Jake vs his ex, Vodacom Cup Stormers sans fetcher, Coenie back at tighthead … The weekend’s teams, times, refs, venues, SuperBru community picks and Tank Lanning’s predictions.
Jake White did some amazing work with the Brumbies last year, but it ended fairly badly when he upped and left Canberra after missing out on the Wallaby job to Ewan McKenzie. So he and the Sharks can expect a fairly fiery welcome on Saturday morning. Fiery enough to stop the table toppers? The Force, with two Capetownians in their coaching staff, have decided to make Cape Town their base, and are only popping in for the game in Bloem. Will the Highveld air be a 16th player for the Cheetahs? And in Pretoria, the Stormers arrive with a positively developmental looking side, this due to a catastrophic injury rate. But they have also decided to take on the tall timber Bulls loose forwards without fetchers Deon Fourie and Siya Kolisi, who are on the bench. Will this be enough to tip the result?
Sunday rugby makes the 7 game weekend so much more manageable, and one has to love a morning game with koffie en beskuit! But that pesky Saturday evening game is back, with the Bulls hosting the Stormers at 7. Pah. So it is Lions taking a pasting on a gym bike, Jake vs his ex team while the fire burns down, then with the next game only at 5, it is about coolerbox management in the arvie, seeing how Coenie goes at tighthead against the Force at 5, and then survival of the fittest (both on the field at Loftus, and in your lounge!) at 19h00! To be honest, it is all just a little disjointed this weekend!
Friday 09 May
09:35 Chiefs vs Blues, Yarrow Stadium
Referee: Mike Fraser (NZ)
Assistant referees: Nick Briant (NZ), Shane McDermott (NZ)
TMO: Glenn Newman (NZ)
Prediction: CHIEFS to beat Blues by 12
SuperBru community pick: CHIEFS (88%) to beat Blues by 6
Chiefs: 15 Tom Marshall, 14 Dwayne Sweeney, 13 Tim Nanai-WIlliams, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 James Lowe, 10 Gareth Anscombe, 9 Tawera Kerr-Barlow, 8 Liam Messam (c), 7 Sam Cane, 6 Tanerau Latimer, 5 Brodie Retallick, 4 Michael Fitzgerald, 3 Ben Tameifuna, 2 Nathan Harris, 1 Pauliasi Manu
Bench: 16 Mahonri Schwalger, 17 Jamie Mackintosh, 18 Josh Hohneck, 19 Matt Symons, 20 Liam Squire, 21 Brad Weber, 22 Andrew Horrell, 23 Anton Lienert-Brown
Blues: 15 Charles Piutau, 14 Frank Halai, 13 George Moala, 12 Ma’a Nonu, 11 Lolagi Visinia, 10 Simon Hickey, 9 Bryn Hall, 8 Jerome Kaino, 7 Brendon O’Connor, 6 Peter Saili, 5 Tom Donnelly, 4 Patrick Tuipulotu, 3 Charlie Faumuina, 2 Keven Mealamu (c), 1 Tony Woodcock
Bench: 16 James Parsons, 17 Sam Prattley, 18 Angus Ta’avao, 19 Hayden Triggs, 20 Steven Luatua, 21 Piri Weepu, 22 Ihaia West, 23 Pita Ahki
11:40 Rebels vs Hurricanes, AAMI Park, Melbourne
Referee: Matt O’Brien (Aus)
Assistant referees: Steve Walsh (Aus), Ed Martin (Aus)
TMO: Peter Marshall (Aus)
Prediction: HURRICANES to beat Rebels by 5
SuperBru community pick: HURRICANES (81%) to beat Rebels by 5
Rebels: 15 Jason Woodward, 14 Male Sau, 13 Tamati Ellison, 12 Mitch Inman, 11 Tom English, 10 Bryce Hegarty, 9 Luke Burgess, 8 Scott Higginbotham (c), 7 Scott Fuglistaller, 6 Colby Fainga’a, 5 Luke Jones, 4 Cadeyrn Neville, 3 Laurie Weeks, 2 Pat Leafa, 1 Cruze Ah-Nau.
Bench: 16 Shota Horie, 17 Max Lahiff, 18 Paul Alo-Emilie, 19 Hugh Pyle, 20 Sean McMahon, 21 Ben Meehan, 22 Tom Kingston, 23 Angus Roberts.
