Super 14 week 3 picks

Wow – after an exciting week two of the Super 14 which blew a number of my predictions out of the water, I eagerly await the arrival of week 3.

Big scoreline being tipped on the Lions and Sharks games which are going to be interesting to watch.

My picks for the week on Sportspicks.co.za

* Crusaders to beat the Sharks (+12.5)
* Stormers to beat the Brumbies (+8.5)
* Hurricanes to beat the Lions (+22.5)
* Blues to beat the Reds (+4.5)
* Chiefs to beat the Force (+8.5)
* Cheetahs to beat the Highlanders (+8.5)
* Bulls to beat the Waratahs (+15.5)

Bullish on the Chiefs but I have a big question mark around the Waratahs conceding 15.5 points against the Bulls. Gonna be an interesting one

Awesome performance from the Stormers...

… and the Bulls weren’t too bad either.

This Stormers side looks seriously classy. Obviously it is still early days in the competition but they now have 2 out of 2 in South Africa and to drop the Waratahs takes some doing. For me there were a couple of key performance points:

• Stormers defence was top quality against some physically big opponents
• They stayed on the boil for an extended periods in the game and were less hot and cold than last week
• Juan de Jongh looks like a superstar in the making – mark my words he will be a Bok centre
• Jaque Fourie has brought lots of composure to the backline and Habana has brought some good quality finishing to the side
• How was that hit from Ricky Januarie on Phil Waugh?! He’s coming back to form nicely!
• There was a moment in the first half where Gio Aplon was defending against that big Waratahs full back and he showed no fear making a great tackle – I don’t rate him as the ideal for the position but wow he showed guts!

The Bulls also showed their class today. The Brumbies made them sweat a bit but in the end the quality came through. Maybe the Brumbies have been softened up a bit for their clash next week against the Stormers… hope so!

Speaking of next Boks… Francois Hougaard and Gerhard van den Heever must be right up there. Van den Heever in particular is a potent finisher for such a young kid. Cracking player!

At least the Stormers and Bulls restored some pride to the home sides early in the competition!

Super 14 round 2 predictions

So another week of Super 14 rugby is here and there are some interesting match-ups on the cards. Again it is hard to look beyond the home-teams but there are a couple of fixtures where I believe there could be the prospects of an upset.

A quick look at the fixtures

• Highlanders vs. Blues
• Reds vs Crusaders
• Sharks vs Cheetahs
• Lions vs Chiefs
• Hurricanes vs Force
• Bulls vs Brumbies
• Stormers vs Waratahs

In most of the cases I have backed the home teams to win. The exceptions are the Reds versus the Crusaders and the Bulls versus the Brumbies.

Probably a bit of a brave decision to back the Lions against the Chiefs but they showed heart last week and might be trickier than some people are thinking they will be.

As for the Bulls versus the Brumbies - dunno I just get a funny feeling that the Brumbies could be the side which trips up the Bulls in front of their home crowd.

My thoughts on Super 14 round 1

An interesting opening to the Super 14 with the Sharks being stunned at home by the Chiefs... there is going to be a lot of soul searching after THAT result!

Of the SA teams:

Bulls:
Played well against the Cheetahs but perhaps some question marks asked about their defence. The Cheetahs are not easy to play at home, especially when the play gets loose but to concede 30+ points against one of the "weaker" Super 14 outfits means that the Bulls need to sharpen up. Still look like a dangerous side.

Cheetahs
I actually thought they played quite well. They certainly were not over-awed by the far more fancied Bulls and they gave as good as they got. They're lacking punch and experience in one or two places but they showed heart. I suspect they are going to get caned when they go on the road but at least they look like they might be a handful at home

Lions
The Lions put in a really two-sided performance against the Stormers. They were nowhere in the first-half - despite having Carlos Spencer at flyhalf. When he was subbed at half time and that new scrumhalf and Earl Rose partnered at 9 and 10, the whole side seemed to change its attitude. Don't write them off after this first performance. I don't expect them to put up too much resistance away from home, but expect them to trouble a few sides when they play at home.

Sharks
Pah! They were munched at home by the Chiefs. I didn't watch the game but it left me smiling that the Tuna Tank was not that much of a fortress for them

Stormers
A very mixed performance from the Stormers. In the first half they looked like an awesome unit full of running. Jaque Fourie, Bryan Habana and Juan De Jongh looked like they would trouble any backline. The second half it looked liked the side had, had enough and were already thinking about some beers after the game.

For the rest
I was disappointed with the Blues - I had money on them to beat the Hurricanes and they started off well enough. Unfortuanately they couldn't polish them off and next they knew the Hurricanes racked up 20+ points to knock them over.

Apart from the Chiefs who surprised, the Brumbies and Crusaders looked the pick of the rest with some powerful performances.

Bring on the second round! And if you haven't registered for Sportspicks.co.za then get yourself online and make your predictions for next week! Should be fun!

Super 14 Round 1

Yes the premier rugby tournament in the Southern Hemisphere is finally here – can you feel the excitement?!

I’m super excited.

Below are our picks for the first round which kicks off early tomorrow morning. We think there is going to be a big upset on the cards with the Cheetahs stunning the Bulls. That’s probably not going to win us too many fans but I’ve just got a sneaky suspicion that the Bulls are gonna come a cropper.

There is still time to get your predictions in on Sportspicks.co.za

Here we go:

• Blues to beat the Hurricanes
• Brumbies to beat the Force
• Cheetahs to beat the Bulls
• Crusaders to beat the Highlanders
• Waratahs to beat the Reds
• Stormers to beat the Lions
• Sharks to beat the Chiefs

For those who are playing the Super 14 Dream Team competition below is my team for Round 1. Would love to hear your selections:

1. Wicus Blaau
2. John Afoa
3. Keven Mealamu
4. Anthony Boric
5. Bakkies Botha
6. Jerome Kaino
7. Derick Kuun
8. Richie McCaw
9. Rory Kockott
10. Peter Grant
11. Gerhard VD Heever
12. Jaque Fourie
13. Waylon Murray
14. Bryan Habana
15. Hosea Gear

Happy punting!

Super 14 betting and predictions

7 days until the kickoff of the 2010 Super 14 competition and it looks like the bookies are expecting a pretty open contest this year.

Here is the betting at the moment:

Crusaders – 3/1
Bulls – 5/1
Brumbies – 5/1
Hurricanes – 8/1
Sharks – 9/1
Chiefs – 10/1
Blues – 12/
Stormers – 12/1
Waratahs – 12/1
Western Force – 50/1
Highlanders – 80/1
Cheetahs – 100/1
Lions – 125/1
Reds – 125/1

I have put money down on the Stormers (My team) as well as the blue boys from Auckland – I think that those odds look really good and both sides are in with a shout this year.

Roll on the Super 14!