A full and exciting weekend of Vodacom Super Rugby lies ahead with all five South African franchises in action on Friday and Saturday.
The weekend kicks off with the Cell C Sharks taking on the Blues in Albany, where the team from KwaZulu-Natal will be looking to improve their superb winning run – the best ever by any South African team against overseas opposition – at North Harbour Stadium.
On Friday evening, Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria will host a repeat of last year’s semi-final between the Vodacom Bulls – thus far unbeaten at home – and the Brumbies, who will be looking to avenge their defeat last weekend in Bloemfontein.
On Saturday morning, the Lions will be looking to turn back the clock to 2007 when their Australasian tour concludes with a tricky encounter against the Force in Perth, before the DHL Stormers will be looking to build on their recent home success when host the Toyota Cheetahs in the only derby of the weekend at DHL Newlands in Cape Town.
Blues vs Cell C Sharks:
This week, the Cell C Sharks will go from their toughest to their favourite opponent from New Zealand when they travel to Albany to take on the Blues in their final Vodacom Super Rugby tour match on Friday morning.
Last weekend’s win over the Crusaders was their first ever in Christchurch, but on Friday, the Cell C Sharks will be looking for their sixth away victory over the Blues.
The KwaZulu-Natalians will also be looking to stretch an impressive winning run that goes back more than nine years, to 16 April 2005 when they last lost to the team from Auckland. Since then, the Cell C Sharks have won nine straight – the South African winning streak against any team from abroad – which includes three away victories, of which two at were at Eden Park and one in Albany.
The Cell C Sharks also seem to enjoy playing the Blues in and around Auckland, where they have won five out of seven – much better than their away record against the Chiefs (won three out of nine), Hurricanes (won three out of eight and one draw), Highlanders (won four out of eight) and the Crusaders (won one from 11).
The Blues have been up and down this year, but one thing is for sure – they know how to create tries out of nothing, which is something the Cell C Sharks have taken notice of.
“We are going to have to defend,” said Cell C Sharks Director of Rugby, Jake White.
“I don’t think they will kick as much as the Crusaders did – they’ll definitely try run it back at us and they’ve got some dangerous outside backs.
“But, in saying that, we need to make sure that the rest of our game is good enough as well, we can’t rely on defence only. We got away with it against the Crusaders but I don’t think you can defend like that week in and week out. We are going to have to create some pressure when we are attacking as well.”
Rugby-Talk Prediction: After the Cell C Sharks so completely destroyed the Crusaders in New Zealand, who will bet against them, against a Blues team who is stationed at No 10 on the Log? The problem is that the Blues sometimes play scintilating rugby and the Sharks might be so high on euphoria that they think they can just turn up for the game to win it. I would however predict against the home team, for the Sharks to win by 5 – 12 points.
Teams:
Blues |
Cell C Sharks |
| 23 May at 09:35 | |
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Date: Friday 23 May
Kick-Off: 09:35 SA Time (19:35 NZ Time, 07:35 GMT)
Venue: North Harbour Stadium, Albany
Referee: Nick Briant (New Zealand)
Assistant Referees: Mike Fraser (New Zealand), Aki Aso (Japan)
TMO: Aaron Peterson (New Zealand)
Vodacom Bulls vs Brumbies:
The Vodacom Bulls and Brumbies take on each other on Friday evening in a repeat of last year’s Vodacom Super Rugby semi-final when they clash at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria on Friday evening.
The Brumbies upset the odds last season to hand the Vodacom Bulls their first-ever home defeat in a playoff. On Friday, they travel to Loftus Versfeld where the team from Pretoria have not yet lost in 2014.
In fact, in the last two seasons, the Vodacom Bulls have won everything at home except for two matches – their semi-final defeat to the Brumbies last year and a draw to the Chiefs two months ago.
That win in the semi-final, was the Brumbies’ first since 2006 and only their fourth ever at Loftus Versfeld.
The Vodacom Bulls will want to avert losing a fifth home game to the team from Canberra on Friday, but they realise it will be tough despite the Brumbies’ defeat in Bloemfontein last weekend.
“We will need to be at our best in facing a Brumbies side that has played some great rugby this year,” said Vodacom Bulls coach Frans Ludeke.
“We have made slight changes for the match and rotated certain players and I believe we will be competitive come Friday.”
Vodacom Bulls captain Flip van der Merwe, who is back in the side, is looking forward to the match.
“It is important to start the match with a lot of energy and I believe everyone will do so,” said Van der Merwe. “We don’t look ahead in the competition, but know how important a win will be with regards to a possible play-off spot.”
The Brumbies have included three South Africans, props Ruan and JP Smith, as well Conrad Hoffman, on their bench.
Rugby-Talk Prediction: The Bulls will be desperate to win, and they better be to keep their Play-Off hopes alive! The Bulls are good at Loftus, that much we know, but they are playing the No 2 placed side on the Log and despite the Brumbies loss to the Cheetahs last weekend, they are dangerous. I however predict a home team win for the desperate Bulls, by a small margin of between 2 – 7 points.
