Why I'm confident saders can win it

1. Defenses win championships,.... and saders have the best defense by far of the comp (as they proved it in the finals)
the defensive effort showed against the chiefs could be the best I've ever seen,... Todd was inmense with his 22-1 tackle account,... and completely outplayed Sam Cane AGAIN,...he's the best NZ openside and should be starting for the AB
Taufua was also huge with his 17-1,... but the other player outstanding in that sense was the center Goodhue,.... he's a tackling machine,... 16-0 in just 60 minutes (which means that he could have reached Todd if he had played the 80 min),... this young has it all to be the next AB nº13

2. The versatility of the team,... the saders can adjust and change their gameplan as no other team can,.... or, at least, as no other team has done this season
they can kick away possesion and territory as they did against the chiefs (when they had just around 30% of both) or mantain both as they did against the landers (with around 70%),..... and nulify the opposite team in both games
they can play from a 10-men rugby playing tight with their forwards as they did against the landers,..... to a totally expansive game with the 15 players opening the ball wide and attacking from everywhere as they did when they put 57 points on the stormers or 62 on the bulls

3. Saders have the best forward pack and the best midfield of the competition,.... which gives such a strength to their structure that is very difficult to beat them

Obviously there are other aspects running against the saders,... as not playing at home, the long travel, the field's altitude and thin air, the quality of the oposite team... and anything can happen in a final

 
The Saders are a quality outfit and had they fielded their best 15 against the Canes would probably have topped the log. In the end that decision cost them a home final ... just as did us last season.

The Lions took awhile to get their mojo back from the mid year break. The last two matches are exactly what we needed. Tough ... with a lot of pressure. I believe Jantjies is the better for it. We will go into the final mentally tougher than what were two weeks back and playing against the Saders it's a must have ... mental strength I mean.

It's a pity we won't have Whitely in the final ... but Ackerman has proven to be a classy replacement. There is Bok written all over this youngster. He's tough like his dad and has an incredible work rate.

Kwagga is another quality player with a lot of toe and seems to find the gap without much effort. Chip said Perenara gasses him but as usual he doesn't quite have the facts.

Jaco Kriel is also one to look for and of course Malcoom Marx will play a massif role.   

We cleaned the Canes up in the set piece and dominated them at the break down. Not so sure we'll have it our own way come Saturaday. 

You guys have been spoilt over the years with home finals etc ... now it's our turn.

The Champs have been dispatched so whatever happens ... we'll have a new Champion by weeks end.

I can't wait.

Go Lions!!!


 

 The Crusaders will win for no other reason that they are the 2nd best team on the planet and they are my team  Crusaders by 12

 Not so sure about the Crusaders - they struggled against the Chiefs - who just managed to beat the Stormers.   The travelling to and from SA had a major impact on the Chiefs performance and obviously benefitted the Crusaders.
There is one major problem the Crusaders have and that is a lack of pace - they have very few pacy players.  
Must admit they are a very good side, but I have a feeling they may - like the Hurricanes yesterday - come short in a match away from home and at altitude.   .     
  

 @mike,

"Not so sure about the Crusaders - they struggled against the Chiefs -"

what game were you watching, mike?
definitively not the same I watched,.... the saders owned the chiefs,.... despite the chiefs' ovewhelming possesion and territory, the saders completely imposed their defense and were at the same time able to build more opportunities and to take 4 of them,... the chiefs weren't able to break the saders defense until the 78 minute when the game was already decided and saders were playing one man down due to Reado's injury

"The travelling to and from SA had a major impact on the Chiefs performance and obviously benefitted the Crusaders"

chiefs players didn't show any physical weakness along the whole game,... this travelling and jet-lag issue has been thoroughly magnified (mainly by saffas to use it as excuse),.... nowadays the players' condition ing practiclaly avoid the side effects of the travel,... at least of a round trip to/from SA which is what the chiefs' players did and usually the saffa teams do during the SR regular season
Take the AB last 2 games in the Rugby Championship as example,... the same players who have played the SR competition with all its travels and, apart from it, have played the 3 June tests and the first 4 tests of the RC, have to travel to Argentina and then to SA in consecutive weeks (equivalent to what the chiefs have done in the last 2 weeks),....
after such travels the AB have won 3 out of the 4 games played in SA since the RC was established,.... and the last time they put 57 on the boks,.... do you think the AB were affected by the jet-lag?


"There is one major problem the Crusaders have and that is a lack of pace - they have very few pacy players"

really? all the stats say otherwise

 
IMO in the last game of the regular season against the canes Robertson had no choice but to rest the front row and to bench Whitelock,.... they had played 4 test games in 4 consecutive weeks (and the previous SR games),.... and if they hadn't been rested they would have had to play another 4 test-like games (against the canes and the 3 finals),.... these are 8 test or test-like games in 8 consecutive weeks,... that's completely insane, no player can handle it,..... in the 6Nations and the RC teams play 2 tests and rest,... in June they usually play 3 in a row,... but 8 in a row? no way they could reach the final in any decent form,...
Ackerman last year wasn't in the same quandary,... he opted to rest the whole starting XV but had other options,..

 I see Marx-Mostert-Kriel-Whiteley as the spine of the team,... excellent players,... Whiteley could be missed,...
but I have my doubts over Kwagga,... he's only 1.80 m. and 90 kg. according to the wiki,... too small for being an openside, let alone a blindside where he's currently playing,.... he's playing at blindside but doesn't play as a blindside, he plays like a second openside,.... brings extra power to the backline but cannot fulfil the main tasks of a blindside,.... to carry the ball in traffic, to gain the hard meters, to defend and tackle in the tight, to bring physicality, to be part of the lineouts,...