Super Rugby Preview: Friday

Just the two fixtures on the schedule for day one of Round Five although expect action aplenty coming out of Hamilton and Brisbane.

Just the two Super Rugby fixtures on the schedule for day one of Round Five although expect entertainment aplenty in Hamilton and Brisbane.

After a fine 272 minutes, the Sharks finally conceded a five-pointer in the competition, but they still keep their tag as 2011's stingiest team.

This week they are on the road again and have made the journey across the Tasman to Waikato, where they meet a Chiefs outfit that is hurting.

Following that there is a welcome return to the field for the Reds, who will be fully refreshed and ready to put the Rebels through their paces.

A relatively walking-paced opening to the round then with five Saturday showdowns for what could become a seven-point chase for the summit should the Sharks win in Hamilton.

Chiefs vs Sharks

It will be a massive boost for Chiefs fans to see Richard Kahui back on the field and even more mouth-watering is him alongside Tana Umaga.

The 25-year-old outside centre has been sidelined for six months by injury and will be looking for a late surge into Graham Henry's World Cup thinking. Conrad Smith and Robbie Freuan might have something to say about that though.

Elsewhere in the side and Ian Foster has decided it is time for New Zealand hooker Hika Elliot to enjoy his first start of the campaign. His fine form in November really caught the eye as a grand total of zero line-outs went astray. The power of Aled de Malmanche coming off the bench could also play a part in Hamilton.

Their opponents are no mugs though – as the standings suggest – and the home side will no doubt have their work cut out if they are to come away with a victory. However there were times against the Rebels when the South African franchise slipped off tackles, particularly wider out in the field, so expect tries.

Up front is the men from Hamilton's problem area though, and it might continue to be so as it seems they are coming up against a pack in the form of their lives. Bismarck du Plessis, Keegan Daniel and Willem Alberts are carrying well but the battle between Ryan Kankowski and Liam Messam may well decide this fixture.

It's also worth mentioning that when these two play each other, the fans see tries! Only one try is needed to reach the 100 mark while in their fifteen games between to date, they have scored 99 tries between them at an average of 6.6 per match.

Only one head-to-head Super Rugby contest has seen more tries scored, that is when the Crusaders face the Lions. A grand total of 112 five-pointers have been posted in that fixture from their 15 matches at an average of 7.4 tries per game.

However, last year's game, won 19-18 by the Chiefs, saw only one try – by far the lowest ever in matches between these two sides. Hopefully it was just a blip.

Prediction: I fancy the Chiefs by 4!

The teams:

Chiefs: 15 Tim Nanai-Williams, 14 Lelia Masaga, 13 Richard Kahui, 12 Tana Umaga, 11 Sitiveni Sivivatu, 10 Stephen Donald, 9 Brendon Leonard, 8 Liam Messam (capt), 7 Tanerau Latimer, 6 Scott Waldrom, 5 Isaac Ross, 4 Craig Clarke, 3 Nathan White, 2 Hika Elliot, 1 Ben May.
Replacements: 16 Aled de Malmanche, 17 Sona Taumalolo, 18 Romana Graham, 19 Fritz Lee, 20 Taniela Moa, 21 Mike Delany, 22 Dwayne Sweeney.

Sharks: 15 Louis Ludik, 14 Odwa Ndungane, 13 Stefan Terblanche, 12 Meyer Bosman, 11 Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Patrick Lambie, 9. Charl McLeod, 8 Ryan Kankowski, 7 Willem Alberts, 6 Keegan Daniel, 5 Alistair Hargreaves, 4 Steven Sykes, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 John Smit (capt).
Replacements: 16 Craig Burden, 17 Tendai Mtawarira, 18 Anton Bresler, 19 Jacques Botes, 20 Conrad Hoffmann, 21 Jacques-Louis Potgieter, 22 Adrian Jacobs.

Date: Friday, March 18
Kick-off: 19:35 (06:35 GMT)
Venue: Waikato Stadium, Hamilton
Referee: Garratt Williamson (New Zealand)
Assistant referee: Kane McBride (New Zealand), Nick Briant (New Zealand)
Television match official: Shane McDermott (New Zealand)

Reds vs Melbourne Rebels

Injuries have caused a reshuffle in the Melbourne ranks as respective problems with Mark Gerrard and Michael Lipman mean that Julian Huxley shifts to number fifteen while Tom Chamberlain gets a run on the openside flank. However there is a fillip with the news that vice captain and number eight Gareth Delve has been passed fit.

Delve and former Blues flanker Chamberlain will form a loose trio alongisde one of the standout players of last week, Jarrod Saffy. Saffy carried superbly, threw in a huge tackle on Ryan Kankowski and consequently fully deserved his try late in the contest. Scott Higginbotham should have his work cut out on the blindside.

Speaking of the rested Reds and they're also finding themselves having to make a couple of changes, one each in the pack and back-line as Van Humphries fails to recover in time while Will Chambers has been axed from the 22 altogether. Ben Tapuai starts for him while into the second-row comes Adam Wallace-Harrison.

“Ben has been in irresistible form throughout the four QAS Reds 2nd XV games played recently and in our pre-season trials so we believe he has earned an opportunity,” said Reds head coach Ewen McKenzie earlier in the week.

“He has done everything we've asked of him and more and we are confident he can get the job done on Friday.”

As is so often the case with the men from Queenslanders though, a lot will rest on the shoulders of half-backs Will Genia and Quade Cooper, who started to click against the Brumbies. They'll hopefully be trying to bring wings Digby Ioane and Rod Davies into things more and more as we await the speedsters' own top form.

Expect the Reds to lap up their vocal home crowd and I would keep an eye on the battle at number ten between Cooper and an ever-improving Danny Cipriani.

Prediction: Home field advantage will see the Reds win by at least 12!

The teams:

Reds: 15 Ben Lucas, 14 Rod Davies, 13 Ben Tapuai, 12 Anthony Faingaa, 11 Digby Ioane, 10 Quade Cooper, 9 Will Genia (capt), 8 Leroy Houston, 7 Beau Robinson, 6 Scott Higginbotham, 5 Adam Wallace-Harrison, 4 Rob Simmons, 3 James Slipper, 2 Saia Faingaa, 1 Ben Daley.
Replacements: 16 James Hanson, 17 Greg Holmes, 18 Radike Samo, 19 Ed Quirk, 20 Liam Gill, 21 Mike Harris, 22 Luke Morahan.

Melbourne Rebels: 15 Julian Huxley, 14 Afusipa Taumoepeau, 13 Lachlan Mitchell, 12 Stirling Mortlock (capt), 11 Cooper Vuna, 10 Danny Cipriani, 9 Nick Phipps, 8 Gareth Delve, 7 Tom Chamberlain, 6 Jarrod Saffy, 5 Adam Byrnes, 4 Alister Campbell, 3 Greg Somerville, 2 Ged Robinson, 1 Nic Henderson.
Replacements: 16 Heath Tessmann, 17 Laurie Weeks, 18 Hugh Pyle, 19 Tim Davidson, 20 Richard Kingi, 21 Peter Betham, 22 Luke Rooney.

Date: Friday, March 18
Kick-off: 19:40 (09:40 GMT)
Venue: Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane