Cracker alert! Newlands, 17h00, Saturday, Stormers vs Lions. It’s immense! Catch the weekend’s teams, times, odds and both Tank Lanning and Corne Krige’s SuperBru predictions.
Tank Lanning
Round 17, the weekend’s penultimate round of Super Rugby fixtures:
Friday, June 05
09:35 – Hurricanes vs Highlanders (Westpac Stadium, Wellington)
13:00 – Force vs Brumbies (nib Stadium, Perth)
Saturday, June 06
07:30 – Rebels vs Bulls (AAMI Park, Melbourne)
09:35 – Blues vs Crusaders (Eden Park, Auckand)
11:40 – Reds vs Chiefs (Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane)
15:00 – Cheetahs vs Waratahs (Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein)
17:05 – Stormers vs Lions (Newlands, Cape Town)
Very NB client meeting on Friday morning for the must watch Kiwi top of the table derby. Koffie en beskuit on Saturday morning to see if the Bulls can right a badly listing ship against the bottom of the log Force side in Perth. Blues vs Saders on a gym bike perhaps? And then a bit of a break before settling in on your cooler box next to the braai to see if the new look (and newly coached) Cheetahs can do the Stormers (or Lions) a big favour in Bloem. Focus on the braai rather than the coolerbox, though, because you want a semblance of a clear head for the corker of a pudding game at Newlands.
Most of the head to heads in the Stormers vs Lions game at Newlands are pretty mouth-watering, with the Elton Jantjies vs Demetri Katrakilis flyhalf duel probably getting the most attention. But it’s the collisions up front, especially the monster front row battle, that will go a long way to deciding not only the game, but the Bok Rugby World Cup front row! These are the form front rows of the tournament and it will be fascinating to see which pack comes out on top. How that unfolds will no doubt influence the other two key head to heads on the side of the scrum: Siya Kolisis vs Jaco Kriel and Warren Whiteley vs Duane Vermeulen (who has just turned down the biggest Bok contract offer of all time). Both sets of loosies, and indeed entire sides, have based their game on scrum dominance, so only getting parity (if that at all) will mean a change in the way they play. Hence the flyhalf battle then becoming so key. No doubt Jantjies will be keen to show the Cape Town crowd that he can indeed play rugby. Lose and the Lions are out of the playoff mix. Win and the Stormers remain in the hunt for that all important second spot on the log. It’s an absolute cracker!
No surprise as the mostly Saffa Brus are backing the Bulls, while the Bookies are backing the Rebels, albeit only just. While in Cape Town, both the Brus and Bookies see the home side prevailing. Surely space for a cheeky upset right there? My guest predictor this week, courtesy of the Legends SuperBru pool predictions, is the man with perhaps the most cut up face and gnarled fingers of all time, legendary openside flanker and Bok skipper, Corne Krige. We agree on every pick except the Blues vs Saders. Corne is second last on the pool leaderboard, I am third. Just saying …
My predictions:
HURRICANES to beat Highlanders by 8
BRUMBIES to beat Force by 9
BULLS to beat Rebels by 7
CRUSADERS to beat Blues by 11
CHIEFS to beat Reds by 9
WARATAHS to beat Cheetahs by 14
STORMERS to beat Lions by 9
Corne Krige’s predictions:
HURRICANES to beat Highlanders by 9
BRUMBIES to beat Force by 12
BULLS to beat Rebels by 6
BLUES to beat Crusaders by 11
CHIEFS to beat Reds by 16
WARATAHS to beat Cheetahs by 23
STORMERS to beat Lions by 5
The SuperBru Community picks:
HURRICANES (82%) to beat Highlanders by 5
BRUMBIES (97%) to beat Force by 11
BULLS (67%) to beat Rebels by 3
CRUSADERS (95%) to beat Blues by 10
CHIEFS (86%) to beat Reds by 8
WARATAHS (89%) to beat Cheetahs by 10
STORMERS (76%) to beat Lions by 5
The Collated odds:
HURRICANES (1/3) to beat Highlanders (3/1)
BRUMBIES (1/3) to beat Force (3/1)
REBELS (7/8) to beat Bulls (20/19)
CRUSADERS (2/5) to beat Blues (10/3)
CHIEFS (8/13) to beat Reds (6/4)
WARATAHS (1/3) to beat Cheetahs (3/1)
STORMERS (3/8) to beat Lions (5/2)
The weekend’s teams:
Friday, June 05
09:35 – Hurricanes vs Highlanders (Westpac Stadium, Wellington)
Hurricanes: 15 James Marshall, 14 Nehe Milner-Skudder, 13 Conrad Smith (c), 12 Rey Lee-Lo, 11 Julian Savea, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 TJ Perenara, 8 Victor Vito, 7 Ardie Savea, 6 Blade Thomson, 5 James Broadhurst, 4 Jeremy Thrush, 3 Jeffery Toomaga-Allen, 2 Dane Coles, 1 Reggie Goodes.