Teams:
Vodacom Bulls |
Brumbies |
| 23 May at 19:10 | |
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Date: Friday 23 May
Kick-Off: 19:10 SA Time (17:10 GMT, 03:10 Saturday AEST)
Venue: Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
Referee: Craig Joubert (South Africa)
Assistant Referees: Jaco Peyper (South Africa), Cobus Wessels (South Africa)
TMO: Johan Greeff (South Africa)
Western Force vs Lions:
The Lions will be looking to turn back the clock to 2007 when they finish their Australasian Vodacom Super Rugby tour in Perth against the Force on Saturday.
It will also be the team from Johannesburg’s final chance to record their first win Down Under since 28 May 2011, when they beat the Highlanders by 26-22 in Dunedin.
Their last victory in Perth was in round four in 2007, when they snuck through by 25-24 thanks to a last-minute penalty by former Springbok flyhalf Andre Pretorius.
Only one player from that day will be in action again this weekend – Force captain Matt Hodgson. Two Lions players who played in that match are still around, but Franco van der Merwe is currently injured and Willie Wepener was not selected to play this week.
The Force have returned home from South Africa this week, where they beat the Toyota Cheetahs and lost to the DHL Stormers. They can stretch their winning run over the Lions to six on Saturday as they last lost to the Johannesburg-based team in 2007.
In 2009, the Force won comfortably at home against the Lions, but in 2012 they scored a late try to seal a 17-11 win at NIB Stadium.
Rugby-Talk Prediction: The Western Force are still title contenders, whereas the Lions are also-runs and at No 14 on the Log. I predict a Force home win, with 4 tries, against the Lions. Let’s say Force to win by 8 – 16 points.
Teams:
Western Force |
Lions |
| 24 May at 11:40 | |
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Date: Saturday 24 May
Kick-Off: 11:40 SA Time (17:40 AWST, 19:40 AEST, 09:40 GMT)
Venue: NIB Stadium, Perth
Referee: Steve Walsh (Australia)
Assistant Referees: James Leckie (Australia), Ian Smith (Australia)
TMO: Peter Marshall (Australia)
DHL Stormers vs Toyota Cheetahs:
The DHL Stormers will be looking to continue their recent good form in Cape Town when they host the Toyota Cheetahs at DHL Newlands on Saturday afternoon.
Neither side will have forgotten their derby match in Bloemfontein a month ago, when the Toyota Cheetahs won comfortably, scoring five tries to three – their best ever try-scoring return against the Capetonians.
Since that defeat though, the DHL Stormers have stepped up a gear and have beaten the Highlanders and Force at DHL Newlands, a venue where the franchise from Central South Africa have not won since 2006.
That Toyota Cheetahs victory eight years ago in Cape Town was by 31-25, when the home team lost despite outscoring their visitors by three tries to one.
Looking ahead to the weekend, DHL Stormers coach coach Allister Coetzee said: “We learned a few lessons from our defeat last time out. On that occasion we gave the Cheetahs too much space when they ran the ball.
“We allowed them to get into that space, which you cannot do against them as they have players like Willie le Roux who will punish you. We must close up that space better than we did in Bloemfontein.”
Rugby-Talk Prediction: Last time these 2 sides met, the Cheetahs made mince-meat of the Stormers, but the Stormers have improved at Newlands… and have some experienced players back this weekend. I just cannot see the Cheetahs doing the double on the Stormers, at the Stormers home ground, so I predict a Stormers win by 4 – 8 points.
Teams:
DHL Stormers |
Toyota Cheetahs |
| 24 May at 17:05 | |
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Date: Saturday 24 May
Kick-Off: 17:05 SA Time (15:05 GMT)
Venue: DHL Newlands, Cape Town
Referee: Stuart Berry (South Africa)
Assistant Referees: Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa), Quinton Immelman (South Africa)
TMO: Deon van Blommestein (South Africa)
Other fixtures:
Friday 23 May:
Melbourne Rebels vs Waratahs
(Melbourne: 11:40 SA Time, 19:40 AEST, 09:40 GMT)
Rugby-Talk Prediction: Not such and easy call to make, but I would have to pick the team still in it with a chance to win the competition against the side who is out of the running, so it is Waratahs away from home by 6 – 14 points.
Saturday 24 May:
Highlanders vs Crusaders
(Dunedin: 07:35 SA Time, 15:35 NZ Time, 05:35 GMT)
Rugby-Talk Prediction: Both these teams are still in it with a chance to get into the play-off’s, so it will be hell to play in this game! I expect a physical battle where the Crusaders are determined enough to right the wrongs of last weekend. Crusaders away from home by 4 – 9 points.
Hurricanes vs Chiefs
(Wellington: 09h35 SA Time, 19:35 NZ Time, 07:35 GMT)
Rugby-Talk Prediction: This one should be running rugby all the way and the Chiefs would want to cement top spot in the New Zealand Conference, whereas the Hurricanes will want to stay in the Play-Off run. I suppose the smart money here would have to be on the 2-time champs, of the last 2 years, the Chiefs. I predict a win for the Chiefs by 3 – 14 points.
Bye: Reds