I have been non-plussed by upset results last week and wonder at times whether it did not stem from over-confidence on the part of some teams. I do not thin there is anything factual to be learnt from the upsets and that there may be some problems arising from reading too much in the results of Round 6.
My own reading of the situation is seemingly different from the feelings of a lot of our members from looking at "Total Rankers". But anyway I just think that issues are not as sure as the results of last week seems to indicate. I myself think that the most clear and easy predictions are as follows:-
The Hurricanes - Crusader Game
The Crusaders lost against the Waratahs and the fact that the Hurricanes came within a whisker losing to the Stormers seemingly makes the forecast difficult. However, I rate the Crusaders forwards way above those of the Hurricanes, I think it would be an easy win by the Crusaders.
The Waratahs - Sunwolves Game
The Waratahs did look quite competitive against the Hurricanes and then went looking much weaker than they actually were. They are going to win their game tomorrow with ease.
The Blues - Stormers Game
I would not put a dime on this game being won by either side. The Stormers miss a key player in their Tight 5 - but I still think they would be all over the Blues in the Tight 5. An interesting comp will be at 12 - where the De Allende in the past played the fool with both Nonu and SBW in the past despite the shenanigans posted by Mozart, Silly Billy and Pakie. I think the deciding factor will be -
* The Tight 5 performance of the teams
* The battle amongst the loosies - I rate Akira Ioane highly;
* The no 12 battle
* The supremacy of the Blues wings
Looking at all aspects I would give the Stormers a narrow win over the Blues.
The Reds - Rebels game
The Reds showed some real fangs in their game against the Brumbies in Round 6 and I think the travels of the Rebels would present a difficult problem for them. A win by the Reds are on the cards.
The Sharks - Bulls game
The Bulls fell asleep in the game last week and the question is - will they still be sleeping this week? I think that they have backline superiority over the Sharks - but they may suffer up front. So what is to happen? I think the Sharks will win a narrow victory over the Bulls.
The Jaguar - Chiefs game
Don't ask me why - but I think the Jaguares is going to win - may be even a quite easy win. Please note that as per normal Jaws took the easy way out - he did not favour Lavanini as an opponent.