Bench: (from): 16 Brayden Mitchell, 17 Jeffery Toomaga-Allen, 18 Chris Eves, 19 Mark Abbott, 20 Callum Gibbins, 21 Brad Shields, 22 Chris Smylie, 23 Cory Jane, 24 Willis Halaholo.
Highlanders: 5 Marty Banks, 14 Waisake Naholo, 13 Jason Emery, 12 Richard Buckman, 11 Ryan Tongia, 10 Lima Sopoaga, 9 Fumiaki Tanaka, 8 Elliot Dixon, 7 John Hardie, 6 Gareth Evans, 5 Tom Franklin, 4 Alex Ainley, 3 Josh Hohneck, 2 Ash Dixon (c), 1 Brendon Edmonds.
Bench: 16 Liam Coltman, 17 Daniel Lienert-Brown, 18 Ross Geldenhuys, 19 Joe Latta, 20 Dan Pryor, 21 Scott Eade, 22 Shaun Treeby, 23 Kurt Baker.
13:00 – Force vs Brumbies (nib Stadium, Perth)
Force: 15 Dane Haylett-Petty, 14 Luke Morahan, 13 Marcel Brache, 12 Kyle Godwin, 11 Nick Cummins, 10 Zack Holmes, 9 Alby Mathewson, 8 Ben McCalman, 7 Matt Hodgson (c), 6 Angus Cottrell, 5 Adam Coleman, 4 Sam Wykes, 3 Guy Millar, 2 Nathan Charles, 1 Pek Cowan.
Bench: 16 Heath Tessmann, 17 Chris Heiberg, 18 Tetera Faulkner, 19 Steve Mafi, 20 Kane Koteka, 21 Ryan Louwrens, 22 Luke Burton, 23 Patrick Dellit.
Brumbies: 15 Jesse Mogg, 14 Henry Speight, 13 Tevita Kuridrani, 12 Robbie Coleman, 11 Joe Tomane, 10 Christian Lealiifano, 9 Nic White, 8 Ita Vaea, 7 David Pocock, 6 Scott Fardy, 5 Blake Enever, 4 Rory Arnold, 3 Ben Alexander, 2 Stephen Moore (c), 1 Scott Sio.
Bench: 16 Josh Mann-Rea, 17 Allan Alaalatoa, 18 Ruan Smith, 19 Jordan Smiler, 20 Jarrad Butler, 21 Michael Dowsett, 22 Nigel Ah Wong, 23 James Dargaville.
Saturday, June 06
07:30 – Rebels vs Bulls (AAMI Park, Melbourne)
Rebels: 15 Mike Harris, 14 Dom Shipperley, 13 Tamati Ellison, 12 Mitch Inman, 11 Cam Crawford, 10 Jack Debreczeni, 9 Nic Stirzaker, 8 Scott Higginbotham (captain), 7 Colby Fainga’a, 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 Tim Metcher, 19 Sam Jeffries, 20 Jordy Reid, 21 Ben Meehan, 22 Bryce Hegarty, 23 Tom English
Bulls: 15 Jesse Kriel, 14 Francois Hougaard, 13 JJ Engelbrecht, 12 Burger Odendaal, 11 Travis Ismaiel, 10 Jacques-Louis Potgieter, 9 Rudy Paige, 8 Pierre Spies (captain), 7 Jacques du Plessis, 6 Lappies Labuschagne, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Flip van der Merwe, 3 Marcel van der Merwe, 2 Callie Visagie, 1 Dean Greyling
Bench: 16 Jaco Visagie, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Werner Kruger, 19 Grant Hattingh, 20 Arno Botha, 21 Tian Schoeman, 22 Bjorn Basson, 23 Jurgen Visser
09:35 – Blues vs Crusaders (Eden Park, Auckand)
Blues: 15 Matt Vaega, 14 Ben Lam, 13 Hamish Northcott, 12 George Moala, 11 Melani Nani, 10 Ihaia West, 9 Jimmy Cowan, 8 Airi Hunt, 7 Brendon O’Connor, 6 Joe Edwards, 5 Josh Bekhuis, 4 Will Lloyd, 3 Ofa Tu’ungafasi, 2 James Parsons (c), 1 Sam Prattley.
Bench: 16 Keven Mealamu, 17 Nic Mayhew, 18 Sione Mafileo, 19 Hayden Triggs, 20 Chris Vui, 21 Jamison Gibson-Park, 22 Simon Hickey, 23 Matt McGahan.
