Here we are at the end of the season with a dream final, well for about a third of Super Rugby. What ever happens we will have a new winner of the competition and here is my prediction.
First up here is a link to my review of the semi finals.
How did the semi final predictions go?
1 from 2, again I went with the home teams and again I was 50% right.
Hurricanes v Highlanders
Just about everybody is predicting that this will be a good game but history tells us that finals are tense affairs. Can these two sides keep to their playing ideals? I think they will as it’s in their DNA to play with style, just this year they have paired that with improved forward performances.
So we have a good game and it’s onto the prediction. This one should be an easy one to predict, put simply the home team has won every Super Rugby final. Add into that the Hurricanes have looked the top team all season. They have already beaten the Highlanders twice in the league rounds. There are key players who will be playing their last game for the Canes. Finally there is the Jerry Collins factor and talk of winning this for him.
I’m going against the grain though and here is why. Whilst the Highlanders lost towards the end of the season in Wellington (Edit: it was Napier), they did rest their All Blacks. The Landers are riding a wave of form and they have won a knockout game away. The amount of joy on their faces when winning just shows how much these guys are enjoying playing for and with each other. So maybe it’s a bit irrational I’m backing the men from the south to become the first away winners in this competition.
Highlanders by 5
Prediction Leagues
We are going into a little lull in the amount of rugby being played but the Rugby Championship and Pacific Nations Cup kick off in July. Then in August the Currie Cup, ITM Cup and NRC will start. Click on any of the names to join in my prediction leagues and test your wits against me.
Go Highlanders