We now know who will make up the top six, but one question still remains; Which order will they finish in?
The Highlanders and Crusaders will be battling over the top of the New Zealand conference and the Sharks hoping to jag second place, there’s still plenty to play for.
Crusaders Vs. Highlanders
Depending on results between the Stormers v Sharks, a win should be enough to secure second place and a home semi-final for the Crusaders. The Highlanders need a bonus point win to have any hope at all of taking second overall and top place in the Kiwi conference.
The winner of this game should have next week off before hosting a sudden death play-off at home. Both teams are without key players, with All Blacks fullback Ben Smith still laid low by an infected leg which had him on a drip in a Sydney hospital for three days after Sunday’s loss to the Waratahs. The Crusaders will also be without their skipper, with Richie McCaw given another week to recover from a rib injury suffered in last month’s Test series against England.
The Crusaders are one of the form teams at the moment and will be difficult to beat at home, where as the Highlander’s away form has been poor, recent heavy defeats at the hands of the Reds in Brisbane and the Tahs in Sydney does not fill us with confidence when it comes to picking a winner in today’s match.
Because of this we’re tipping the Crusaders to win by 14.
Reds Vs. Waratahs
The Tahs have already locked up the minor premiership, and the Reds have no hope of making the finals. Either way, no team is taking is as a dead rubber. As much as the Brumbies fans try to argue it, this is still the biggest rivalry in Australian rugby with 131 years of history behind the fixture.
As a sign of how seriously both sides take this match, even with top place on the table sewn up, the Waratahs said they will not rest any players for the clash. However, injury got in the way of those plans with Israel Folau out with a corked thigh.
The Reds will be keen to keep their record against the Tahs (one loss in the last four years) where as the Sydney siders will want to keep their momentum up leading into their home semi in a fortnight with their seventh straight win.
The Tahs will be keen to dispel the tag that they’re nothing more than Israel Folau with 14 others on the field, having only won, one of three games without him this year and lost just two out of 11 with him.
Despite a loss last week to the Force, the Reds have still found a rare patch of form for themselves at the back end of this season, and playing at home in their last match of the season will no doubt give them a boost. However, even without Folau, the Tahs still have an extremely strong backline, because of this we’re tipping the Tahs by 8.
Lions Vs. Cheetahs
One for only the die hard rugby fans. Second last plays third last, however the pressure of avoiding the wooden spoon is off with Rebels getting thrashed by the Bulls yesterday.
However, motivation won’t be in short supply, the new Super Rugby format with 18 teams doesn’t come into effect until 2016, so the team with the conference wooden-spoon in their pot will end up in a promotion/relegation match against the Kings later this year.
The Lions surged late to down the lowly Rebels last week, while the Cheetahs lifted after the return of their Springboks to stun the conference-topping Sharks. The Lions have won five of their seven home games this year – only losing to the conference-leading Crusaders and Sharks – and that fact alone should help them scramble over the line.
Because of this, we’re tipping the Lions to get there on the boot of Jantjies and Boshoff, Lions by 6.
Stormers Vs. Sharks
After a blazing start to the season, the Sharks have gone of the boil losing their last two games to surrender the competition lead.
The Jake White coached team is guaranteed play-off action and can still re-take second place, but need to realistically win with a bonus point, while hoping the Crusaders fall short of the same feat at home to the Highlanders to nab a home semi-final and next week off.
They shouldn’t expect any South African favours, with the Stormers finding a purple patch of form at the back end of the season, running high on a four match winning streak, which includes beating the Sharks in Durban just before the June international break.
With the Sharks coming off the boil, and the Stormers in red hot form, we think this game will be extremely close. I’m tipping the Stormers at home by 3.
What’s your predictions?
