Wow — what a round of Super Rugby with four massive upsets. I’m certainly no expert, predicting four straight misses, what a joke.
To be fair, most of our tipsters around the country struggled to cover themselves in glory.
Moana Pasifika hardly fired a shot against a clinical Force outfit that made them look ordinary. On that performance it could be a long season for the Pasifika lads.
The Landers weren’t helped by some officiating but their handling errors kept mounting in the heat of Brisbane and that alone killed their game. They’ve got a lot of work to do before taking on the Force this week.
If the heat in Lautoka doesn’t get you, drowning in the Lake of Churchill will. The ground conditions were a disgrace, but the Canes were worse and the Drua took their chances and deserved their win.
In the game of the round, Crusaders overcame a big early deficit and put 40 points on the Chiefs in Hamilton and are well and truly back in the race. The Blues led the Brumbies with seconds counting down, but the Canberra outfit scored on the bell to steal it.
In Wānaka, the low scoring continues with Sandy from Structure for Men and Mitch from Century 21 top scoring with five points. Sandy storms to second alone and Mitch grabs third spot.
Stu from Selectrix garnered the lowest score with two and tumbled from second to fourth. Kris from Aitken Joinery still leads but the margin to second has been slashed to a solitary point. Only two points separate the bottom four but Blue from Jennian can’t shake the “tail end charlie” moniker at this stage but there is plenty of time.
THIS WEEK
So what happens this week? The Chiefs should bounce back at home against Moana Pasifika. The Chiefs (13+) will be too big, too strong.
The Waratahs (12-) are at home to the Hurricanes and I get the feeling the Sydney-siders may get it done but the Canes will get close.
The Landers are back at the Greenhouse against the Force.
Normally, you would say the Highlanders (12-) win easily but the Western Australians will give us a run for our money.
The Blues host the Crusaders (12-) and with their win over the Chiefs, the Crusaders go in as warm favourites. But the Blues played with real spirit in Canberra so will make the Crusaders earn every point.
In the last game of the weekend the Brumbies (12-) host the Reds and they should get it done at home in Canberra. But I’ve been wrong before.
