I have been thinking about the SA Teams this weekend - especially after the comments on the Re-union programme to the effect that all SA Teams will lose this coming weekend.
In essence I do not really share that point of view and I think that the panellists were a bit sore about what happened last week.
The Highlanders - Hurricanes Game
I do believe the Hurricanes should win this one and in this regard I wish to point out that
* The Highlanders made a huge mistake by contracting has beens to play for them this season.
* The game against the Crusaders was a mess in which both teams competed against each other as to who could make the most errors in the game - the Hurricans winning in that competition by a short head. I think if the Hurricanes can limit the errors - they should win with relative ease.
I do believe thatthe Hurricanes are in fact a very good team and they should get the better of the Highlanders - whose forward reularly was five paces behind the Cheetahs last week.
The Waratahs - Cheetahs Game
The main question is - can the Cheetahs repeat their performance against the Highlanders this coming week? I believe they can and I think that there are some good signs in their gavour:-
^ Goosen is back on track and he played a very good game last week.
* The Cheetahs loosies are top class - especially Labuschagne seems to be in top form.
On the other hand there seems to be something seriously amiss with the Waratahs, The beat the Rebels and then proceeded to lose against the Reds and the Brumbies - the latter by a very large margin. I do not really rate the Rebels as a top outfit - they have some good individual players - but they are very beatable.
I think that the Cheetahs can beat the Waratahs if they repeat their performance of last week.
The Chiefs - Kings Game
This should be a walk in the park for the Chiefs
The Crusaders - Bulls Game
After losing both games they played in the competition - that may fire them up. However - their performances thus far can best be decribed as a circus - the mistakes they made in playing was endless and they only had themselves to blame for theirloss against the Hurricanes,
I beieve the Bulls can beat the Crusaders for the following reasons:-
* I was not impressed by the Crusaders forwards
* Their bacline can be put under pressure and then seems to be problematic for them.
The Reds - Forces Game
If the Reds cannot win this game - they should accept that they would not be able to win any games agains NZ or SA teams. The Reds to win easily.
The Sharks - Brumbies Game
The Brumbies was red hot in the games they played in Australia - but the question remains how strong were their opponents. It would be reflected earlier in the game between the Waratahs and the Cheetahs - if the Waratahs lose that one - which I think they will - it will serve as an indicator of how relly good they are.
The Sharks seems to have lost their ability to play intelligent rugby and so far their backline was a mess. However, despite that they won all their games and woud no doubt hope to conitnue winning.
The above factors should be major considerations as to the outcome of the game. II believe that we may yt see a win by the Sharks - especially if they can sort out their dead backline problems,
