Tri Nations PreJudgement: Australia v New Zealand (Brisbane)

Suncorp Stadium is having its fair share of Finals this season, as today sees the last game of the 2011 Castle Tri-Nations and winner take all game between Australia and New Zealand. New Zealand have come off a loss to the Springboks while Australia have had the luxury of a bye. The log sees both the All Blacks and Wallabies on top with nine points and today's game a winner takes all encounter which couples as a nice boost with less than 2 weeks to the World Cup.

SupeRugby Semi-Final PreJudgement:

Three games left and its all to play for. The four best teams have made it into the Semi-Finals and are playing for a spot in the final and two wins away from being crowned 2011 Champions. The games will be hosted in Brisbane and Cape Town with the Blues and Crusaders being the respective visitors. Click below to see my winners and why Cape Town will host the Final... 

What motivates these teams in the Knock Outs?

With the qualifiers and wild cards sorted I am taking a little look at the past and what it really means for the teams in the next few weeks. Besides the Trophy and money, the international selection for each player, these teams have either won it or come second, besides the table toppers, the Reds. They want it and they want it bad! All the following stats exclude Super 10 (Pre-SANZAR).

The Reds:

There is no doubting that they are having the best season in their history. Coach Ewen McKenzie has been working his magic for them since late 2009 and it seems to be paying dividends...but for how long? There half back pairing has been the main focus this season as Will Genia and Quade Cooper have been destroying the opposition. The have finished top this season and have earned a week off. The Reds have been losing semi finalists three times in their history, the last being in 2001, and will be looking to cap a top of the log season off with the trophy.

The Stormers:

It is great to see that they have built on their good performance from last year. They are looking much better and their combinations and depth will help. They have lacked the deadly finishing of Bryan Habana but they have been able to cope without him... and he aint done yet. They look solid up front and look deadly out wide... Cape Town has been patiently waiting for this trophy for some time. Losing finalist in 2010, they will be looking to go one better and have set themselves up perfectly for it.

The Crusaders:

The seven time champions have made it into the knock out stages...yet again. Their experience on this end of the tournament will be crucial to them making the final. The have had by far the most disruptive and emotional season ever and their is no doubt that they will want to prove to everyone that they can overcome it and win this tournament, not only for themselves but in memory of all those who lost their lives in that tragic earthquake. They have produced some of the best running rugby this season and will have to thank their powerhouse forwards for that clean ball. Richie McCaw, Dan Carter, Sonny Bill Williams and Robbie Fruean     are all desperate for this.

The Blues:

They dominated in the first two years but since then have played second fiddle to the Crusaders. They have turned their season around and will be looking to take their forward momentum and capitalise. The have struggled at fly half but Stephen Brett seems to be settling nicely with Luke McAlister  outside him. Jarred Payne and Kevin Mealamu have both had solid seasons. With three wins and one runner up they will be looking to win and start challenging the Crusaders.

The Waratahs:

Two times runners up, the Sydney based Waratahs have sneaked into the knock out phases of the tournament. Fair enough they needed some results to go their way but they're in and are going to show their true fight now. They have been playing second fiddle to the Brumbies in the Australian SupeRugby pissing contest and we all know how big that rivalry is. With the nerves of the last week gone and the focus of the Blues this weekend who knows what they will dish up.

The Sharks:

They did their utmost to finish seventh this season after a great start. Eventually head coach John Plumtree knocked some sense into the players and they sneaked into the wildcard spot, I just don't think sneaked is the correct word here. If ever the Durban boys needed any motivation or belief they got it last weekend against the Bulls. They have a solid team with a few of the bigger names only coming into their own now. The young shoulders of Pat Lambie have been carrying this team the entire season. They will never forget and will be looking to make amends for their last minute loss to the Bulls in 2007. If they are to do it they are going to take the toughest road traveled as they won't be playing at home again this season.

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SupeRugby Round 11 Prejudgement:

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

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!