Weekend predictions

So the Boks have come and gone, and it’s back to Super Rugby, which is new, and to be honest, will take some getting used to …

A relatively simple weekend for us Saffers, though … Two tedious Aussie derbies that we can skip with glee, a bye for the Sharks, and two banana peel type games on Saturday evening. Even the numpty’s amongst us should be able to sort out a pink ticket to take in these two games …

Banana peel in that both the Stormers and Bulls should get through these with ease, but in resting some Boks, easing others back, and taking on sides that are particularly well rested, there has to be an element of unease amongst coaches, players and fans …

To the predictions then …

FRIDAY, JUNE 29

Highlanders v Chiefs, Dunedin – 09:35
Referee: Garratt Williamson (New Zealand)
Assistants: Nick Briant (New Zealand), Kane McBride (New Zealand)
TMO: Vinny Munro (New Zealand)

My prediction: Chiefs by 7

Highlanders: 15 Ben Smith, 14 Kade Poki, 13 Tamati Ellison, 12 Phil Burleigh, 11 Hosea Gear, 10 Chris Noakes, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Nasi Manu, 7 Tim Boys, 6 Adam Thomson, 5 Nick Crosswell, 4 Jarrad Hoeata, 3 Ma’afu Fia, 2 Jason Rutledge, 1 Jamie Mackintosh (c).
Bench: 16 Andrew Hore, 17 Chris King, 18 Josh Bekhuis, 19 James Haskell, 20 Jimmy Cowan, 21 Mike Delany, 22 Buxton Popoali’i.

Chiefs: 15 Robbie Robinson, 14 Tim Nanai-Williams, 13 Jackson Willison, 12 Sonny Bill Williams, 11 Asaeli Tikoirotuma, 10 Aaron Cruden, 9 Tawera Kerr-Barlow, 8 Kane Thompson, 7 Tanerau Latimer, 6 Liam Messam, 5 Brodie Retallick, 4 Craig Clarke (c), 3 Ben Tameifuna, 2 Mahonri Schwalger, 1 Toby Smith.
Bench: 16 Hika Elliot, 17 Sona Taumalolo, 18 Michael Fitzgerald, 19 Sam Cane, 20 Brendon Leonard, 21 Andrew Horrell, 22 Lelia Masaga.

—–

Rebels v Reds, Melbourne – 11:40
Referee: Keith Brown (New Zealand)
Assistants: Andrew Lees (Australia), Angus Gardner (Australia)
TMO: Matt Goddard (Australia)

My prediction: Reds by 11

Rebels:15 Kurtley Beale, 14 Mark Gerrard, 13 Mitch Inman, 12 Stirling Mortlock (captain), 11 Cooper Vuna, 10 James O’Connor, 9 Nick Phipps, 8 Gareth Delve, 7 Hugh Perrett, 6 Tom Chamberlain, 5 Hugh Pyle, 4 Cadeyrn Neville, 3 Jono Owen, 2 Adam Freier, 1 Nic Henderson
Bench: 16 Ged Robinson, 17 Rodney Blake, 18 Al Campbell, 19 Tim Davidson, 20 Nic Stirzaker, 21 Lachie Mitchell, 22 Julian Huxley.

Reds: 15 Luke Morahan, 14 Dom Shipperley, 13 Anthony Faingaa, 12 Mike Harris, 11 Digby Ioane, 10 Quade Cooper, 9 Will Genia (captain), 8 Scott Higginbotham, 7 Liam Gill, 6 Jake Schatz, 5 Adam Wallace-Harrison, 4 Rob Simmons, 3 James Slipper, 2 Saia Faingaa, 1 Greg Holmes
Bench: 16 James Hanson, 17 Ben Daley, 18 Radike Samo, 19 Beau Robinson, 20 Ben Lucas, 21 Chris F’Sautia, 22 Nick Frisby