Crusaders: 15 Tom Taylor, 14 Nafi Tuitavake, 13 Robbie Fruean, 12 David Havili, 11 Nemani Nadolo, 10 Dan Carter, 9 Mitchell Drummond, 8 Jordan Taufua, 7 Richie McCaw (c), 6 Matt Todd, 5 Dominic Bird, 4 Luke Romano, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Wyatt Crockett.
Bench: 16 Ben Funnell, 17 Alex Hodgman, 18 Nepo Laulala, 19 Sam Whitelock, 20 Luke Whitelock, 21 Andy Ellis, 22 Ryan Crotty, 23 Kieron Fonotia.
11:40 – Reds vs Chiefs (Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane)
Reds: 15 James O’Connor, 14 Chris Feauai-Sautia, 13 Karmichael Hunt, 12 Samu Kerevi, 11 Lachie Turner, 10 Quade Cooper, 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 (from): 16 Saia Fainga’a, 17 Pettowa Paraka, 18 Sam Talakai, 19 Ed O’Donoghue, 20 Beau Robinson, 21 Hendrik Tui, 22 Nick Frisby, 23 Ben Tapuai, 24 Jake McIntyre.
Chiefs: 15 Tom Marshall, 14 Bryce Heem, 13 Charlie Ngatai, 12 Andrew Horrell, 11 Tim Nanai-Williams, 10 Marty McKenzie, 9 Augustine Pulu, 8 Michael Leitch, 7 Sam Cane, 6 Liam Messam (c), 5 Brodie Retallick, 4 Michael Fitzgerald, 3 Siate Tokolahi, 2 Hika Elliot, 1 Mitchell Graham.
Bench: 16 Quentin MacDonald, 17 Pauliasi Manu, 18 Jarrod Firth, 19 Matt Symons, 20 Maama Vaipulu, 21 Brad Weber, 22 Damian McKenzie, 23 Anton Lienert-Brown.
15:00 – Cheetahs vs Waratahs (Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein)
Cheetahs: 15 Coenie van Wyk, 14 Sergeal Petersen, 13 Francois Venter, 12 Rayno Benjamin, 11 Cornal Hendricks, 10 Niel Marais, 9 Sarel Pretorius, 8 Niell Jordaan, 7 Tienie Burger, 6 Boom Prinsloo, 5 Francois Uys (captain), 4 Carl Wegner, 3 Maks van Dyk, 2 Torsten van Jaarsveld, 1 BG Uys
Bench: 16 Elandre Huggett, 17 Danie Mienie, 18 Ewald van der Westhuizen, 19 Seven Sykes, 20 Gerhard Olivier, 21 Henco Venter, 22 Shaun Venter, 23 Joe Pietersen
Waratahs: 15 Israel Folau, 14 Taqele Naiyaravoro, 13 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 12 Kurtley Beale, 11 Matt Carraro, 10 Bernard Foley, 9 Nick Phipps, 8 Wycliff Palu, 7 Michael Hooper, 6 Jacques Potgieter, 5 Dave Dennis (captain), 4 Mitchell Chapman, 3 Sekope Kepu, 2 Hugh Roach, 1 Benn Robinson
Bench (two to be omitted): 16 Dave Porecki, 17 Jeremy Tilse, 18 Paddy Ryan, 19 Dean Mumm, 20 Stephen Hoiles, 21 Patrick McCutcheon, 22 Brendan McKibbin, 23 Peter Betham, 24 Jack Dempsey, 25 Jono Lance
17:05 – Stormers vs Lions (Newlands, Cape Town)
Stormers: 15 Cheslin Kolbe, 14 Dillyn Leyds, 13 Juan de Jongh, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Seabelo Senatla, 10 Demetri Catrakilis, 9 Nic Groom, 8 Duane Vermeulen (captain), 7 Siya Kolisi, 6 Schalk Burger, 5 Manuel Carizza, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Steven Kitshoff
Bench: 16 Michael Willemse, 17 Oli Kebble, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Jean Kleyn, 20 Nizaam Carr, 21 Louis Schreuder, 22 Kurt Coleman, 23 Jaco Taute
Lions: 15. Andries Coetzee, 14. Ruan Combrinck, 13. Harold Vorster, 12. Alwyn Hollenbach, 11. Courtnall Skosan, 10. Elton Jantjies, 9. Faf de Klerk, 8. Warren Whiteley (captain), 7. Warwick Tecklenburg, 6. Jaco Kriel, 5. Franco Mostert, 4. Martin Muller, 3. Julian Redelinghuys, 2. Armand van der Merwe, 1. Schalk van der Merwe
Bench: 16. Malcolm Marx, 17. Corne Fourie, 18. Ruan Dreyer, 19. Robert Kruger, 20. Kwagga Smith, 21. Dillon Smit, 22. Marnitz Boshoff, 23. Howard Mnisi
