FIRSTLY, a big congratulations to the Lions for securing a 4 point bye win this week. Unfortunately they are still rooted to the bottom of the table. There are 2 top of the Conference Derbies this week and they are going to be crackers, Highlanders v Blues and Stormers v Sharks. Purely from a NZ and SA point of view they are huge but in terms of the combined conference these results will affect the top 8. Will the Brumbies start their away leg with a win and revive their season? Will the Rebels pull the wool over the Waratahs eyes? Only time will tell...
Highlanders v Blues (Dunedin)
Luke McAlister and Adam Thomson both return to the starting line up for the Blues and Highlanders respectively. There will be a lot of focus on the two fly-halves as the old war horse Tony Brown had a great game last week will be up against Stephan Brett. As all derbies should be, this is going to be a hard physical game and no team will go into the changing room at the end of the game wondering if they could have done better. I don't think the Highlanders have it in them after last week.
PreJudgement: Blues by 6
Cheetahs v Brumbies (Bloemfontein)
The Cheetahs will be looking to drive some nails into the coffin of the Brumbies by taking a win on Friday night. The Brumbies, I am sure are going to relish being out of 'pressure cooker' that is Australia after their worst start in SupeRugby history. With the appointment of Jake White onto their coaching staff for next season, maybe the Brumbies will pick it up a bit on the Bosses home soil.
PreJudgement: Brumbies by 11
Hurricanes v Reds (Wellington)
One would expect the Reds to walk all over the hapless Hurricanes, but there is a little bell inside my head warning me that they are still a dangerous team. Then I look at the injuries they have had and the loooong flight home. After all of that I realise that they are playing the mighty Reds. This is going to be a horrible return home after touring and its not going to end well for the home team. What theatrics are we going to see out of Quade Cooper this week?
PreJudgement: Reds by 9
Waratahs v Rebels (Sydney)
The Rebels are due a win or have they used up all their first season 'get out of jail' free cards? I think they have and we should settle down and watch the Waratahs dominate the new boys. The loss of Drew Mitchell is significant but he is replaced by Soseni Anesi who can produce the goods. Kurtley Beale moves to fullback and Berrick Barnes wears the number 10 jumper.
PreJudgement: Waratahs by 19
Force v Crusaders (Perth)
Richie McCaw returns as captain for the Crusaders and immediately everyone sits up and takes notice. There are no more 'rested' players on the bench as they all seem to be starting this week. Todd Blackadder will be looking to take 5 points home from this game. Willie Ripia will be starting a t 10 with the talented James O'Connor outside him. It is also great to see Matt Dunning starting again for the Force.
PreJudgement: Crusaders by 15
Bulls v Chiefs (Pretoria)
The Bulls are not going to get out of their crap form this week. Not even with all the hype around what their sponsors are getting them to do, I think its shocking! The Chiefs have come off a tough game last week but the Bulls are risking Dewald Potgieter and Francois Hougaard very soon after injury.
PreJudgement: Chiefs by 7
Stormers v Sharks (Cape Town)
The Stormers captain, Schalk Burger, has been downplaying their win in the shark tank a few weeks ago in the media. The Sharks have been downplaying the revenge factor this game has....ITS ALL LIES! The Stormers and Sharks want to beat the living daylights out of each other. The Stormers want a double and the Sharks want Revenge! There is are no two ways about it. John Smit stays at hooker and captain for the Sharks, with Bismark du Plessis on the bench. Peter Grant has a late fitness test on Friday to see if he can play on Saturday. Ross Skeate returns to Cape Town where here played for SACS , UCT and the Stormers.
PreJudgement: Sharks by 9
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