—–

SATURDAY, JUNE 30

Crusaders v Hurricanes, Christchurch – 09:35
Referee: Bryce Lawrence (New Zealand)
Assistants: Nick Briant (New Zealand), Kane McBride (New Zealand)
TMO: Vinny Munro (New Zealand)

My prediction: Crusaders by 16

Crusaders: 15 Sean Maitland, 14 Adam Whitelock, 13 Robbie Fruean, 12 Ryan Crotty, 11 Zac Guildford, 10 Tom Taylor, 9 Andy Ellis, 8 Richie McCaw (c), 7 Matt Todd, 6 George Whitelock, 5 Samuel Whitelock, 4 Luke Romano, 3 Ben Franks, 2 Corey Flynn, 1 Wyatt Crockett.
Bench: 16 Quentin MacDonald, 17 Owen Franks, 18 Tom Donnelly/Ross Kennedy, 19 Luke Whitelock, 20 Willi Heinz, 21 Tyler Bleyendaal, 22 Patrick Osborne.

Hurricanes: 15 Andre Taylor, 14 Alapati Leiua, 13 Conrad Smith (c), 12 Tim Bateman, 11 Julian Savea, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 Chris Eaton, 8 Brad Shields, 7 Jack Lam/Karl Lowe, 6 Faifili Levave, 5 Jason Eaton, 4 Jeremy Thrush, 3 Ben May, 2 Dane Coles, 1 Reg Goodes.
Bench: 16 Motu Matu’u, 17 Jeffery Toomaga-Allen, 18 James Broadhurst, 19 Karl Lowe/Mark Reddish, 20 Frae Wilson, 21 Tusi Pisi, 22 Jayden Hayward.

—–

Force v Brumbies, Perth – 11:40
Referee: Ian Smith (Australia)
Assistants: James Leckie (Australia), Ed Martin (Australia)
TMO: George Ayoub (Australia)

My prediction: Brumbies by 13

Force: 15 Alfie Mafi, 14 Nick Cummins, 13 Will Tupou, 12 Rory Sidey, 11 Napolioni Nalaga, 10 Ben Seymour, 9 Josh Holmes, 8 Matt Hodgson, 7 David Pocock (c), 6 Richard Brown, 5 Nathan Sharpe, 4 Toby Lynn, 3 Salesi Ma’afu, 2 Nathan Charles, 1 Pek Cowan.
Bench: 16 Elvis Taione, 17 Tetera Faulkner, 18 Salesi Manu, 19 Phoenix Battye, 20 Lachlan McCaffrey, 21 Brett Sheehan, 22 David Harvey.

Brumbies: 15 Robbie Coleman, 14 Henry Speight, 13 Andrew Smith, 12 Pat McCabe, 11 Jesse Mogg, 10 Zack Holmes, 9 Nic White, 8 Ben Mowen (c), 7 Michael Hooper, 6 Peter Kimlin, 5 Sam Carter, 4 Scott Fardy, 3 Dan Palmer, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Ben Alexander.
Bench: 16 Anthony Hegaty, 17 Ruaidhri Murphy, 18 Leon Power, 19 Ita Vaea, 20 Ian Prior, 21 Tevita Kuridrani, 22 Cam Crawford.

—–

Stormers v Lions, Cape Town – 17:05
Referee: Mark Lawrence (SA)
Assistants: Francisco Pastrana (Argentina), Jason Jaftha (SA)
TMO: Gerrie Coetzee (SA)

So now Allister Coetzee thinks it’s fine to play the Vodacom Cup players and leave the no doubt very well paid Cannuck on the bench? I suppose it is against the Lions, who are now also sans a coach in these dark days. But the Joburg boys rallied to beat the Sharks in their last outing, will have pulled together given the Mitchell drama, and could easily cause an upset at Newlands if the home side are off their game. Jean de Villiers has to be a little jaded, but the rest of the boys will be itching to prove that they can do more than defend. Kolisi played 8th man at school I am told, but that is miles from the Super Rugby couldron. Holmes has played well for the Vodacom Cup side, but that is also a tier or 3 below the main event. How this new loose trio performs will depend on how the big boys go up front, and with Adriaanse called up due to a Cilliers injury, this new front row should be fine. Grant vs Jantjies should be fun, especially given that the latter has been holding bags and collecting splinters for a coach who does not seem to trust in him fully. Grant to win that little battle …

