Struth Bob, does it come much tougher than this? Catch the weekend’s teams, times, collated odds, SuperBru community picks and both Tank Lanning and Joel Stransky’s predictions.
Tank Lanning
Another six game weekend, but with four SA sides in action in four different games, along with the absolute cracker that is the Canes vs Chiefs on Saturday morning, you are going to have to work pretty hard for the pink tickets needed to get all five onto your rugby watching programme. This is what is on the menu:
Friday, May 15 2015
09:35 – Blues vs Bulls (Eden Park, Auckand)
11:40 – Reds vs Rebels (Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane)
Saturday, May 16 2015
09:35 – Hurricanes vs Chiefs (Westpac Stadium, Wellington)
11:40 – Waratahs vs Sharks (Allianz Stadium, Sydney)
17:05 – Lions vs Brumbies (Ellis Park, Johannesburg)
19:10 – Cheetahs vs Highlanders (Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein)
And just when we thought it was getting easy, along comes a fixture list like that! Hells Bells. Anyone who pulls in a SuperBru GSP this weekend should have to wear his or her undies outside their pants at work on Monday!
So how are the 2015 Bulls side going to tour? A victory over the 13th-placed Blues would see them move to the top of the SA conference, usurping the Stormers nn their bye weekend. The Pretoria side suffered four defeats on last year’s tour. Can Pierre Spies inspire is merry men to better things this year? After a fairly unlucky loss against the table toppers last week, can the Sharks go full circle against one of the better balanced sides in the tournament? They have picked the exact same side as last week, again being forced to pick 2 hookers on the bench. The Lions, as they have been all season, were heroic in their comeback against the Highlanders last week. Will the more organised Brumbies allow them as much freedom on the park? While in Bloem it is likely to be a try-fest of note as the two sides who focus more on counter attack than defence go head to head. Always tricky to call those Harlem Globetrotter type extravaganzas!
The Bookies and the Brus disagree on just the one game this weekend, with the Saffer heavy Brus backing the Lions to pip the Brumbies. But it’s pretty damn tight on all 6 games.
Guest predictor this week is 1995 Rugby World Cup hero Joel Stransky. Known as “Stranners” on the Bru, he and I are scrapping with another flyhalf, Andrew Mehrtens, for 4th place on the Legends leaderboard. In 1st place currently is Mils Muliaina, while AJ Venter and Breyton Paulse, both 3.75 points back, are fighting for second place.
I have gone quite heavy on the “Upset” guessing, calling all of the Blues, Reds and Lions to win their respective games, while Joel has gone the more conservative route and backed the bookies. It really is about calling all pockets!
My predictions:
BLUES to beat Bulls by 5
REDS to beat Rebels by 7
HURRICANES to beat Chiefs by 4
WARATAHS to beat Sharks by 7
LIONS to beat Brumbies by 3
HIGHLANDERS to beat Cheetahs by 7
Joel Stransky’s predictions:
BULLS to beat Blues by 9
REBELS to beat Reds by 7
HURRICANES to beat Chiefs by 6
WARATAHS to beat Sharks by 6
BRUMBIES to beat Lions by 5
HIGHLANDERS to beat Cheetahs by 8
The SuperBru Community picks:
BULLS (79%) to beat Blues by 5
REBELS (84%) to beat Reds by 6
HURRICANES (79%) to beat Chiefs by 4
WARATAHS (79%) to beat Sharks by 6
LIONS (79%) to beat Brumbies by 2
HIGHLANDERS (75%) to beat Cheetahs by 5
The Collated odds:
