Another Thursday game – well if you can call an Aussie derby a game – to trick us up. Take in what Tank, the Bookies and Brus have to say before making your picks.
Tank Lanning
Last week it was the Rabble, this week it is an all Aussie derby. If SANZAAR are trying to make this Thursday game experiment a success, they are going about it in a pretty strange way!
The weekend line-up:
Thursday 2 March
12h30 – Force vs Reds
Friday 3 March
08h35 – Chiefs vs Blues
Saturday 4 March
06h15 – Hurricanes vs Rebels
08h35 – Highlanders vs Crusaders
10h45 – Brumbies vs Sharks
12h55 – Sunwolves vs Kings
15h05 – Lions vs Waratahs
17h15 – Stormers vs Jaguares
19h30 – Cheetahs vs Bulls
Struth Bob, how about dem apples? Some industrial picks to be made!
And that’s before you try and get them all into your viewing schedule. Landers vs Saders is unmissable – perhaps on a spin bike at the gym. Sharks over a cup of tea and aunty Maizie’s shortbread, or perhaps at a mall coffee shop while the better half dents the credit card? Wolves vs Kings is unwatchable, so there is space for some pink ticket collection. But then it is a six and a half hour grid bending and coolerbox emptying session of quite epic proportions! Sneaky Grunt hint: Wash two Panados down with a ReHidrate before hitting the sack on Saturday night …
For fantastic previews of every game, head to All Out Rugby’s Breaking news section, and to see the weekend’s teams as they get announced, take in their Team Sheets.
Below my picks, the match odds, and SuperBru Community picks:
My picks:
REDS to beat Force by 5
CHIEFS to beat Blues by 7
HURRICANES to beat Rebels by 18
HIGHLANDERS to beat Crusaders by 7
SHARKS to beat Brumbies by 5
SUNWOLVES to beat Kings by 4
LIONS to beat Waratahs by 7
STORMERS to beat Jaguares by 19
BULLS to beat Cheetahs by 7
What the Bookies say:
REDS (1.6) to beat Force (2.6)
CHIEFS (1.4) to beat Blues (3.1)
HURRICANES (1) to beat Rebels (12)
HIGHLANDERS (1.7) to beat Crusaders (2.4)
BRUMBIES (1.6) to beat Sharks (2.5)
KINGS (1.5) to beat Sunwolves (2.65)
LIONS (1.4) to beat Waratahs (3.4)
STORMERS (1.3) to beat Jaguares (4)
BULLS (1.85) to beat Cheetahs (2.15)
The SuperBru Community picks:
REDS to beat Force by 4
CHIEFS to beat Blues by 6
HURRICANES to beat Rebels by 18
CRUSADERS to beat Highlanders by 2
BRUMBIES to beat Sharks by 5
KINGS to beat Sunwolves by 2
LIONS to beat Waratahs by 5
STORMERS to beat Jaguares by 13
BULLS to beat Cheetahs by 1
Toight, hey? The Bookies and Brus differ on only the Saturday morning Kiwi derby between the Landers and Saders. The Brus love a Sader, but those Landers will surely have had a rocket about respecting both the pill and the game after last week’s Harlem Globe Trotters fiasco?
Kings to travel to Japan and win? Sure those Wolves were worse than an under 12 F side last week, but the PE side were not a whole lot better!
The Sharks are my bolter. They were unlucky last week against the Reds, and they generally tour quite well. Here’s hoping they have learnt a little, though, and start with Adriaanse.
Speaking of Adriaanse, best Nollis Marais and scrum coach Gary Botha do the same. Lourens’ boet, Jacobie, is not the world’s most exciting prop, but hells bells, at least he will keep you in the game come scrum time, unlike Trevor Nyakane at Newlands last week. Surely the Bulls can’t be as poor as they were in the first half last weekend? They won’t be able to rectify their lack of conditioning, but they might sort out their scrum, and Pollard will only get better. The empty Bloem stadium is no cauldron, either.
I would not betting my monthly stock of Black Labels, let alone the house, on too many of those picks. Just off to remove that fence wire from between my butt cheeks, see!
Good luck out there.