Hurricanes: 15 Andre Taylor, 14 Cory Jane, 13 Conrad Smith (c), 12 Alapati Leiua, 11 Julian Savea, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 TJ Perenara, 8 Victor Vito, 7 Ardie Savea, 6 Faifili Levave, 5 James Broadhurst, 4 Jeremy Thrush/Blade Thomson, 3 Ben Franks, 2 Dane Coles, 1 Reggie Goodes
Bench: 16 Motu Matu’u, 17 Chris Eves, 18 Jeffrey Toomaga-Allen, 19 Blade Thomson/Brad Shields, 20 Jack Lam, 21 Billy Guyton, 22 Tim Bateman, 23 Matt Proctor
Saturday 10 May
09:35 Highlanders vs Lions, Forsyth Barr, Dunedin
Referee: Angus Gardner (Aus)
Assistant referees: Garratt Williamson (NZ), Kane McBride (NZ)
TMO: Vinny Munro (NZ)
Prediction: HIGHLANDERS to beat Lions by 12
SuperBru community pick: HIGHLANDERS (94%) to beat Lions by 11
Highlanders: 15 Ben Smith, 14 Richard Buckman, 13 Malakai Fekitoa, 12 Phil Burleigh, 11 Jason Emery, 10 Hayden Parker, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Nasi Manu, 7 Shane Christie, 6 Elliot Dixon, 5 Josh Bekhuis, 4 Joe Wheeler, 3 Ma’afu Fia, 2 Ged Robinson, 1 Chris King.
Bench: 16 Liam Coltman, 17 Matias Diaz, 18 Kane Hames, 19 Tom Franklin, 20 TJ Ioane, 21 Fumiaki Tanaka, 22 Trent Renata, 23 Gareth Evans.
Lions: 15 Chrysander Botha, 14 Courtnall Skosan, 13 Lionel Mapoe, 12 Stefan Watermeyer, 11 Anthony Volmink, 10 Marnitz Boshoff, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Warren Whiteley (c), 7 Derick Minnie, 6 Jaco Kriel, 5 Martin Muller, 4 MB Lusaseni, 3 Julian Redelinghuys, 2 Robbie Coetzee, 1 Schalk van der Merwe.
Bench: 16 Armand van der Merwe, 17 Corne Fourie, 18 Jacques van Rooyen, 19 Rudi Mathee, 20 Warwick Teckenburg, 21 Ross Cronje, 22 Elton Jantjies, 23 JW Jonker.
11:40 Brumbies vs Sharks, Canberra Stadium, Canberra
Referee: Glen Jackson (NZ)
Assistant referees: Andrew Lees (Aus), James Leckie (Aus)
TMO: George Ayoub (Aus)
Prediction: BRUMBIES to beat Sharks by 2
SuperBru community pick: BRUMBIES (59%) to beat Sharks by 1
Brumbies: 15 Jesse Mogg, 14 Joe Tomane, 13 Tevita Kuridrani, 12 Christian Lealiifano, 11 Robbie Coleman, 10 Matt Toomua, 9 Nic White, 8 Ben Mowen (c), 7 Jarrad Butler, 6 Fotu Auelua, 5 Sam Carter, 4 Scott Fardy, 3 Ben Alexander, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Scott Sio.
Bench: 16 Josh Mann-Rea, 17 Ruan Smith, 18 Ruaidhri Murphy, 19 Jordan Smiler, 20 Tom McVerry, 21 Michael Dowsett, 22 Andrew Smith, 23 Pat McCabe.
Sharks: 15 Lwazi Mvovo, 14 Odwa Ndungane, 13 S’bura Sithole, 12 Paul Jordaan, 11 JP Pietersen, 10 Frans Steyn, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Ryan Kankowski, 7 Jean Deysel, 6 Keegan Daniel, 5 Stephan Lewies, 4 Willem Alberts, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Bismarck du Plessis (c), 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Bench: 16 Kyle Cooper, 17 Dale Chadwick, 18 Lourens Adriaanse, 19 Etienne Oosthuizen, 20 Tera Mtembu, 21 Charl McLeod, 22 Heimar Williams, 23 SP Marais.
