2013 spXV overall standings, fixtures and review

chiefs - bye, hurricanes, crusaders, blues
bulls - cheetahs, kings, sharks, stormers
brumbies - hurricanes, rebels, force
cheetahs - bulls, stormers, blues, bye
reds - rebels, bye waratahs
crusaders - waratahs, highlanders, chiefs, hurricanes
blues - highladners, sharks, cheetahs, chiefs
waratahs - crusaders, force, reds

chiefs
are sitting pretty at the moment, topping the log with a 2pt lead oer 2nd placed bulls and they have a bye this week.
they are also facing the hurricanes and blues and both are games they should which should see them top the overall ladder, though a few bonus points would go along way, theyre not going to want to face the crusaders or bulls anywhere but in hamilton come finals time

bulls
the win over the sharks in what was the most boring game in 2013 spXV ( easily in the top 5 of all time) saw the bulls get valuable points needed to keep the brumbies at bay and keep the chiefs on their toes.
theyre going to need to grind out some more wins with their remaining fixtures though, cos they have the cheetahs next and also the stormers and sharks again as well, prob the hardest run of all the teams in the business end of the comp.

brumbies
smart rugby is what the brumbies do best and they showed that against an inexperinced blues team who just played dumb rugby.
the main rpoblem for the brumbies is theyres sitting thrid and only have three games left. they should beat the hurricanes, but the rebels have beaten the waratahs and stormers and the brumbies will be missing their wallaby players and i would prob give the rebels the edge, the results of the burmbies of the brumbies last three games will be interesing,
im expecting a finals spot, but they will be 3rd overall IMO.

cheetahs
cheetahs have got a huge game coming up and even though theyre sitting 4th, fans wouldnt be feeling to comfortable considering the crusaders and blues are 6th and 7th and only 3pts behind them. add to that the cheetahs have to face the bulls and stormers, both games where they have a very good chance of losing and im still not sold that they will make the finals.
but at least they have a bye under their belt and something tells me that the blues match in bloomfintein is going to be season defining for both the blues and cheetahs, that matcgh is going to be epic.

reds
retuing to OZ after a wasted time in SA only to face the rebels who have popped both the stormers and warartahs??? definately not getting any easier for the reds, but they are still a class team and should beat the giant killing rebels.
they also have a tough match against the waratahs in the last round, but they do have a bye so provieded they win one of their last two matche, they should make the finals and only a clossial screw up in their remianing games will stop that.

crusaders
10 pts from the leader ladders and they have the waratahs, chiefs, hurricanes and highlanders.
finals is pretty much assured, but top of the NZ conference is now out of the equation IMO.
the best they can do right now is try to finish 4th and get the last qualifying home final.
hurricanes, waratahs and highlanders are games they should win, though the waratahs and hurricanes will be very tough and the chiefs at home should also see them as comfortable favourites, though that match is the hardest of the lot.

blues
its going to be a tough ask for the blues to make the finals, winning their reamining matches might not be enough, they will be counting on a few other results to go thier way too, especially those highlighted with the cheetahs.
blues have done well this year, but have shown up by the top teams of the comp, they still have to travel to SA which is never easy, so im thinking their finals chances is very low but their odds would look very tasty when u consider some of the scalps they claimed and some of the names in that squad,,,,,

waratahs
waratahs are only 4pts outside the top 6, they have three games reamaining and its against the reds, crusaders and force.
normally u would think they would win their force game and be underdogs for the reds and crusaders game, but their force game happens bang on when they will be missing their wallaby players.
bulls have a tougher run IMO, but this run is just as bad for a team like the waratahs.
like the blues though, they can take solace in a great year considering how useless they were last year, full credit to cheicka for getting rid of that bring style that plagued them the last few seasons, looking forward to watching thier progress next year.

