- Team: 15 Ben Smith, 14 Kade Poki, 13 Kendrick Lynn, 12 Shaun Treeby, 11 Siale Piutau, 10 Lima Sopoaga, 9 Jimmy Cowan, 8 Nasi Manu, 7 John Hardie, 6 Adam Thomson, 5 Josh Bekhuis, 4 Jarrad Hoeata, 3 Chris King, 2 Mo Schwwalger, 1 Jamie Mackintosh (C).
- Replacements: 16 Jason Rutledge, 17 Bronson Murray, 18 Tom Donnelly, 19 Nick Crosswell, 20 Aaron Smith, 21 Robbie Robinson, 22 Alando Soakai.
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- Team: 15 Cameron Shepherd, 14 Alifeleti (Alfi) Mafi, 13 Patrick Dellit, 12 Rory Sidey, 11 David Smith, 10 James Stannard, 9 Mark Swanepoel, 8 Ben McCalman, 7 David Pocock, 6 Matthew Hodgson, 5 Nathan Sharpe (C), 4 Sam Wykes, 3 Timothy Fairbrother, 2 Nathan Charles, 1 Kieran Longbottom.
- Replacements: 16 Ben Whittaker, 17 Matt Dunning, 18. Tom Hockings, 19 Richard Brown, 20 Chris Cottee, 21 Mitch Inman, 22 Nick Cummins.
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Some interesting tussles this weekend.
The Landers should bounce back and beat the Force
The Stormpoppies should bank their 5 Log points easily enough against the Rebels
The Bulls and the Waratahs… tough one… but the Bulls look to be hitting their straps just at the right time in the season and should take it…. my hope is for a bonus point.
Canes vs Lions. Can we truly expect the Lions to win a 3rd consecutive game on tour? Well if there is 1 New Zealand side who’s been ripe for the picking all season, it’s been the Canes…. my smart money is on the Canes though.
Blues vs Chiefs, should be a win for the Blues at home but my hope lies in the Chiefs upsetting the apple cart here… could be doing the Stormers, Bulls & Sharks a massive favour in the process.
Reds vs Brumbies only has one logical result in the offing… Reds by some comfortable distance… at a canter.
Cheetahs vs Sharks… tough one… I’m hoping for a Cheetahs win, but my mind is hesitant about this one. Staat have always been the bogey side of the Sharks, but the Cheetahs depth in a few positions is now starting to wear very thin. What the hell, Goooooo Staat!
Should the Bulls win well and the Cheetahs win as well, the Bulls will jump 2 Log Positions, straight to No 5 on the Combined Log…. with the Crusaders in their immediate sights and possibly the Blues and Stormpoppies as well…. to possibly overtake on the Combined Log.
Hell, if things go as perfectly as the past weekend, the Bulls could be aiming for No 2 position overall after all the preliminary rounds…. not likely though.
@ grootblousmile:
And I see that elsewhere on the Net people are saying that if the Lions win their last 2 games, plus the 4 points for the bye in the last round they could get up to 37 points and as high as 9/10 on the combined log.
Is it really a possibility and if it happens would the Lions management claim a successful Super Rugby campaign?
I notice also that the GLRU have an Extraordinary AGM on Monday 20th June, so possibly a couple of changes at Exco’ level?
@ Scrumdown:
I would call it a Lazarus act
Mmm…..I notice a Swanepoel at scrummie for the Force. Smiley’s family or an export product or both?
As much as I hope that the Force beat the Landers, the Kiwi team has shown enough this year to ffeel confident about this one. Just about as confident as they must have felt one week ago…
The Stormers cannot afford any kind of slip up at 9 or 10. Honestly. The rest of their team looks solid, but jeese that pivot situation is becoming worse and worse by the day. Should not be enough to make them trip though. 5 points…? maybe.
BULLS WILL WIN. No, they MUST win. The team is well balanced, they are gaining serious momentum and the Tahs have played most of the season against seriously mediocre teams.
Bulls by 12.
Lions vs. Canes. I think it could depend on which Lions team pitches up. And which Canes team.
mmmmmm It doesn’t really matter, but lets be patriotic and say Lions by 4.
Blues to win by a few
Reds to win by even more
Sharks are pretty much in the same situation as the Stormers, but their problem is in the midfield. Cheetahs will once again push the oppponents hard, as against the Bulls. And they may well win, but it will be a bit of an upset.
Siting at the Restaurant at the Executive Car wash… waiting for my Omelette & a Strawberry milkshake…. doing a bit of admin work whilst waiting.
This is what I call spending time well and multi-tasking well…. hehehe
ALL the Team Sheets are now complete!
2 Game Threads are scheduled for the first 2 games of the weekend in the morning (Friday).
@ Scrumdown:
Well, compared to last year you could say its a successful season.
Could that mean that all SA teams will be in the top 2/3rds. of this years comp? Is that possible?
6@ grootblousmile:
I call it underworked and overpaid!
The frost is on the ground, the water feature is frozen solid, and my fingers are so feeeekin cold I can’t feel the keys on the board!
Must get into an industry that only requires sensible work hours. Been busy since 5 this morning. I must be varking mal.
Lions Media Release:
There’s a bit of a re-shuffle in the Lions side for tomorrow.
Baywatch Grobbelaar returning to SA for some family bereavement, Jaco Kriel flying out to join the lions.
Backrow is Now:
6. Minnie
7. Josh Stauss
8. Warren Whiteley
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