My prediction: Stormers by 11

Stormers: 15 Joe Pietersen, 14 Gio Aplon, 13 Juan de Jongh, 12 Jean de Villiers (captain), 11 Gerhard van den Heever, 10 Peter Grant, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage, 8 Siya Kolisi, 7 Don Armand, 6 Tyrone Holmes, 5 Andries Bekker, 4 De Kock Steenkamp, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Deon Fourie, 1 Deon Carstens
Bench: 16 Tiaan Liebenberg, 17 Brok Harris, 18 Quinn Roux, 19 Jebb Sinclair, 20 Louis Schrueder, 21 Burton Francis, 22 Bryan Habana

Lions: 15 Andries Coetzee, 14 Deon van Rensburg, 13 Lionel Mapoe, 12 Butch James, 11 Anthonie Volminck, 10 Elton Jantjies, 9 Tian Meyer, 8 Joshua Strauss (c), 7 Grant Hattingh, 6 Derick Minnie, 5 Franco van der Merwe, 4 Hendrik Roodt, 3 Jacobie Adriaanse, 2 Callie Visagie, 1 JC Janse van Rensburg
Bench: 16 Martin Bezuidenhout, 17 CJ van der Linde/Ruaan Dreyer, 18 Ruan Botha, 19 Jaco Kriel, 20 Michael Bondesio, 21 Waylon Murray, 22 Ruan Combrinck.

—–

Bulls v Cheetahs, Pretoria – 19:10
Referee: Marius Jonker (SA)
Assistants: Sindile Mayende (SA), Cobus Wessels (SA)
TMO: Johann Meuwesen (SA)

13 of the Bulls starting XV have been either doing battle against the Poms, or trying to impress a new Bok coach so as to try and be involved in said battle. Only Adriaan Strauss of the Cheetahs has been involved in the Bok set up. Sure Meyer and Ludeke are basically peas in a pod, but I have a feeling that this Bulls side might take some time to settle back into Super Rugby. Brussow will be like a caged tiger, and that will either lead to a MOTM performance or a yellow card. The fact that they are at Loftus should pull the Pou Blou Boys through, but this game could definitely go either way …

My prediction: Bulls by 3

Bulls: 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Akona Ndungane, 13 JJ Engelbrecht, 12 Wynand Olivier, 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Francois Hougaard, 8 Pierre Spies (captain), 7 Jacques Potgieter, 6 Dewald Potgieter, 5 Juandré Kruger, 4 Flip van der Merwe, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 1 Dean Greyling
Bench: 16 Willie Wepener, 17 Frik Kirsten, 18 Wilhelm Steenkamp, 19 CJ Stander, 20 Jano Vermaak, 21 Louis Fouché, 22 Francois Venter

Cheetahs: 15. Willie le Roux, 14. Philip Snyman, 13. Robert Ebersohn, 12. Andries Strauss, 11. Rocco Jansen, 10. Riaan Smit, 9. Piet van Zyl, 8. Ashley Johnson, 7. Lappies Labuschagne, 6. Heinrich Brüssow, 5. Izak van der Merwe, 4. Andries Ferreira, 3. Marcel van der Merwe, 2. Adriaan Strauss (captain), 1. Trevor Nyakane
Bench: 16. Hercu Liebenberg, 17. WP Nel, 18. George Earl, 19. Justin Downey 20. Tewis de Bruyn, 21. Sias Ebersohn, 22. Nico Scheepers