Sasue

Your posting maakes very interesting reading and is in the main spot on.   I want basically to mention the Bulls - I saw some negatives in their performance against the Sharks and my money on the Cheetahs - Bulls game is on the Cheetahs.   The Bulls have problems up front and I think they are going to run into a steam train in Bloemfontein,   The signs are there that Ludeke is going to select his favoured players again and Olivier was bad against the Sharks.    Be it as it may - I think even the Stormers at Newlands are going to be a hard one for the Bulls.  

Also - the Cheetahs are bound to beat the Blues at home - easy as pie this time around.   The Blues are bad travellers and they will have all the problems the Reds had in Bloemfontein.  

By the way - the results this week are all upside down and with the Wallaby squad players not being avaailable to ther franchises  in Round 17 - weird results can be expected.    I think you only had one correct result forecasts, while I had only four correct ones. - hence my comments about the wierd results. 

 Looks like the Chiefs will win the overall log.

I expect them to lose the game against Crusaders away in Christchuch.

It is possibale that they will lose to the Blues- as this is away at Eden Park. (Blue are strong at home and on their day can beat anyone). 

They will beat the Hurricanes in Hamilton. I expect them as a minimum to finish on 60 points, but mostly likely will be around the 64 mark

-

Bulls

They will beat the Kings at home, and I think also the Sharks at home in Loftus.

However the Stormers in Capetown will be difficult. I stil think the Stormers are a better team on paper than the Bulls. I expect them to go down to the Stormers in Capetown. 

I think the make or break game for the Bulls is vs the Cheetas. This could also be the decider to the SA conference. 

The Cheetas if they remain mostly injury free should beat the Bulls. To Score tries the Bulls need to obliterate the opposition up front, and this is unlikely against this years Cheetas in Bloemfontein

As a minimum I expect them to finish on 58 points, and at best 62. I expect the Bulls will be overaken by the Cheetas, and probably also the Brumbies get pushed to 4th.

The Brumbies may also need bonus points wins to try overtake the Bulls.

The Bulls will only get a 4 try bonus point against the Kings.

-

The Cheetas need to win all 3 of their remaining games along with the 4 points from the bye. 

The hardest game is going to be agains the Stormers in Capetown. 

They can overtake the Bulls if they beat them in Bloemfontein. 

I think the Cheetas deserve to be ahead of the Bulls. as they have produced better rugby. 

It seems the Bulls have just gone under the radar with home wins helping them to get to this stage and other teams losing so many games.

I expect the Cheetas to finish in 2nd place. If they can beat the Stormers in Capetown then I would say they will finish in 1st place. A loss to the Bulls will probably be a 4th place finish.

-

I think the Brumbies with finish in 3rd, but will probably be overtaken by the Crusaders in actual points 

I expect them to win their remaining games. The Force match away will probably be the hardest. I think the 2 games in Canberra they will win. 

-

Crusaders 

They are the darkhorse. It would not surprise me if they win all their remaining games. All their games are at home except for the Highlanders. 

I expect they wil win at least 3 out of 4 games with the Chiefs game being the hardest. Actually thinking about it, I would say that Crusaders may even still win the log. 

Thinking about it, just too many variables especially with local derbies to finish, combined with the national conference system.

-

On actual points I would say that - The final points could be-

-

1. Chiefs (good lead and the opposition apart from the Crusaders have a harder run to finish)

2. Crusaders (3 out of 4 games at home. The Crusaders usually peak towards the business end of the tournament. Only the highlanders are away and they should win this as well. )

3. Brumbies (Should win their remaining games)

4. Cheetas. (1 bye, and if they win 2 out of 3 games should get here. Stormers game in Newlands will be hardest)

5. Bulls ( I dont think the Bulls are a very strong team. They also have to play both the Stormers and Cheetas away and I expect them to go down in both games). I expect them to win both homes games against Kings and Sharks. The Sharks are useless this year. I was singing the praises last eyar of John Plumtree, but now I am starting to think if he should remain on.

6. Reds (only 2 games remaining. I expect they will win both of these so should scrape it).