As the European competitions head into their finals, Super Rugby is in the real meat of the season. It’s amazing to think we are already over halfway through! Here are my round 11 predictions.
First here is a link to my round-up of last weekend’s action.
How did your round 10 predictions go?
5 from 8, I over estimated the home advantage in some games.
Here is my 30 second One Line Predictions, for full reasoning read below.
Crusaders v Reds
Put simply the Saders have coped very well with their transition from some all time greats into the next generation. They started slowly losing their opening game which seems to be the law now. Initially their backs looked a bit disjoined but that’s all coming together now. The Reds haven’t lost to New Zealand opposition yet and have looked much better since their chance of coach(s). However they still only have two wins and this is going to be a tour too far for them.
Crusaders by 15
Brumbies v Bulls
Brumbies came into this season as one of the contenders if not favourites for the title and things looked to be going well. Then off-field issues hit and their results have been impacted as players got pulled into it. It looks like those off-field issues have now been sorted but there is still a lot of clean up to go on. The Bulls are notorious poor tourists but put together an impressive performance last week even if it was against the Force. Under normal circumstances I’d confidently back the Brumbies but instead I’m doing it with a lot less confidence this time around. The public vote is much more confident than I am.
Brumbies by 5
Sunwolves v Force
The Sunwolves managed to get their first victory of the season last timeout and have had a week off to enjoy the feeling. They get to host another fellow struggler and have the opportunity to build up some momentum. The Force have only managed one win this season and that was against the Reds per-coach change. They have been competitive in some games but in others it’s been a total blow out. They should be at least competitive in this one but I’m going to back the home side after their moral boosting win and a rest week.
Sunwolves by 3
Chiefs v Highlanders
Everybody has been singing the praises of the Chiefs and they have been playing well. If you look at their latest results though you’ll see that the last three wins have been by just a score. The Landers on the other hand have lost a couple recently, again though if you look at the details they have only been by a point each time. The Landers need to be careful about cards having picked up a red a couple of weeks ago and could easily have had another last weekend. Assuming all the players stay on the pitch I’m backing the home side for a close win.
Chiefs by 5
Waratahs v Cheetahs
The Tahs have been up and down this season as they get used to a new coach. They have finally managed to string back to back victories including one on tour in South Africa. This weekend they face the poor Cheetahs. The Cheetahs only two wins have been over the Sunwolves even if they managed to score 92 points in one of those. This should be an easy home win with the Tahs targeting a TBP.
Waratahs by 10
Sharks v Hurricanes
The Sharks really started the season well but a touch set of fixtures has seen one win from the last six games. They will come back with an easy run in but that series of games doesn’t start this week. After the Canes opening couple of losses and then an easy run of games I have been slow getting onto their bandwagon. However putting a half century of points on the Lions last weekend on tour was a big statement. The Sharks have just arrived back from their tour of New Zealand and so will have similar travel tiredness. I think that Canes can go back to back as they look to makeup lost ground on the Chiefs.
Hurricanes by 10
Kings v Blues
The Kings have only won one game this season and all the others have been losses by over twenty points. Put simply this is a game for the Blues taking and I’m being kind (or delusional) to suggest that the travel will mean that it’s not a blow out.
Blues by 5
This season I’m competing with Rugby Numbers, check out his algorithmic predictions.
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