Super Rugby Preview: Saturday

Derbies are the name of the game in Round 5 of Super Rugby with two crunch matches in NZ and a north versus south hit-out in SA.

Derbies are the name of the game in Round 5 of Super Rugby with two crunch matches in New Zealand and a traditional north versus south hit-out in South Africa.

There's a lot of southern hemisphere rugby to keep you glued to the couch this weekend – five games in all – with the Highlanders and Crusaders kicking off proceedings in Dunedin.

The action then moves to the North Island in New Zealand where the Blues will look to make home ground advantage count against the Hurricanes.

Across the Tasman, the Waratahs will be itching for the chance to get their Super Rugby campaign back on track against the lowly Cheetahs.

And in South Africa, the Lions are aiming to make it back-to-back wins in this year's tournament when they host the winless Western Force in Jo'burg before the Bulls host the Stormers in a repeat of last year's final.

Highlanders v Crusaders
The Highlanders will be looking to get back to winning ways this weekend, but face a tough task against the impressive-looking Crusaders in Dunedin.
New Zealand's surprise package of 2011 (um, the Highlanders – not the Crusaders) faltered for the first time last week, losing 18-6 to the Stormers after paying the price for gifting too many penalties away at Newlands.
They will have to tighten their discipline big time against their South Island rivals in Saturday's derby clash.
The Crusaders have been the big movers since returning to the competition after the devastating Christchurch earthquake and they will take over at the top of the New Zealand conference if they win at Carisbrook.
The seven-time Super Rugby champs delivered a fine opening act in Round Four, thanks to their 52-10 drubbing of the bumbling Brumbies in Nelson. Wing Sean Maitland entered the record books, joining a handful of players who have scored four tries in a Super Rugby match as the Crusaders' powerful back-line ran riot.
Despite the Highlanders' defeat in Cape Town, Jamie Joseph's troops maintained their position atop the New Zealand conference ladder with 12 points, putting them fifth overall – just one point and one place ahead of the charging Crusaders.
Both sides have pinpointed winning the breakdown as key to the outcome of the southern derby.

Even without All Blacks captain Richie McCaw, the Crusaders have fielded a potent loose forward combination of All Blacks Kieran Read and George Whitelock, and emerging openside flanker Matt Todd, but they will no doubt have a healthy respect for their Highlanders counterparts. Adam Thomson has been in rampaging form and number eight Nasi Manu and Alando Soakai have been nearly as good.
“The Crusaders, in all the pre-season training when you're running up hills, that's the game you're thinking about,” said Highlanders captain Jamie Mackintosh, who is injured but is bracketed to start off the bench.
The Crusaders have won 12 of 18 matches between the sides, but the Highlanders have won two of the last three including a 26-14 win in Christchurch in 2008 when the Crusaders led the table with the Highlanders near the bottom.

Prediction: It won't be one-way traffic for the Crusaders as in their previous to outings, but a winning result non-the-less. Crusaders by nine!

The teams:
Highlanders:15 Ben Smith, 14 James Paterson, 13 Kendrick Lynn, 12 Shaun Treeby, 11 Siale Piutau, 10 Tony Brown, 9 Jimmy Cowan (c), 8 Nasi Manu, 7 Adam Thomson, 6 Jarrad Hoeata, 5 Tom Donnelly, 4 Josh Bekhuis, 3 David Te Moana, 2 Mahonri Schwalger, 1 Chris King.
Replacements:16 Jason Rutledge, 17 Bronson Murray/Jamie Mackintosh, 18 Nick Crosswell, 19 Alando Soakai, 20 Aaron Smith, 21 Robbie Robinson, 22 Telusa Veainu.
Crusaders: 15 Israel Dagg, 14 Sean Maitland, 13 Robbie Fruean, 12 Sonny Bill Williams, 11 Adam Whitelock, 10 Daniel Carter, 9 Andy Ellis, 8 Kieran Read (c), 7 Matt Todd, 6 George Whitelock, 5 Sam Whitelock, 4 Brad Thorn, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Corey Flynn, 1 Ben Franks.
Replacements: 16 Quentin MacDonald, 17 Wyatt Crockett, 18 Chris Jack, 19 Jonathan Poff, 20 Kahn Fotuali'i, 21 Matt Berquist, 22 Zac Guildford.

Date: Saturday, March 19
Venue: Carisbrook, Dunedin
Kick-off: 17.30 (04.30 GMT)
Referee: Marius Jonker

Blues vs Hurricanes
One New Zealand derby follows another when the Blues host the Hurricanes at Eden Park in Auckland. The clash pits teams placed third (Blues) and fourth ('Canes) in the New Zealand conference, with both on 11 points.
After a 22-day lay-off, the Hurricanes opened their account with a 29-26 win over the struggling Chiefs in Wellington. But the manner in which they achieved the error-ridden win would not have caused much celebration in the change room afterwards.
The Blues though would have been happy and even more relieved to have escaped with a 22-22 draw against the Western Force, thanks to an injury-time Stephen Brett penalty. The Blues failed to get going against the Force and required 10 points in the final four minutes to snatch two points in Perth.
The Blues, however, have done their long-distance travel (losing to the Sharks and picking up a bonus-point win over the Lions) and, apart from a trip to Brisbane, all their remaining matches are in New Zealand.
The last match the Blues played at home was against the Crusaders, where Pat Lam's men opened the 2011 tournament with a well-earned victory and will be hoping to repeat the same feat against their North Island nemises.
It will be a particularly special night for three players, with Blues prop Tony Woodcock set to become just the second player to notch up 100 caps for the Blues after skipper Keven Mealamu, while Andrew Hore and Ma'a Nonu will also play their 100th Super Rugby matches.

Prediction: Hard to call whenever the Blues are playing – home ground advantage at Eden Park didn't help much the last time these two sides met. But we're going for the Blues who seem to ride this tournament like a rollercoaster. Blues by five!

The teams:
Blues: 15 Isaia Toeava, 14 Rene Ranger, 13 Jared Payne, 12 Luke McAlister, 11 Benson Stanley, 10 Stephen Brett, 9 Alby Mathewson, 8 Peter Saili, 7 Luke Braid, 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Kurtis Haiu, 4 Anthony Boric, 3 John Afoa, 2 Keve Mealamu (c), 1 Tony Woodcock.
Replacements:16 Tom McCartney, 17 Tevita Mailau, 18 Filo Paulo , 19 Matt Luamanu, 20 Chris Smylie, 21 Lachie Munro, 22 Sherwin Stowers.
Hurricanes: 15 Cory Jane, 14 Julian Savea, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Andre Taylor, 10 Daniel Kirkpatrick, 9 Chris Eaton, 8 Victor Vito, 7 Jack Lam, 6 Faifili Levave, 5 Jason Eaton, 4 Jeremy Thrush, 3 Neemia Tialata, 2 Andrew Hore (c), 1 John Schwalger.
Replacements: 16 Dane Coles, 17 Anthony Perenise, 18 James Broadhurst, 19 Mark Reddish, 20 Tyson Keats, 21 Aaron Cruden, 22 Jayden Hayward.

Date: Saturday 19 March
Venue: Eden Park
Kick-off: 19.35 (06.35 GMT