BULLS (5/6) to beat Blues (5/4)
REBELS (8/11) to beat Reds (10/7)
HURRICANES (4/6) to beat Chiefs (39/19)
WARATAHS (1/3) to beat Sharks (3/1)
BRUMBIES (4/5) to beat Lions (5/4)
HIGHLANDERS (4/7) to beat Cheetahs (7/4)
The weekend’s teams
Friday, May 15 2015
09:35 – Blues vs Bulls (Eden Park, Auckand)
Blues: 15 Lolagi Visinia, 14 Ben Lam, 13 Francis Saili, 12 George Moala, 11 Melani Nanai, 10 Ihaia West, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Steven Luatua (captain), 7 Brendon O’Connor, 6 Akira Ioane, 5 Josh Bekhuis, 4 Culum Retallick, 3 Charlie Faumuina, 2 James Parsons, 1 Tony Woodcock
Bench: 16 Keven Mealamu, 17 Ofa Tu’ungafasi, 18 Sam Pratley, 19 Will Lloyd, 20 Blake Gibson, 21 Jimmy Cowan/Jamie Booth, 22 Simon Hickey, 23 Matt Vaega
Bulls: 15 Jesse Kriel, 14 Francois Hougaard, 13 JJ Engelbrecht, 12 Jan Serfontein, 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Rudy Paige, 8 Pierre Spies (captain), 7 Arno Botha, 6 Lappies Labuschagne, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Flip van de Merwe, 3 Marcel van der Merwe, 2 Adriaan Strauss, 1 Trevor Nyakane
Bench: 16 Callie Visagie, 17 Dean Greyling, 18 Werner Kruger, 19 Jacques du Plessis, 20 Deon Stegmann, 21 Burger Odendaal, 22 Jacques-Louis Potgieter, 23 Travis Ismaiel
11:40 – Reds vs Rebels (Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane)
Reds: 15 James O’Connor, 14 Chris Feauai-Sautia, 13 Karmichael Hunt, 12 Samu Kerevi, 11 Lachie Turner, 10 Jake McIntyre, 9 Will Genia, 8 Jake Schatz, 7 Liam Gill, 6 Adam Thomson, 5 James Horwill, 4 Rob Simmons, 3 Greg Holmes, 2 James Hanson, 1 James Slipper (c).
Bench: 16 Andrew Ready, 17 Pettowa Paraka, 18 Sam Talakai, 19 Ed O’Donoghue, 20 Lolo Fakaosilea, 21 Nick Frisby/Scott Gale, 22 Sam Greene, 23 Ben Tapuai.
Rebels: 15 Mike Harris, 14 Dom Shipperley, 13 Tamati Ellison, 12 Mitch Inman, 11 Sefanaia Naivalu, 10 Jack Debreczeni, 9 Nic Stirzaker, 8 Scott Higginbotham (c), 7 Jordy Reid, 6 Sean McMahon, 5 Lopeti Timani, 4 Luke Jones, 3 Paul Alo-Emile, 2 Pat Leafa, 1 Toby Smith.
Bench: 16 Tom Sexton, 17 Cruze Ah-Nau, 18 Laurie Weeks, 19 Cadeyrn Neville, 20 Colby Fainga’a, 21 Luke Burgess, 22 Bryce Hegarty, 23 Tom English.
Saturday, May 16 2015
09:35 – Hurricanes vs Chiefs (Westpac Stadium, Wellington)
Hurricanes: 15 Nehe Milner-Skudder, 14 Cory Jane, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma’a Nonu, 11 Julian Savea, 10 James Marshall, 9 TJ Perenara, 8 Victor Vito, 7 Ardie Savea, 6 Brad Shields, 5 James Broadhurst, 4 Jeremy Thrush, 3 Ben Franks, 2 Motu Matu’u, 1 Reggie Goodes.
Bench: 16 Dane Coles, 17 Chris Eves, 18 Jeffery Toomaga-Allen, 19 Mark Abbott/Callum Gibbins, 20 Blade Thomson, 21 Chris Smylie, Otere Black, 22 Rey Lee-Lo.
Chiefs: 15 Tom Marshall, 14 Hosea Gear, 13 Charlie Ngatai, 12 Anton Lienert-Brown, 11 Bryce Heem, 10 Damian McKenzie, 9 Brad Weber, 8 Michael Leitch, 7 Sam Cane, 6 Liam Messam (c), 5 Michael Fitzgerald, 4 Michael Allardice, 3 Ben Tameifuna, 2 Hika Elliot, 1 Pauliasi Manu.
Bench: 16 Quentin MacDonald, 17 Siate Tokolahi, 18 Mitchell Graham, 19 Liam Squire, 20 Maama Vaipulu, 21 Augustine Pulu, 22 Andrew Horrell, 23 Marty McKenzie.
11:40 – Waratahs vs Sharks (Allianz Stadium, Sydney)
Waratahs: 15 Israel Folau, 14 Taqele Naiyaravoro, 13 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 12 Kurtley Beale, 11 Rob Horne, 10 Bernard Foley, 9 Nick Phipps, 8 Wycliff Palu, 7 Michael Hooper, 6 Stephan Hoiles, 5 Dave Dennis (c), 4 Will Skelton, 3 Sekope Kepu, 2 Tolu Latu, 1 Benn Robinson.
