Weekend teams and predictions

Cheetahs take a breather, but it’s game on for the other 4. Take in the weekend’s teams, times, SuperBru Community picks, odds, and Tank Lanning’s pesky predictions.

Tank Lanning

The Canes took some scrum pills at half time last week and came back to bully the notorious Lions pack. Will they do the same against a Bulls pack that continues with retreaded looshead, Trevor Nyakane at tighthead? Will Nonu stuff up what looked like an organised side, or will he add the spark? Jesse Kriel is a legend in the making, but will the Bulls stumble a few more times before settling? I think so, but I am not very confident!

The Stormers young pack played well, with newboy Vincent Koch powering a really good scrum performance. But that was against a side who had lost 2 tighthead props. There is no chance the Blues scrum will be that fragile. Out wide, Dillyn Leyds thrived in the space created by Damien de Allende. Will the Blues afford them that much space? Unlikely. This will be a proper test for the home side, with Newlands perhaps giving them the edge?

The Lions, while looking good at times, ended up playing too much rugby against the Canes last weekend. They made errors instead of finishing good passages of play, and with Boshoff having an away game with the boot, it was not pretty. Do that again in Durban, and it will get even uglier against a side who will be smarting big time after stuffing it up against the Cheetahs at home. The scrum will again be a factor, and while the starting Lions pack remains as formidable as ever in this department, it’s that bench that I think might come second to the likes of Thomas du Toit and Kyle Cooper.

Elsewhere, I think it’s vital that you get to the telly for the Chiefs vs Brumbies and Highlanders vs Saders games. Very much looking forward to seeing how Ross Geldenhuys goes against the likes of Wyatt Crockett and Owen Franks. Also look out for Francois van Wyk, who starts at tighthead for the Force. His try last weekend was a thing of beauty!

Friday, February 20

08:35 – Chiefs vs Brumbies (Yarrow, New Plymouth)

Prediction: CHIEFS to beat Brumbies by 3

SuperBru Community: CHIEFS (59%) to beat Brumbies by 1

Bookies: CHIEFS (5/11) to beat Brumbies (9/4)

Chiefs: 15 James Lowe, 14 Bryce Heem, 13 Charlie Ngatai, 12 Sonny Bill Williams, 11 Hosea Gear, 10 Aaron Cruden, 9 Brad Weber, 8 Maama Vaipulu, 7 Sam Cane, 6 Liam Messam (captain), 5 Michael Fitzgerald, 4 Matt Symons, 3 Siate Tokolahi, 2 Hika Elliot, 1 Jamie Mackintosh.

Bench: 16 Quentin MacDonald, 17 Pauliasi Manu, 18 Ben Tameifuna, 19 Brodie Retallick, 20 Tevita Koloamatangi, 21 Augustine Pulu, 22 Damian McKenzie, 23 Seta Tamanivalu

Brumbies: 15 Robbie Coleman, 14 Joe Tomane, 13 Tevita Kuridrani, 12 Christian Leali’ifano, 11 Henry Speight, 10 Matt Toomua, 9 Nic White (c), 8 Ita Vaea, 7 Jarrad Butler, 6 Scott Fardy, 5 Sam Carter, 4 Rory Arnold, 3 Ben Alexander, 2 Josh Mann-Rea, 1 Scott Sio.

Bench: 16 Stephen Moore, 17 JP Smith, 18 Ruan Smith, 19 Jordan Smiler, 20 Sean Doyle, 21 Michael Dowsett, 22 James Dargaville, 23 Lausii Taliauli.

10:40 – Rebels vs Waratahs (AAMI Park, Melbourne)

Prediction: WARATAHS to beat Rebels by 5

SuperBru Community: WARATAHS (52%) to beat Rebels by 1

Bookies: WARATAHS (8/15) to beat Rebels (2/1)

Rebels: 15 Mike Harris, 14 Dom Shipperley, 13 Tamati Ellison, 12 Mitch Inman, 11 Tom English, 10 Jack Debreczeni, 9 Luke Burgess, 8 Scott Higginbotham (c), 7 Colby Fainga’a, 6 Sean McMahon, 5 Lopeti Timani, 4 Luke Jones, 3 Laurie Weeks, 2 Pat Leafa, 1 Toby Smith.

Bench: 16 Ben Whittaker, 17 Cruze Ah-Nau, 18 Paul Alo-Emile, 19 Sam Jeffries, 20 Scott Fuglistaller, 21 Ben Meehan, 22 Bryce Hegarty, 23 Sefanaia Naivalu.

