2 point lead over 7th place Waratahs / Blues thanks to a massive win by the Sharks over the Blues. If the Cheetahs can beat the Blues on Saturday they pretty much guarantee that they can't be overtaken as they will get 4 points for their Round 20 bye as well.
Will have to play a lot better than they did against the Stormers.
If the Cheetahs lose then the number to beat is either 50 or 51 (depending on if they get a bonus point) and there could be a bit of a cavalry charge for the last playoff spot with the Blues, Waratahs, Sharks and even the Hapless Stompies having a mathematical chance of overtaking them.
Personally I thought the Blues were a bit unlucky against the Sharks while the Cheetahs deserved their thrashing so there's every chance it'll all be up in the air after the weekend.
Agreed Rooi. If the Cheetahs play their expansive game against the Blues I can't help but think that would be a mistake. Need to keep it tight and target their scrum which was weak. Cheetahs have the personnel to do it.
with the cheetahs being on 46 and getting that guranteed 4 points in the last round, that puts them on 50 minimum.
blues have a good chance and thats what makes the chhetahs vs blues the creme de la creme, blues must win here and then again the following the week in order to get past the cheetahs while also denying the cheetahs a maximu of two bonus points, so beat them by 7 and make sure they dont score 4 tries.
if they do that then they only need to beat the cheetahs in bloomfintein and the chiefs at home a week later for all things to be kosha.
in other words, blues are out, LMAo, :oD
from a mathmatical point of view the waratahs dont have a chance, one game left meaning they can only finish on 49 pts total.
but thumbs up to the waratahs, big improvers from last year.
the stormers have the kings next which should be money in the bag for an easy 5 points before facing the bulls the week a later.
with the chiefs to play the crusaders and the blues, the bulls are still in the hunt for a top place finish, so i cant see a repeat of 2010 where when they faced the stormers and had assured a minor prem finish, they fielded a weak team which help the stormers secure a home semi finals.
stormers have a real good chance though, but whats going to hurt them is their inability to score tries after years of playing their bafana bafana style rugby and this is prob whats going to cost them big time in the end.
sharks, this is a tough one, they have the kings last which should be a 5poionter, but they got the bulls in loftus and thats gotta suck for any team right now.
bulls were also smart resting players last week and they seem to be growing with every game, i cant see the sharks beating them and that will cost them in the ned, but hopefully they do, cos that will help the chiefs secure a finals berth and right now that is the ultimate key IMO.
final 6 predictions,,,
1 chiefs
2 bulls
3 brumbies
4 reds
5 crusaders
6 cheetahs
from a kiwi point of view i want the chiefs to beat the crusaders as securing a home finals berth is No1 priority and that battle will be tops, should the chiefs lose i hope the sharkies can pull an upset.
Sas - wouldn't waratahs get 4 for the bye this coming weekend and then potentially 5 more if they win with a bonus in round 20?
Its going to go down to the wire. Real pity the Sharks and Stormers let themselves down so this year. One more win each would have had them in contention for that 6th spot
@oimatey,
nah the waratahs dont get a bye this weekend, they have used up all their byes this is classified as a no game for the aussies, similar to round 1 and 17 when NZ and OZ teams didnt get points and didnt play.
the only team left with a bye is the cheetahs making their clash with the blues very mouth watering.
im sure if the blues beat the cheetahs, all of bloomfintein will be cheering on the chiefs, :oP
if the sharks beat the bulls, the blues beat the cheetahs and the chiefs beat the crusaders this weekend, i would love for the chiefs to field a weakned team for the blues clash at eden park and give the blues a good chance of making the finals, many kiwis werent happy when the bulls did something similar which helped the stormers secure a home semis in 2010, but i thought good on them, theres merit in giving a fellow national club a boost when it dosent effect ur chances, sadly i cant see this happeneing, more likely rennie will order his chiefs to put the blues to the sword, lolz.
If we do lose to the Blues I will go into hibernation until the RC starts!
