Crunch Time

Howdie Howdie.

So it’s the easter period and a crucial time for the Super 14. I’ve let the ball slip a bit with the predictions, but I hope to be back on track next week.

What looked like a very mediocre weekend in the Super 14 is actually turning out to be one of the most crucial weekends of the tournament.

The two teams that have a bye have it at a time when they need to recuperate and find some inspiration. The Sharks have been playing Shit over the last two weeks and this is coming from a die-hard sharks fan.

We already have two results with the Stormers breaking their loosing streak and the Lions getting a hiding in Perth.

What can we look forward to tomorrow? Well the first Saturday game sees the Blues host the Reds. The Blues are currently on 28 points with 3 points in sight against the ailing Reds. A win in Auckland will see the Blues on 31 points, the same as the Chiefs and the Sharks. However, they will jump to the top of the log courtesy of their high number of bonus points. The Blues are on form and Rene Ranger will be hoping to threaten the whitewash in an attempt to claim yet another bonus point for the once upon a time champions. They have the mettle to do it, Blues by 10.

Then we see two teams that are keen for a semi final spot playing each other. The Hurricanes play host to a Brumbies team that will be playing every game form here out for the late Shaun MacKay. If the Hurricanes win they will then surpass the Blues at the top of the table with 32 points. If the Brumbies win they will move into 3rd, with the Bulls vs Chiefs game still to come.

I think the Hurricanes have a point to prove, being the highest rated New Zealand team to never win the tournament be it Super 10, 12 or 14. However, the Brumbies are off the piss and want to win the tournament. My head says the Hurricanes by 10 but don’t put the house on it.

The next two games, if played with a South African final in mind can help the Sharks and Bulls immensely in the tournament.

The Cheetahs host the Crusaders in Bloem with an upset on the cards. An epic battle between Juan Smith and Richie McCaw will be the highlight of the match.

If the Cheetahs win, they will have a reason to get drunk and listen to DE LA RAY DE LA RAY on repeat for the rest of the evening. However, that will mean that the Crusaders will not have a hope of making the Semi Finals.

The highflying Chiefs are in Pretoria to play the Bulls. Both are must wins for each team as the Bulls will finish the week at the top of the log should they win. Should the Chiefs win they will retain their position.

It’s the closest super rugby tournament to date. Only 5 points separate the top 8 teams! Chances are that the Semi Finals will be decided on bonus points. This will make the Sharks and Brumbies, each on three bonus points, and the Waratahs and Crusader, each on 4 bonus points, worry a bit.

Deciding the Super 14 semi finals on bonus points is like deciding the Barclay Card English Premiership on goal difference. It just isn’t fair!

There were calls in the past for a round of quarterfinals, which will see an equal playing field going into the finals. However, this will be quite a way off as Sanzar is focusing more on extending the number of teams in the tournament.

Rugby Focus

It’s a sad sad day for rugby.

A week after been run over by a security van outside a Durban night club, Brumbies player Shawn McCay passed away last night in a Durban hospital.

McCay contracted a blood infection, which brought on cardiac arrest, which proved fatal.

This doesn’t say much for medical standards in South African hospitals if a person can contract a fatal infection in ICU, which is supposed to be the safest place in the hospital.

My thoughts and prayers go out to the family and team mates of McCay.

In other news, Peter De Villiers has given SARU seven days to initiate disciplinary action against Cheeky Watson after the whole Baboon incident. At the time of the incident, Watson claimed that him and De Villiers were good friends, and one would think that good friends don’t go around seeking disciplinary action against others.

But then again whenever Cheeky is involved, there is trouble.

Same with his piss willie son Luke. Granted he is the form of his life, and is actually letting his rugby do the talking instead of his mouth. However, me thinks this wont be enough to warrant a selection in the team.

Last week De Villiers reported that the team dynamics of the Springboks will be key, after Watson’s statements last year that he wanted to arif on the springbok jersey pissed off a few senior players. These players will find it hard to get along with him should he be included now.

SARU has accommodated Watson to a degree by moving the Springbok to the left hand side of the jersey and incorporating the King Protea on the right, but this just means that Watson will arif on half of the jersey.

Because it is easter week and I am going away, I thought I'd do my predictions on a Monday this week.

First up, on Good Friday, the Blues host the Lions. The Blues are fresh off a rest week and are back at home in their beloved Eden Park where they beat the Waratahs two weeks ago. The Lions are fresh off tossing the game against the Chiefs where they had the perfect opportunity to do other teams in the competition a favor.

