyabonga Ntubeni, 17. Brok Harris, 18. Don Armand, 19. Deon Fourie, 20. Louis Schreuder, 21. Burton Francis, 22. JP du Plessis
Toyota Cheetahs v Highlanders 28 April at 17:05
Time for the Cheetahs to show us what they’re made of, I think. They have a useful side and were unlucky against the Chiefs in their last game. Coming off a bye, let’s hope they have enough in the tank to see off one of the better New Zealand sides in Bloemfontein. Cheetahs by 3.
Cheetahs: 15. Hennie Daniller, 14. Rayno Benjamin, 13. Robert Ebersohn, 12. Andries Strauss, 11. Willie Le Roux, 10. Johan Goosen, 9. Tewis de Bruyn, 8. Heinrich Brussow, 7. Philip Van der Walt, 6. Justin Downey, 5. Izak van der Westhuizen, 4. Andries Ferreira, 3. WP Nel, 2. Adriaan Strauss (Captain), 1. Coenie Oosthuizen
Replacements: 16. Hercu Liebenberg, 17. Trevor Nyakane, 18. George Earle, 19. Ashley Johnson, 20. Piet van Zyl, 21. Sias Ebersohn, 22. Philip Snyman
Highlanders: TBA
Waratahs v Crusaders 29 April at 07:10
The Waratahs simply are not good enough to contain this Crusaders team, particularly not now that both Dan Carter and Richie McCaw are back in the picture. Saders by 10.
Waratahs: 15. Berrick Barnes, 14. Tom Kingston, 13. Adam Ashley-Cooper, 12. Tom Carter, 11. Afa Pakalani, 10. Daniel Halangahu, 9. Brendan McKibbin, 8. Wycliff Palu, 7. Rocky Elsom (Captain), 6. Dave Dennis, 5. Kane Douglas, 4. Dean Mumm, 3. Sekope Kepu, 2. Tatafu Polota-Nau, 1. Benn Robinson
Replacements: 16. John Ulugia, 17. Jeremy Tilse, 18. Sitaleki Timani, 19. Lopeti Timani, 20. Jono Jenkins, 21. Sarel Pretorius, 22. Peter Betham
Crusaders: 15. Israel Dagg, 14. Adam Whitelock, 13. Robert Fruean, 12. Dan Carter, 11. Zac Guildford, 10. Tom Taylor, 9. Andy Ellis, 8. Kieran Read (Captain), 7. Matt Todd, 6. George Whitelock, 5. Luke Romano, 4. Tom Donnelly, 3. Owen Franks, 2. Corey Flynn, 1. Ben Franks
Replacements: 16. Ben Funnell, 17. Wyatt Crockett, 18. Sam Whitelock, 19. Richie McCaw, 20. Willi Heinz, 21. Ryan Crotty, 22. Tom Marshall
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Yep…..same picks I’ve got.
Just not so sure about the Cheetahs.
Surprised how many people are picking the Cheetahs… I went with the Snoil as my wild-card pick this week, since it’s the Brumbies 2nd week on tour and the Snoil will have been drilled to death by Coach Bombastic during their bye…
All the same, but maybe the Reds and Highlanders will sneak a win.
Cheetahs / Highlanders is by far the most difficult pick.
Will the Cheetah forwards stand up to the Highlanders way of just ruthlessly driving over the ball?
No prediction for the Sharks vs the Bye?
Highlanders by 10plus IMO.
@Bokhoring (Comment 5) : I’m too nervous to call that one…
@Bokhoring (Comment 5) : We won’t get the bonus point. 🙂
I think the Blues/Reds game will be close. They both have been playing some poor rugby, I can’t see why the Blues will suddenly turn it around from here. The Reds simply don’t have the players to string anything together, but they still have a few champion players left.
Also, the Chiefs/Hurricane is a really tough one to call. Chiefs is the obvious pick because of their consistency in results and the way they play, but the Hurricanes could easily cause an upset here.
And then there’s the Cheetahs/Highlanders… I think the Cheetahs is the better team this year, but they’re so erratic, where as the Highlanders seems to have sorted that part of their game out, but has lost some of their excitement. I still think the Highlanders might be to strong for the Cheetahs.
Farce lol intentional or apt mistake??
Great predictions going to be a great weekend of rugga,All I’m saying and I may be wrong but I say don’t wright off the Lions I feel they still got a bit off gas in there tanks and they the underdog this weekend they are digging deep and there will be an upset when we least expect it, this is mine Lions win by 3.
Tahs/Saders and Farce/Stormers are only easy picks this week. B B C S H S
@RuckingFun (Comment 12) : what would your guess be? 🙂
@JarsonX (Comment 3) : Booya!!