Waratahs: 15 Israel Folau, 14 Taqele Naiyaravaro, 13 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 12 Kurtley Beale, 11 Rob Horne, 10 Bernard Foley, 9 Nick Phipps, 8 Wycliff Palu, 7 Michael Hooper, 6 Jaques Potgieter, 5 Will Skelton, 4 David Dennis (c), 3 Sekope Kepu, 2 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 1 Benn Robinson.

Bench (from): 16 Tolu Latu, 17 Jeremy Tilse, 18 Paddy Ryan, 19 Sam Lousi, 20 Mitchell Chapman, 21 Stephen Hoiles, 22 Brendan McKibbin, 23 Matt Carraro, 24 Pat McCutcheon, 25 Peter Betham.

19:10 – Bulls vs Hurricanes (Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria)

Prediction: HURRICANES to beat Bulls by 3

SuperBru Community: BULLS (64%) to beat Hurricanes by 2

Bookies: BULLS (8/15) to beat Hurricanes (15/8)

Bulls: 15 Jesse Kriel, 14 Bjorn Basson, 13 JJ Engelbrecht, 12 Jan Serfontein, 11 Francois Hougaard, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Piet van Zyl, 8 Pierre Spies (captain), 7 Lappies Labuschagne, 6 Deon Stegmann, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Jacques du Plessis, 3 Trevor Nyakane, 2 Adriaan Strauss, 1 Morne Mellett

Bench: 16 Callie Visagie, 17 Dean Greyling, 18 Grant Hattingh, 19 Hanro Liebenberg, 20 Rudy Paige, 21 Jacques-Louis Potgieter, 22 Jurgen Visser, 23 Dayan van der Westhuizen

Hurricanes: 15 Jason Woodward, 14 Cory Jane, 13 Conrad Smith (captain), 12 Ma’a Nonu, 11 Julian Savea, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 TJ Perenara, 8 Blade Thomson, 7 Callum Gibbins, 6 Brad Shields, 5 James Broadhurst, 4 Mark Abbott, 3 Ben Franks, 2 Dane Coles, 1 Reggie Goodes

Bench: 16 Brayden Mitchell, 17 Jeffery Toomaga-Allen, 18 Chris Eves, 19 Ardie Savea, 20 Victor Vito, 21 Chris Smylie, 22 James Marshall, 23 Matt Proctor

Saturday, February 21

08:35 – Highlanders vs Crusaders (Forsyth Barr, Dunedin)

Prediction: CRUSADERS to beat Highlanders by 2

SuperBru Community: CRUSADERS (62%) to beat Highlanders by 3

Bookies: CRUSADERS (7/10) to beat Highlanders (6/4)

Highlanders: 15 Ben Smith (c), 14 Waisake Naholo, 13 Malakai Fekitoa, 12 Shaun Treeby, 11 Patrick Osborne, 10 Lima Sopoaga, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Nasi Manu (c), 7 John Hardie, 6 Elliot Dixon, 5 Joe Wheeler, 4 Tom Franklin, 3 Ross Geldenhuys, 2 Liam Coltman, 1 Josh Hohneck.

Bench: 16 Ash Dixon, 17 Kane Hames, 18 Ma’afu Fia, 19 Mark Reddish, 20 Dan Pryor, 21 Fumiaki Tanaka, 22 Jason Emery, 23 Marty Banks.

Crusaders: 15 Israel Dagg, 14 Robbie Fruean, 13 Kieron Fonotia, 12 Ryan Crotty, 11 Johnny McNicholl, 10 Colin Slade, 9 Mitchell Drummond, 8 Luke Whitelock, 7 Matt Todd (c), 6 Richie McCaw, 5 Scott Barrett, 4 Luke Romano, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Ben Funnell, 1 Wyatt Crockett.

Bench: 16 Codie Taylor, 17 Codie Taylor, 18 Nepo Laulala, 19 Dominic Bird, 20 Jordan Taufua, 21 Billy Guyton, 22 Tom Taylor, 23 Nafi Tuitavake.

10:40 – Reds vs Force (Suncorp, Brisbane)

Prediction: REDS to beat Force by 5

SuperBru Community: FORCE (70%) to beat Reds by 4

Bookies: REDS (4/6) to beat Force (6/4)

Reds: 15 Karmichael Hunt (vice-captain), 14 Chris Kuridrani, 13 Chris Feauai-Sautia, 12 Samu Kerevi, 11 Lachie Turner, 10 James O’Connor, 9 Will Genia, 8 Jake Schatz, 7 Liam Gill, 6 Adam Thomson, 5 James Horwill, 4 Marco Kotze, 3 Sam Talakai, 2 Saia Fainga’a, 1 James Slipper (captain)

Bench: 16 James Hanson, 17 Ben Daley, 18 Sef Faagase, 19 Tom Murday, 20 Curtis Browning, 21 Nick Frisby, 22 Sam Johnson, 23 Campbell Magnay.