The Lions looked very good in stages, André Pretorius looked like he was to his old best, but then missed four UNFORGIVABLE kicks.

Form suggests that the Blues will win, and I agree. Blues by 10.

Next up is the Force against the Hurricanes. The Force are making a charge for the Semi Finals, however, the horse has bolted, and the Hurricanes are on form. Zac Guilford and Ma’a Nonu were in good form against the Sharks and should carry that form over to Perth. Canes by 10.

First up on Saturday is the Highlanders hosting the Reds. I don’t think the Reds can win and it will be interesting to see if Jimmy Cowen can establish himself as a front runner for the All Black scrum-half berth. Highlanders by 15.

The Brumbies are back at home and will want to play well in memory of McCay, they host Luke Watson because the rest of the Stormers team is playing so shit that they don’t deserve a mention. Luke, as good as he thinks he is the ERR, cant beat 15 men by himself, Brumbies by 20.

The Bulls travel to Sydney to face a Waratahs team that is once again on form, The Bulls need to win this game to have any hopes of a home semi final. And if they loose this game then there is a huge possibility that they wont even make the Semi Finals! I think the Bulls are on a loosing streak that will see them not qualify for the Semi Finals, Waratahs by 5.

The final game of the Easter Super Weekend is the Cheetahs hosting the Sharks. The Sharks are in the type of form that will see them win the tournament without loosing another game. Sharks by 15.

In the end there can be only one

Good Monday to the Lions Den Massive.

Its halfway through the Super 14 and it is turning out to be a good tournament.

I called four out of the six games correctly this week, so it looks like the tournament is finally gaining some measure of normality.

The shock result of the weekend was the Bulls vs the Highlanders. No one expected the Highlanders to win, and fewer expected the Highlanders to win by that much.

But what does this mean for the log, well the win gave the Sharks an opportunity to take the top spot after their good win over the Brumbies. The Waratahs moved up to second after edging the Blues out in Auckland.

But the biggest benefactor of the win was the Highlanders. Sitting in 12th position before the weekend, the win briefly propelled the team into the top of the top half of the log. They ended the super weekend in 6th position.

Halfway through the tournament I always like to take a look at the teams and ponder as to who will make the playoffs.

I think that the Sharks will be good enough to retain their top spot from this point on. They won their hard games overseas and are playing relatively easy teams from here out in Durban. It will be a ding dong battle between the ‘Tahs and the Bulls as to who will finish the regular part of the season in second spot. The ‘Tahs have lost two games and should win the rest of their games from here out.
There is a problem as there is only 4 points separating positions 3 to 8.

The Bulls have a game in hand on the ‘Tahs and provided they win the rest of their games, they wont travel to Oz for the semi final.

Here’s the problem, the Bulls have four games that they can potentially loose between now and the 16th of May.

This weekend they play the Crusaders in New Zealand, the following week they go to Sydney to play the ‘Tahs. They then have a relatively easy game in the Brumbies before they come home to host the Chiefs and the Force.

It could go down to the last weekend when they travel to Durban to play the Sharks.

I think at the end of the regular season, the Sharks and the ‘Tahs should take the top two spots. 1 Semi final in Durban, 1 Semi final in Sydney. 1 plays 4 and 2 plays 3, the Bulls should finish third so the one semi final will be between the ‘Tahs and the Bulls in Sydney.

Looking at the log realistically, I think the Chiefs will take the fourth spot as they have the easier games going into the playoffs. From this week their schedule is: Lions in New Zealand, Cheetahs in Bloem, the Bulls in Pretoria, the Stormers in Slaap Stad, the Hurricanes in Wellington, and the Brumbies in Canberra. Sharks vs Chiefs in Durban.

The Watson’s have done it again. This time Puke’s father allegedly called Peter de Villiers a Baboon at a meeting at the beginning of the year.

The slur allegedly came at a meeting of the Eastern Province Rugby Legends, f&*k I never knew they had any, where Cheeky Watson called De Villiers a Baboon who didn’t know how to do his job. Watson denies he ever said it, and an irate Press Officer from the EPRFU sent a bitchy press statement to the media stating that Watson never ever called De Villiers that and that the two are good friends.

Where there is smoke there is fire. I don’t believe the whole Baboon incident is true, but I don’t doubt that Watson could have said something like that as he fancies himself as a future top man in Rugby