Part two of our Super 14 previews for Round five covers the second three matches - two on Saturday and the last match on Sunday.
Bulls vs Highlanders in Pretoria
If playing the Bulls at Loftus Versfeld wasn't hard enough the Highlanders have made their work even tougher by suspending Adam Thomson and Michael Hobbs who is still the Super14's leading point scorer. It's almost resigning yourself to defeat.
Amazingly the Bulls overall record against the Highlanders is fairly poor with only three wins out of 12. In the Super 14 however the Bulls have only lost one match to the Highlanders and that was last year in Palmerston North.
The Highlanders were kept scoreless by the Stormers last weekend so their confidence will not be terribly high and they have not won at Loftus since 2002 although they did get a draw in 2004.
The Bulls managed to hold on to the top spot in the Super 14 without playing a match last week. They will be rested and ready to go. They won't get too many other chances where they will be so heavily favoured with home advantage and a panel of South African match officials. The real test of the Bulls mettle is when they away from Loftus.
The Bookies have given the Highlanders a 19.5 point start. We think the Bulls will go all out in this match to extend their points differential which have in the past played a big factor in getting them home semi-finals. Bulls to win by 35+
Last five results
28 Mar 2009 Bulls v Highlanders 12-36 Palmerston North
19 Apr 2008 Bulls v Highlanders 47-17 Pretoria
24 Mar 2007 Bulls v Highlanders 22-13 Dunedin
11 Mar 2006 Bulls v Highlanders 23-16 Pretoria
11 Mar 2005 Bulls v Highlanders 0-23 Dunedin
Bulls overall record against the Highlanders
Played 12 , Wins 3, Losses 8 , Draws 1
Match Officials
Referee: Jonathan Kaplan (SA)
Ass. refs: AN Other (XX), Christie du Preez (SA)
TMO: Johann Meuwesen (SA)
Teams
The Stormers delivered a bonus point for their fans last week but the reality is that in Cape Town they are expecting the Stormers to reach the Semi-finals and the way you do that is firstly by winning your home matches with bonus points so it was pretty much par for the course and we shouldn't read too much into it yet.
Their defence was however the outstanding factor in the match - in four matches the Stormers have only conceded 38 points. The next best defence is more than double at 84 points for the Crusaders.
Last week the Hurricanes were missing a couple of their stars but it looked like they were missing a lot more than just a few performers. It looked a lot like they had a bad case of jet lag and they just couldn't get into gear.
This weekend they should be over the jet lag and they will have Ellison and Smith back so there are no excuses for the team that has the third best attack in the tournament so far.
Overall results between these teams are even at 6 wins each from 12. On average points per match the scores are pretty even as well at 24-23 in favour of the Stormers.
The Bookies have given the Hurricanes a 5.5 point start but we think it will be even tighter and the Stormers will sneak it by 2 points.
Last five results
18 Apr 2009 Stormers v Hurricanes 11-34 Wellington
19 Apr 2008 Stormers v Hurricanes 20-12 Cape Town
03 Mar 2007 Stormers v Hurricanes 30-17 Palmerston North
11 Mar 2006 Stormers v Hurricanes 19-23 Cape Town
25 Mar 2005 Stormers v Hurricanes 9-12 Palmerston North
Stormers overall record against the Hurricanes
Played 12 , Wins 6 , Losses 6 , Draws 0
Match Officials
Referee: Nathan Pearce (Aus)
Ass. refs: Steve Walsh (Aus), Marc van Zyl (SA)
TMO: Shaun Veldsman (SA)
Teams
This match is unusual in that it is on a Sunday. The Reds are on a high after their second surprise victory over last year's finalists the Chiefs.
That victory showed that their victory over the Crusaders was not a flash in the pan and that they are a team not to be taken lightly. Going into that match they had been hit by injury and were written off. The Chiefs might have been struggling with jet lag in the match but the Reds finished stronger. It was impressive stuff given what we have come to expect (historically) with the Reds.
In contrast the Force were hit by injury early in the season and have simply not recovered. The Bye came at good time for the Force as it gave them time to do some damage control. It also means that with the extra day off they might be a little cold.
Results between the two teams have historically been physical affairs after the Force recruited a healthy portion of Reds players for their first year. Overall results are level at two wins each from four matches.
We know the Reds will be pumped for this match and what they think of the Reds from Van Humphries "little speech" after the Chiefs match. The Force are at the bottom of the table with three losses from three losses which makes them this season's whipping boys sadly. The Bookies have given the Force an 8.5 point start. We think it will probably be a bit bigger. Reds to win by 12+.
Last four results
03 Apr 2009 Reds v Force 7-39 1:5 0-5 Perth
18 Apr 2008 Reds v Force 29-12 3:0 4-0 Brisbane
16 Mar 2007 Reds v Force 3-38 0:4 0-5 Perth
11 Mar 2006 Reds v Force 29-18 3:2 4-0 Brisbane
Reds overall record against the Force
Played 4, Wins 2 , Losses 2 , Draws 0
Match Officials
Referee: Ian Smith (Aus)
Ass. refs: AN Other (XX), Damian Mitchelmore (Aus)
TMO: Steve Leszczynski (Aus)
Teams
Force - To follow.
Reds - To follow.
