The Bookies say Blues and Brumbies, the Brus say Stormers and Kings. Take in Tank’s preview and picks before making your own all-important SuperBru picks.
The weekend’s obstacle course:
Friday 19 May
09h35 – Chiefs v Crusaders (ANZ, Suva)
19h00 – Stormers v Blues (Newlands)
Saturday 20 May
09h35 – Hurricanes v Cheetahs (Westpac)
11h45 – Force v Highlanders (nib)
13h55 – Sunwolves v Sharks (Singapore National)
17h15 – Lions v Bulls (Emirates Airlines Park)
19h30 – Kings v Brumbies (Nelson Mandela Bay)
Sunday 21 May
08h05 – Waratahs v Rebels (Allianz)
All six SA sides in an eight game weekend spread over three days! Ahhh, but take a look at that final game … An unwatchable Aussie derby. So it’s actually 7 games over 2 days. Not too bad, but it’s still going to take a good few pink tickets to get all of Saturday OK’d by management!
For the weekend’s teams as they get announced, take in AOR’s Team Sheets.
To the weekend, then:
My picks:
Crusaders by 7
Stormers by 5
Hurricanes by 22
Highlanders by 9
Sharks by 9
Lions by 11
Kings by 5
Waratahs by 7
What the Bookies say:
Crusaders (1.7) over Chiefs (2.4)
Blues (1.98) over Stormers (2.02)
Hurricanes (1) over Cheetahs (23)
Highlanders (1.2) over Force (5.2)
Sharks (1.2) over Sunwolves (5.7)
Lions (1.2) over Bulls (6)
Brumbies (1.6) over Kings (2.5)
Waratahs (1.2) over Rebels (5.6)
The SuperBru Community picks:
Crusaders by 3
Stormers by 1
Hurricanes by 20
Highlanders by 13
Sharks by 9
Lions by 14
Kings by 2
Waratahs by 8
Stormers and Kings say the Brus, but only by a mosquito’s ball hair, while the bookies are completely undecided on the Newlands game, and not particularly confident on the result in PE. Tim to haul out that YES/NO coin!
Off a horror tour to New Zealand, and a week to contemplate their navels, the blue and white are back at Newlands, aiming to right a few wrongs against Sonny Bill and his Tana clan. Malherbe, Du Toit and Etzebeth are back, but coach Fleck has been forced to go experimental at fly half, where Dillyn Leyds gets a run. It could go either way. Stormers are a different animal at home, though.
The Kings are on fire. Of that there is no doubt. A clever game plan that has seen them add a steely defence and effective use of the boot to an impressive conditioning base has them 3 from 3 over the last few weeks and riding the wave. The Brumbies have travelled after a bitter loss to a Lions side that played poorly, yet still won. Losing Chris Cloete is a biggie, and it’s without doubt a game that could go either way, but Lionel Cronje is looking cool, calm and collected.
A gander at the current FRG pool leaderboard:
I am hovering around the 300 mark so take these picks with a pinch of salt!
Good luck out there.
