SupeRugby Round 9 Recap:

Bye Bye Brumbies and Bulls and hello to the Reds and Highlanders. At the start of the season you may have put the Reds in the top half of the table but it was unlikely that you would have placed them right on the top.The Highlanders...wow, what an awesome season and a big middle finger to all the doubters!

• The Crusaders won what was honestly a closer game than the scoreline suggests. With only 4 points separating the teams at half time, we were always going to be in for a fantastic second half, except the Chiefs didn't play to their full potential and the Crusaders put on 17 second half points to their 3. Crusaders winning 34-16

• It was always going to be tough for the unpredictable Rebels to win this one. The Highlanders are in great form and this season has proved that teamwork and unity beats almost anything. The Rebels sneaked a 3 point lead in the 8th minute and held onto it for 12 minutes...that's when the Highlanders stepped up their game. they ran in 6 tries in total and dominated the entire game. Highlanders winning 40-18

• This fixture didn't go according to plan (for the Waratahs) due tho the strength of both teams. Hats off to the Blues team as they destroyed the Waratahs with some great kicking, although fortuitous, and brilliant play by Luke McAlister. The Blues dominated all facets of play and managed to hold off a late surge by the Australian Franchise. Blues winning 31-17

• The Reds carried on marching on in their quest to winning their first SupeRugby title. The Bulls were no match for for the young and motivated Reds side. It was a relatively close encounter but you never expected the Bulls to come back and win the contest. Lets not forget the try celebration of the decade from Digby Ioane! Reds winning 39-30

• With the Stormers fielding their 3rd choice flyhalf after 13 minutes, with an injury to Gary van Aswegen, you thought that this might be a closer encounter than earlier anticipated. The Stormers, however, stuck to their guns and game plan and finished the Lions off in the second half. The first 40 minutes were a closely contested affair but the Lions lost impetus in the second half and payed the price. Stormers winning 33-19

• The Cheetahs have been so competitive this season and to most peoples surprise. They lead by 3 at half time which propped all supporters up in their chairs eagerly anticipating the second half. You believed as a neutral and Cheetahs supporter that they could get one over the poorly performing Hurricanes side.It went down to the wire as the Cheetahs had 4 point lead until Jeremy Thrush broke the South Africans hearts in the 79th minute. What a game this was and will this break the Cheetahs hearts? The Hurricane team will also be hoping this will turn their season around as they face the Sharks in Durban this week. Hurricanes winning 50-47

• The last game of the weekend saw the Brumbies SupeRugby hopes and dreams flushed down the toilet as they lost to the Force in Canberra. Matt Giteau got the home team off to a great start with a penalty, try and conversion in the first 26 minutes. It went pretty much downhill for them after that as the Force slowly chipped away at the lead and gained ascendancy in the game. It only really got away from the Brumbies in the 68th minute where the Force took the lead and never looked back. Force winning 27-19

Cheetahs, Brumbies and Stormers on a Bye this weekend. (Massive points for the Cheetahs and Brumbies, maybe this is what they need to turn their season around) The Stormers will be loking to rest some players and get a few more off the injury list.

Team of the Week: The  Queensland Reds
Player of the Week: Luke McAlister
WTF of the Week:  Digby Ioane .... doing the Caterpillar!

SupeRugby Round 9 PreJudgement:

SupeRugby Round 9, is just one of those weeks...virtually unjudgeable. The 'dead certain' winners this weekend are not playing good rugby and on the other end of the spectrum, their opponents are. The Highlanders and Bulls need 5 points this weekend if they are going to have any hope of qualifying and the Brumbies should beat the Force along with the Crusaders beating the Chiefs.

Chiefs v Crusaders (Hamilton)
Richie McCaw is back, sitting on the bench, but back never the less. The entire rugby has waited a long time for his day of return. There is an awesome match up with the flyhalves today as Matt Berquist and Mike Delany compete for ascendancy. Mils Muliaina makes a welcome return for the chiefs today at fullback.
PreJudgement: Crusaders by 7

Rebels v Highlanders (Melbourne)
The Rebels return home and are eager to get their opening season winning streak up to 4. They are facing a team that has played extremely well as an unit and has the points to prove it. If this game goes down to the wire you would expect the Rebels to take it, so the Highlanders need to shut it down early.
PreJudgement: Rebels by 5

Blues v Waratahs (Auckland)
Tough one to call but the Waratahs have been doing the business of late. Luke Burgess had a blinder last week and will be keen to try and push his team to an away win this week. The Blues are 2 points ahead of the Waratahs and will be looking to overtake the Crusaders if the slip up against the Chiefs.
PreJudgement: Blues by 6

Reds v Bulls (Brisbane)
The Bulls have no fewer than 5 changes leading up to this vital game for both teams. If the Bulls lose, they are quite frankly in the brown stuff and if the Reds win they are sitting pretty on the log. The youthful exuberance of the Reds will feed off the fear of the Bulls. Having said that you can't expect the experience of the Bulls to falter again. I still think that when the Bulls received their fixtures before the season started they would have mentally marked a 'win' alongside this fixture....that's going to change.
PreJudgement: Reds by 9

Lions v Stormers (Johannesburg)
Peter Grant is out injured for this week and as a late replacement, Gary van Aswegen start at 10. The Lions have a few injury concerns of their own to worry about, but I think the Stormers are going to bounce back after their loss to the Reds.
PreJudgement: Stormers by 11


Cheetahs v Hurricanes (Bloemfontein)
This again is a tough one to call as the Hurricanes have battled this season along with the Cheetahs. I think that after their performances overseas, the home crowd will be well behind the Cheetahs this week and that could be the difference. The Hurricanes are due a win but Bloem is Bloem and its a tough place to go if your not totally focused.
PreJudgement: Cheetahs by 5

Brumbies v Force (Canberra)
The second Sunday game gets underway this week as the Brumbies will try and start a winning streak against the Force. The Force have not been doing well and as much as the focus has been on the Brumbies, they are still 5 points clear of their opposition on the log. As i have said in previous PreJudgements, Canberra is a tough place to go.
PreJudgement: Brumbies by 15

Tough unpredictable weekend all round, except for the Sharks as they pocket 4 points while relaxing on a KZN Game Farm. Well DONE Boys!