Bench (from): 16 Hugh Roach, 17 Jeremy Tilse, 18 Paddy Ryan, 19 Mitchell Chapman, 20 Jed Holloway, 21 Jack Dempsey, 22 Tala Gray, 23 Pat McCutcheon, 24 Brendan McKibbin, 25 Matt Carraro, 26 Peter Betham.
Sharks: 15. Lwazi Mvovo, 14. Odwa Ndungane, 13. JP Pietersen, 12. Frans Steyn, 11. S’bura Sithole, 10. Lionel Cronje, 9. Stefan Ungerer, 8. Renaldo Bothma, 7. Etienne Oosthuizen, 6. Marcell Coetzee, 5. Marco Wentzel (captain), 4. Stephan Lewies, 3. Jannie du Plessis, 2. Bismarck du Plessis, 1. Tendai Mtawarira
Bench: 16. Franco Marais, 17. Dale Chadwick, 18. Lourens Adriaanse , 19. Mouritz Botha, 20. Kyle Cooper, 21. Conrad Hoffmann, 22. Andre Esterhuizen, 23. Waylon Murray
17:05 – Lions vs Brumbies (Ellis Park, Johannesburg)
Lions: 15. Andries Coetzee, 14. Lionel Mapoe, 13. Harold Vorster, 12. Alwyn Hollenbach, 11. Ruan Combrinck, 10. Elton Jantjies, 9. Faf de Klerk, 8. Warren Whiteley (captain), 7. Robert Kruger, 6. Jaco Kriel, 5. Franco Mostert, 4. Martin Muller, 3. Julian Redelinghuys, 2. Robbie Coetzee, 1. Schalk van der Merwe
Bench: 16. Armand van der Merwe, 17. Jacques van Rooyen, 18. Ruan Dreyer, 19. MB Lusaseni, 20. Warwick Tecklenburg, 21. Ross Cronje, 22. Jaco van der Walt, 23. Howard Mnisi
Brumbies: 15 Jesse Mogg, 14 Henry Speight, 13 Tevita Kuridrani, 12 Matt Toomua, 11 Joe Tomane, 10 Christian Lealiifano, 9 Nic White, 8 Ita Vaea, 7 David Pocock, 6 Scott Fardy, 5 Sam Carter, 4 Rory Arnold, 3 Ben Alexander, 2 Stephen Moore (captain), 1 Allan Alaalatoa
Bench: 16 Josh Mann-Rea, 17 JP Smith, 18 Ruan Smith, 19 Jarrad Butler, 20 Jordan Smiler, 21 Michael Dowsett, 22 James Dargaville, 23 Robbie Coleman
19:10 – Cheetahs vs Highlanders (Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein)
Cheetahs: 15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Rayno Benjamin, 13 Francois Venter, 12 Michael van der Spuy, 11 Sergeal Petersen, 10 Francois Brummer, 9 Tian Meyer, 8 Willie Britz, 7 Boom Prinsloo, 6 Tienie Burger, 5 Francois Uys (captain), 4 Carl Wegner, 3 Maks van Dyk, 2 Torsten van Jaarsveld, 1 Danie Minnie
Bench: 16 Stephan Coetzee, 17 BG Uys, 18 Ewald van der Westhuizen, 19 Steven Sykes, 20 Carel Greeff, 21 Shaun Venter, 22 Coenie van Wyk, 23 Raymond Rhule
Highlanders: 15 Ben Smith (c), 14 Ryan Tongia, 13 Malakai Fekitoa, 12 Richard Buckman, 11 Patrick Osborne, 10 Lima Sopoaga, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Nasi Manu (c), 7 John Hardie, 6 Gareth Evans, 5 Mark Reddish, 4 Alex Ainley, 3 Josh Hohneck, 2 Liam Coltman, 1 Brendon Edmonds.
Bench: 16 Ash Dixon, 17 Daniel Lienert-Brown, 18 Ross Geldenhuys, 19 Tom Franklin, 20 Elliot Dixon, 21 Dan Pryor, 22 Fumiaki Tanaka, 23 Marty Banks.
