Weekend predictions

The Lions have only won 2 out of their last 14 encounters against the Sharks, but many consider them favourites this weekend. Catch the odds, Superbru community picks as well as Tank Lanning and Andrew Mehrtens weekend predictions.

Tank Lanning

It’s an industrial Saturday, even by Super Rugby standards … Basically wall to wall from 09h30 to 21h00. Good luck getting pink tickets to catch all 5 games. One that will be worth watching is that little Currie Cup derby in Joburg at 17h00. Multiple changes to the Sharks side that got destroyed by the Saders in last weekend’s debacle, but will that be enough to upset the form SA side of 2015?

This week’s guest predictor is All Black legend and fellow SuperBru Legends poolmate, Andrew Mehrtens. Mehrts and I are fighting it out for third spot in the pool, and given that we differ on two picks this weekend, to the winner, the podium! He has picked the Blues for the upset, while I have picked the Cheetahs.

Enjoy …

Friday, April 10

09:35 – Blues vs Brumbies (Eden Park, Auckland)

Saturday, April 11

09:35 – Crusaders vs Highlanders (AMI Stadium, Christchurch)

11:40 – Waratahs vs Stormers (Allianz Stadium, Sydney)

13:45 – Force vs Cheetahs (NIB Stadium, Perth)

17:05 – Lions vs Sharks (Ellis Park, Johannesburg)

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

My picks:

BRUMBIES to beat Blues by 3

CRUSADERS to beat Highlanders by 7

WARATAHS to beat Stormers by 7

CHEETAHS to beat Force by 5

SHARKS to beat Lions by 3

BULLS to beat Reds by 9

The SuperBru Community picks:

BRUMBIES (82%) to beat Blues by 7

CRUSADERS (88%) to beat Highlanders by 7

WARATAHS (73%) to beat Stormers by 4

FORCE (58%) to beat Cheetahs by 2

LIONS (69%) to beat Sharks by 3

BULLS (98%) to beat Reds by 12

The Collated odds:

BRUMBIES (8/11) to beat Blues (13/10)

CRUSADERS (3/10) to beat Highlanders (3/1)

WARATAHS (1/3) to beat Stormers (3/1)

FORCE (8/15) to beat Cheetahs (24/13)

SHARKS (10/11) to beat Lions (11/10)

BULLS (1/6) to beat Reds (6/1)

Andrew Mehrtens picks:

BLUES to beat Brumbies by 2

CRUSADERS to beat Highlanders by 9

WARATAHS to beat Stormers by 11

FORCE to beat Cheetahs by 4

SHARKS to beat Lions by 10

BULLS to beat Reds by 15

The weekend’s teams:

CRUSADERS vs HIGHLANDERS

Crusaders – 15 Israel Dagg, 14 David Havili, 13 Keiron Fonotia, 12 Ryan Crotty, 11 Nemani Nadolo, 10 Colin Slade, 9 Andy Ellis, 8 Kieran Read (c), 7 Matt Todd, 6 Jordan Taufua, 5 Sam Whitelock, 4 Jimmy Tupou, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Ben Funnell, 1 Joe Moody.

Bench: 16 Codie Taylor, 17 Alex Hodgman, 18 Nepo Lualala, 19 Scott Barrett, 20 Richie McCaw, 21 Mitchell Drummond, 22 Dan Carter, 23 Nafi Tuitavake.

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 James Lentjes, 6 Elliot Dixon, 5 Joe Wheeler, 4 Tom Franklin, 3 Josh Hohneck, 2 Ash Dixon, 1 Brendon Edmonds.

Bench: 16 Liam Coltman, 17 Daniel Lienert-Brown, 18 Pingi Tala’apitaga, 19 Mark Reddish, 20 Dan Pryor, 21 Fumiaki Tanaka, 22 Marty Banks, 23 Jason Emery.

WARATAHS vs STORMERS

Waratahs – 15 Israel Folau, 14 Taqele Naiyaravoro, 13 Matt Carraro, 12 Kurtley Beale, 11 Rob Horne, 10 Bernard Foley, 9 Nick Phipps, 8 Wycliff Palu, 7 Michael Hooper, 6 Jacques Potgieter, 5 David Dennis (c), 4 Will Skelton, 3 Sekope Kepu, 2 Tolu Latu, 1 Benn Robinson.

Bench (two to be omitted): 16 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 17 Jeremy Tilse, 18 Paddy Ryan, 19 Mitchell Chapman, 20 Pat McCutcheon 21 Stephen Hoiles, 22 Brendan McKibbin, 23 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 24 Peter Betham, 25 Jono Lance.