17:05 Cheetahs vs Force, Vodacom Park, Bloemfontein
Referee: Chris Pollock (NZ)
Assistant referees: Marius Jonker (SA), Francois de Bruin (SA)
TMO: Shaun Veldsman (SA)
Prediction: CHEETAHS to beat Force by 11
SuperBru community pick: CHEETAHS (55%) to DRAW with Force
Cheetahs: 15 Hennie Daniller, 14 Raymond Rhule/Cornal Hendricks, 13 Johann Sadie, 12 Rayno Benjamin, 11 Willie le Roux, 10 Johan Goosen, 9 Sarel Pretorius 8 Boom Prinsloo, 7 Teboho Mohoje, 6 Heinrich Brssow, 5 Francois Uys, 4 Andries Ferreira, 3 Coenie Oosthuizen, 2 Adriaan Strauss (captain), 1 Caylib Oosthuizen
Bench: 16 Torsten van Jaarsveld, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Maks van Dyk, 19 Carel Greeff, 20 Waltie Vermeulen, 21 Shaun Venter, 22 Elgar Watts, 23 Cornal Hendricks/Howard Mnisi
Force: 15 Jayden Hayward, 14 Dane Haylett-Petty, 13 Marcel Brache, 12 Kyle Godwin, 11 Nick Cummins, 10 Sias Ebersohn, 9 Ian Prior, 8 Ben McCalman, 7 Matt Hodgson (c), 6 Angus Cottrell, 5 Sam Wykes, 4 Adam Coleman, 3 Kieran Longbottom, 2 Nathan Charles, 1 Pek Cowan.
Bench: 16 Heath Tessmann, 17 Tetera Faulkner, 18 Ollie Hoskins, 19 Wilhelm Steenkamp, 20 Brynard Stander, 21 Justin Turner, 22 Zack Holmes, 23 Chris Tuatara-Morrison.
19:10 Bulls vs Stormers, Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
Referee: Craig Joubert (SA)
Assistant referees: Lourens van der Merwe, Jaco van Heerden (both SA)
TMO: Johan Greeff
Prediction: BULLS to beat Stormers by 7
SuperBru community pick: BULLS (80%) to beat Stormers by 5
Bulls: 15 Jurgen Visser, 14 Akona Ndungane,13 JJ Engelbrecht, 12 Jan Serfontein, 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Francois Hougaard, 8 Grant Hattingh, 7 Jacques du Plessis, 6 Jono Ross, 5 Victor Matfield (c), 4 Paul Willemse, 3 Marcel van der Merwe, 2 Callie Visagie, 1 Dean Greyling
Bench: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Werner Kruger, 18 Morné Mellett, 19 Jacques Engelbrecht, 20 Wimpie van der Walt, 21 Rudy Paige, 22 Jacques-Louis Potgieter, 23 William Small-Smith
Stormers: 15 Jaco Taute, 14 Damian de Allende, 13 Juan de Jongh, 12 Peter Grant, 11 Cheslin Kolbe, 10 Kurt Coleman, 9 Nic Groom, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Schalk Burger (c), 6 Nizaam Carr, 5 Ruan Botha, 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 Pat Cilliers, 2 Scarra Ntubeni, 1 Brok Harris.
Bench: 16 Stephan Coetzee, 17 Alistair Vermaak, 18 Martin Dreyer, 19 Siya Kolisi, 20 Deon Fourie, 21 Dylon Frylinck, 22 Michael van der Spuy, 23 Devon Williams.
Sunday 11 May
08h05 Reds vs Crusaders, Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
Referee: Jaco Peyper (SA)
Assistant referees: Rohan Hoffmann (Aus), Damien Mitchelmore (Aus)
TMO: Steve Leszczynski (Aus)
Prediction: CRUSADERS to beat Reds by 9
SuperBru community pick: CRUSADERS (92%) to beat Reds by 9
Reds: 15 Mike Harris, 14 Dom Shipperley, 13 Ben Tapuai, 12 Anthony Fainga’a, 11 Jamie-Jerry Taulagi, 10 Quade Cooper, 9 Will Genia, 8 Jake Schatz, 7 Beau Robinson, 6 Curtis Browning, 5 James Horwill (c), 4 Rob Simmons, 3 Greg Holmes, 2 James Hanson, 1 Ben Daley.
Bench: 16 Saia Fainga’a, 17 Albert Anae, 18 Jono Owen, 19 Ed O’Donoghue, 20 Dave McDuling, 21 Nick Frisby, 22 Ben Lucas, 23 Rod Davies.
Crusaders: 15 Israel Dagg, 14 Johnny McNicholl, 13 Rey Lee-Lo, 12 Ryan Crotty (c), 11 Nemani Nadolo, 10 Colin Slade, 9 Andy Ellis, 8 Luke Whitelock, 7 Richie McCaw, 6 Jordan Taufua, 5 Samuel Whitelock, 4 Luke Romano, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Corey Flynn, 1 Wyatt Crockett.
Bench: 16 Ben Funnell, 17 Tim Perry, 18 Nepo Laulala, 19 Jimmy Tupou, 20 George Whitelock, 21 Willi Heinz, 22 Tyler Bleyendaal, 23 Nafi Tuitavake