Force: 15 Zack Holmes, 14 Luke Morahan, 13 Kyle Godwin, 12 Solomoni Jnr Rasolea, 11 Marcel Brache, 10 Sias Ebersohn, 9 Alby Mathewson, 8 Ben McCalman, 7 Chris Alcock, 6 Angus Cottrell, 5 Adam Coleman, 4 Sam Wykes (captain), 3 Tetera Faulkner, 2 Nathan Charles, 1 Francois van Wyk

Bench: 16 Heath Tessmann, 17 Chris Heiberg, 18 Oliver Hoskins, 19 Steve Mafi, 20 Brynard Stander, 21 Ian Prior, 22 Luke Burton, 23 Mitchell Scott

17:05 – Stormers vs Blues (Newlands, Cape Town)

Prediction: STORMERS to beat Blues by 5

SuperBru Community: STORMERS (94%) to beat Blues by 8

Bookies: STORMERS (2/5) to beat Blues (11/5)

Stormers: 15. Cheslin Kolbe, 14. Johnny Kotze, 13. Juan de Jongh, 12. Damian de Allende, 11. Dillyn Leyds, 10. Demetri Catrakilis, 9. Nic Groom, 8. Duane Vermeulen (captain), 7. Michael Rhodes, 6. Rynhardt Elstadt, 5. Ruan Botha, 4. Jurie van Vuuren, 3. Vincent Koch, 2. Scarra Ntubeni, 1. Steven Kitshoff

Bench: 16. Bongi Mbonambi, 17. Oli Kebble, 18. Wilco Louw, 19. Siya Kolisi, 20. Nizaam Carr, 21. Louis Schreuder, 22. Kurt Coleman, 23. Huw Jone

Blues: 15 Charles Piutau, 14 Ben Lam, 13 Hamish Northcott, 12 Francis Saili, 11 Tevita Li/Lolagi Visinia, 10 Ihaia West, 9 Jimmy Cowan, 8 Jerome Kaino (captain), 7 Brendon O’Connor/Luke Braid/Akira Ioane, 6 Steven Luatua, 5 Hayden Triggs/Patrick Tuipulotu, 4 Josh Bekhuis/Tuipulotu, 3 Angus Ta’avao/Charles Piutau, 2 James Parsons, 1 Tony Woodcock

Bench (from): Matt Moulds, Greg Pleasants-Tate, Ofa Tu’ungafasi, Sam Prattley, Charlie Faumuina, Angus Ta’avao, Patrick Tuipulotu/Triggs/Bekhuis, Braid/Iaone/O’Connor, Jamison Gibson-Park, Dan Bowden, Visinia/Li

19:10 – Sharks vs Lions (Kings Park, Durban)

Prediction: SHARKS to beat Lions by 9

SuperBru Community: SHARKS (84%) to beat Lions by 7

Bookies: SHARKS (5/18) to beat Lions (4/1)

Sharks: 15. SP Marais, 14. Odwa Ndungane, 13. Waylon Murray, 12. Heimar Williams, 11. Lwazi Mvovo, 10. Patrick Lambie, 9. Cobus Reinach, 8. Tera Mtembu, 7. Renaldo Bothma, 6. Marcell Coetzee, 5. Pieter-Steph du Toit, 4. Lubabalo Mtyanda, 3. Jannie du Plessis, 2. Bismarck du Plessis (captain), 1. Dale Chadwick

Bench: 16. Kyle Cooper, 17. Thomas du Toit, 18. Matt Stevens, 19. Marco Wentzel, 20. Jean Deysel, 21. Conrad Hoffmann, 22. Fred Zeilinga, 23. Andre Esterhuizen

Lions: 5. Andries Coetzee, 14. Ruan Combrinck, 13. Lionel Mapoe, 12. Howard Mnisi, 11. Courtnall Skosan, 10. Marnitz Boshoff, 9. Ross Cronje, 8. Warren Whiteley (captain), 7.Warwick Tecklenburg, 6. Derick Minnie, 5. Franco Mostert, 4. Martin Muller, 3. Ruan Dreyer, 2. Malcolm Marx, 1. Jacques van Rooyen

Bench: 16. Robbie Coetzee, 17. Schalk van der Merwe, 18. Julian Redelinghuys, 19. JP du Preez, 20. Ruaan Lerm, 21. Faf de Klerk, 22. Elton Jantjies, 23. Harold Vorster