Stormers – 15 Cheslin Kolbe, 14 Kobus van Wyk, 13 Juan de Jongh (c), 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Dillyn Leyds, 10 Demetri Catrakilis, 9 Nic Groom, 8 Nizaam Carr, 7 Michael Rhodes, 6 Schalk Burger, 5 Manuel Carizza, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Scarra Ntubeni, 1 Steven Kitshoff.

Bench: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Oli Kebble, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Jean Kleyn, 20 Siya Kolisi, 21 Louis Schreuder, 22 Kurt Coleman, 23 Huw Jones.

FORCE vs CHEETAHS

Force – 15 Dane Haylett-Petty, 14 Luke Morahan, 13 Kyle Godwin, 12 Luke Burton, 11 Nick Cummins, 10 Sias Ebersohn, 9 Alby Mathewson, 8 Ben McCalman, 7 Kane Koteka, 6 Steve Mafi, 5 Adam Coleman, 4 Sam Wykes (c), 3 Tetera Faulkner, 2 Nathan Charles, 1 Pekahou Cowan.

Bench: 16 Heath Tessmann, 17 Chris Heiberg, 18 Oliver Hoskins, 19 Angus Cottrell, 20 Chris Alcock, 21 Ian Prior, 22 Zack Holmes, 23 Marcel Brache.

Cheetahs – 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Cornal Hendricks, 13 Johann Sadie, 12 Francois Venter, 11 Raymond Rhule, 10 Joe Pietersen, 9 Sarel Pretorius, 8 Willie Britz, 7 Boom Prinsloo, 6 Heinrich Brüssow, 5 Francois Uys (c), 4 Carl Wegner, 3 Coenie Oosthuizen, 2 Torsten van Jaarsveld, 1 BG Uys.

Bench: 16 Stephan Coetzee, 17 Danie Minnie, 18 Maks van Dyk, 19 Steven Sykes, 20 Tienie Burger, 21 Tian Meyer, 22 Willie du Plessis, 23 Rayno Benjamin.

LIONS vs SHARKS

Lions – 15 Andries Coetzee, 14 Ruan Combrinck, 13 Lionel Mapoe, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 Mark Richards, 10 Elton Jantjies, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Warren Whiteley (c), 7 Warwick Tecklenburg, 6 Jaco Kriel, 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Andries Ferreira, 3 Julian Redelinghuys, 2 Robbie Coetzee, 1 Jacques van Rooyen.

Bench: 16 Armand van der Merwe, 17 Corné Fourie, 18 Ruan Dreyer, 19 Robert Kruger, 20 Derick Minnie, 21 Lohan Jacobs, 22 Marnitz Boshoff, 23 Howard Mnisi.

Sharks – 15 Odwa Ndungane, 14 S’bura Sithole, 13 Waylon Murray, 12 André Esterhuizen, 11 Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Fred Zeilinga, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Ryan Kankowski, 7 Renaldo Bothma, 6 Marcell Coetzee, 5 Marco Wentzel (c), 4 Mouritz Botha, 3 Lourens Adriaanse, 2 Franco Marais, 1 Dale Chadwick.

Bench: 16 Monde Hadebe, 17 Thomas du Toit, 18 Matt Stevens, 19 Etienne Oosthuizen, 20 Willem Alberts, 21 Conrad Hoffmann, 22 Lionel Cronjé, 23 TBA.

BULLS vs REDS

Bulls – 15 Jesse Kriel, 14 Francois Hougaard, 13 JJ Engelbrecht, 12 Burger Odendaal, 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Jacques-Louis Potgieter, 9 Rudy Paige, 8 Pierre Spies (c), 7 Arno Botha, 6 Deon Stegmann, 5 Grant Hattingh, 4 Jacques du Plessis, 3 Trevor Nyakane, 2 Callie Visagie, 1 Dean Greyling.

Bench: 16 Jaco Visagie, 17 Morné Mellett, 18 Marcel van der Merwe, 19 Flip van der Merwe, 20 Hanro Liebenberg, 21 Piet van Zyl, 22 Tian Schoeman, 23 Jurgen Visser.

Reds – 15 Karmichael Hunt, 14 Lachie Turner, 13 Samu Kerevi, 12 Anthony Fainga’a, 11 Chris Feauai-Sautia, 10 Nick Frisby, 9 Will Genia, 8 Adam Thomson, 7 Liam Gill, 6 Curtis Browning, 5 Rob Simmons, 4 Dave McDuling, 3 Greg Holmes, 2 Saia Fainga’a, 1 James Slipper.

Bench: 16 James Hanson, 17 Ben Daley, 18 Sef Faagase, 19 Marco Kotze, 20 Tom Murday, 21 Adam Korczyk, 22 Ben Tapuai, 23 Chris Kuridrani.