S14 Preview: Round Six, Part One
The Chiefs and Reds take a rest in Round Six of the Super 14, which could allow front-runners to extend their lead.
The Chiefs and Reds take a well-earned rest in Round Six of the Super 14, which could allow front-runners to extend their lead or the middle-men to leap-frog others as we approach the half-way mark of the tournament.
The defending champion Bulls top the table with the maximum 20 points from four games, one ahead of the Stormers who have played five matches, with the Crusaders and Chiefs – who have also played five matches – rounding out the top four.
The weekend opens with the Blues at home for the first time this season, fearful their season could be over if they lose to the fifth-placed Brumbies, who have won four from five so far. Keven Mealamu will become the Blues' first ever centurion as he leads his team out onto Eden Park.
In Pretoria, the Bulls also have added motivation when they run out against the Hurricanes with skipper Victor Matfield chalking up his 100th Super Rugby outing.
Although the unbeaten home side have amassed far more points than any other side, it is a style that has exposed a flimsy defence which the Hurricanes will be looking to exploit at the daunting Loftus Versfeld.
Blues vs Brumbies
It's been a long wait, but Blues fans will finally get to see their team in action when Pat Lam's men take on the Brumbies on Friday – the first Super 14 fixture of the season at Eden Park.
The capacity has been reduced to 17,500 because of redevelopment work ahead of the 2011 World Cup, but that seems to be the going number of attendance in New Zealand stadiums this season anyway.
The Blues, who are coming off their bye, head into the contest back in tenth spot on the points table with a 2-2 win-loss record. The Brumbies are fifth, with four wins and a solitary loss to the competition leaders and defending champion Bulls.
When the Blues travelled to Canberra last year they held a slim lead at the break before they were smashed 37-15 by the Brumbies.
The hosts can't afford to slip up in Auckland as they still have to travel to South Africa and are sitting seven points adrift of the fourth-placed Chiefs, who have a bye this weekend. The Brumbies have already made the trip to the Republic, and another away win will set them up nicely with a string of home games lined up in the Australian capital.
So whilst the tournament has not quite reached the half-way mark yet – the Blues have plenty to play for, and a loss now may come back to haunt them later on.
But the visitors have not been all that convincing either, and the lack of a bonus points means they're outside the top four even though they've won one more game than the Chiefs. At least Brumbies fans can take heart knowing their team are winning games, even though they are yet to really fire this season.
Super head to head: The front row. The Brumbies' all-Wallaby front row of Ben Alexander, Stephen Moore and Salesi Ma'afu will rock up for battle against an all-international Blues mob of Tony Woodcock, Keven Mealamu and John Afoa in what looms as a decent contest and one which marks Mealamu's 100th game for the franchise.
Prediction: These two former Super Rugby champs have had a great rivalry over the years. The Brumbies have won the past two games the sides have played against each other, but this week's game isn't so clear cut. The Brumbies will be hard to beat once they click, but we think the Blues back at Eden Park will find the boost needed to come good. Blues to win by five points.
The teams:
Blues: 15 Isaia Toeava, 14 Joe Rokocoko, 13 Rene Ranger, 12 Benson Stanley, 11 Rudi Wulf, 10 Stephen Brett, 9 Alby Mathewson, 8 Viliami Ma'afu, 7 Serge Lilo, 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Anthony Boric, 4 Kurtis Haiu, 3 John Afoa, 2 Keven Mealamu (c), 1 Tony Woodcock.
Replacements: 16 Tom McCartney, 17 Charlie Faumuina, 18 Filo Paulo, 19 Peter Saili, 20 Chris Smylie, 21 Daniel Kirkpatrick, 22 Paul Williams.
Brumbies: 15 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 14 Pat McCabe, 13 Tyrone Smith, 12 Christian Lealiifano, 11 Francis Fainifo, 10 Matt Giteau, 9 Josh Valentine, 8 Stephen Hoiles, 7 George Smith, 6 Rocky Elsom, 5 Mark Chisholm, 4 Ben Hand, 3 Salesi Maafu, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Ben Alexander.
Replacements: 16 Huia Edmonds, 17 Jerry Yanuyanutawa, 18 Justin Harrison, 19 Mitchell Chapman, 20 Patrick Phibbs, 21 Matt Toomua, 22 Andrew Smith.
Date: Friday, March 19
Venue: Eden Park, Auckland
Kick-off: 19:35 (06:35 GMT)
Referee: Mark Lawrence (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Garratt Williamson (New Zealand), Matthew Stanish (New Zealand)
TMO: Glenn Newman (New Zealand)
Bulls vs Hurricanes
The Bulls will look to continue their impressive unbeaten run in the tournament against the Hurricanes on Friday – the last team to defeat Victor Matfield and company on their home patch.
That was two years ago, and since then the Bulls have gone on to win fourteen consecutive games at Loftus Versfeld and ten on the trot in the Super 14.
The Bulls continued their winning ways against the Highlanders, scoring seven tries and posting another half century of points. But there were again warning signs with a further five tries being conceded by the defending champions.
Coach Frans Ludeke will do well to heed the old adage of “the longer it lasts the sooner it will end.”
Not in any of the Bulls four outings in which they scored 199 points did they play at the top of their ability for even a full half – and it is this lapse of concentration that is largely responsible for their poor defence at times (they have now conceded 15 tries in four matches).
Against a quality side like the Hurricanes, which cannot be said for the willing Highlanders, scoring will be more difficult and defence more important.
The Bulls are now into their fourth consecutive home game before starting the arduous Australasian trek, and Ludeke knows they have defensive problems to work on.
“We take responsibility for it, it is not good enough and we have spoken about it,” he said.
“I am convinced there will be a big improvement this Friday.”
The Hurricanes – last year's semi-finalists – have lost two in two games in South Africa following an unbeaten start to the season, and will be desperate to end their tour of the Republic on a high following big defeats to the Cheetahs and Stormers.
They have not lost any three matches in a row since losing a sequence of four on the trot in mid-2007, but they've hit a brick wall in South Africa and there could be another one on the way in Pretoria this weekend. The Bulls are not the sort of team that will help you play your way out of a slump, either, especially not at altitude.
The Hurricanes have won three of the last four clashes between these sides, including wins in their last two trips to Pretoria in 2006 (26-23) and 2008 (50-22). The Bulls reversed three consecutive losses to the Hurricanes when they won 19-14