Canes or Landers? Bulls or Lions? Tahs or Chiefs? Hells Bells, this feels a bit like the good old days when picks were impossible! Take in the odds and a few cheeky picks.
Tank Lanning
The obstacle course:
Friday, May 27th
09h35 – Hurricanes v Highlanders (Westpac Stadium)
11h45 – Waratahs v Chiefs (Allianz Stadium)
19h00 – Kings v Jaguares (Nelson Mandela Bay)
Saturday, May 28th
09h35 – Blues v Crusaders (Eden Park)
11h45 – Brumbies v Sunwolves (GIO Stadium)
15h00 – Stormers v Cheetahs (Newlands)
17h10 – Bulls v Lions (Loftus Versfeld)
Sunday, May 29th
08h05 – Rebels v Force (AAMI Park)
Barrett vs Sopoaga on Friday morning is a necessity. Sort out that root canal appointment right now! Kings at the pub to soothe that sore tooth, although to be honest, I might earn a few pink tickets with the aunty and catch it on PVR on Saturday morning. Rugby on PVR is a Godsend – one can easily do a game in an hour, and still get the scrums – yes those things that SuperSport flatly refuse to show, even in their extended highlights. Yet they will happily show every single pot at goal. Bunch of numpties! Blues vs Crusaders on a spin bike on Saturday morning before settling into an afternoon of coolerbox emptying and grid bending while taking in the player’s last chance to impress new the Bok coach who announces his first squad at 7.
My picks:
HIGHLANDERS to beat Hurricanes by 15
CHIEFS to beat Waratahs by 6
JAGUARES to beat Kings by 13
CRUSADERS to beat Blues by 12
BRUMBIES to beat Sunwolves by 14
STORMERS to beat Cheetahs by 22
LIONS to beat Bulls by 5
REBELS to beat Force by 7
What the Bookies say:
HURRICANES (5/6) to beat Highlanders (5/4)
CHIEFS (8/11) to beat Waratahs (6/4)
JAGUARES (1/10) to beat Kings (10/1)
CRUSADERS (6/17) to beat Blues (3/1)
BRUMBIES (1/25) to beat Sunwolves (20/1)
STORMERS (2/9) to beat Cheetahs (9/2)
BULLS (10/11) to beat Lions (6/5)
REBELS (6/19) to beat Force (4/1)
The SuperBru Community picks:
HIGHLANDERS to beat Hurricanes by 0.4
CHIEFS to beat Waratahs by 7
JAGUARES to beat Kings by 11
CRUSADERS to beat Blues by 12
BRUMBIES to beat Sunwolves by 20
STORMERS to beat Cheetahs by 12
LIONS to beat Bulls by 3
REBELS to beat Force by 8
My beloved Canes to take a pasting? Unlikely, but it is a game that could go either way, and if Smith, Sopoaga, Fekitoa, Smith and Osborne fire, they are unstoppable! It’s an outright gamble.
Stormers to put on an extravaganza at Newlands? Perhaps also unlikely, but in 22 degree sunshine after taking such a hammering in the press for how kuk they have been, there is a chance that they might just put on a show.
Bulls vs Lions is a complete lottery! Much talk about the Elton Jantjies injury, but the Lions are more than a one man show, that is for sure, and Boshoff may well add a pragmatic approach needed in a game like this. I base this pick on 2 things: the Lions scrum and their general attack being streets ahead of the Stormers, who kept the losing margin to just 4 points against the Bulls at Loftus last week.
Marcel van der Merwe to come unstuck and take heat from Craig Joubert, the Lions scrum to dominate, and their loosies to thus own the breakdown.
Enjoy …
