A weekend that saw the South African teams lose any sort of momentum and advantage they had gained from this years competition. All 5 New Zealand teams now have a chance, and the Reds are the only Aussie team that can’t make it.

It was a perfect opportunity for the Bulls and Sharks to secure home advantage for the semis. Whilst the Bulls will still make it, and possibly have to travel for a semi, the Sharks now will have a big fight just making the semis. Worryingly, they are on a downward slide when they should be starting to peak.
The Bulls return home and have the Loftus factor to lift them, and intimidate their opposition. They have done very well in returning from tours over the last 3 years, and I expect them to remain unbeaten from home on in and win the second title. Joost do it!

Picks 2/7

Blues (26) v Islanders (6)
The Islanders never got on the front foot with either field position or posession and consequently found themselves out of it after 20-30 mins.
Most alarming for me was the reffing. I have noticed in almost all games this year one side (generally a SA team too I might add) usually gets pinged a lot more than the oppostion and without it being warranted. I understand why Cowan got frustrated because Dickinson was not policing the breakdowns equally. The Blues were able to come in from all angles and disrupt any posession the Islanders had. All we want is a fair and even contest. But the Blues did deserve their victory.

Brumbies (32) v Bulls (31)
The Bulls started off badly, and were harshly dealt with when Hoiles scored, as he clearly knocked the ball on. Coming back from a 10-0 deficit, the Bulls started to play well and by 65 mins had all the momentum. Just when it looked like they only had to close the game out, the Brumbies came back. It just shows you must put the opposition away and never relax. The Bulls gave this one away.

A bit of a worry to see Habana run down, but I think he lost momentum waiting to catch the ball, so I don’t think it is the danger sign many are making it out to be.

At least now we can get back to Loftus, grab our Kaptein back, and march towards our title once more!

Horrorcanes (34) v Stompers (11)
Stompers suck. Embarrassing. Isn’t it funny how a team down on luck usually picks up heaps of injuries…
To hear Schalk say after the game they’ve been unlucky, losing 6 games by 7 or less is a joke. Wake up and smell the coffee, you never looked like winning any of them!

One of the easiest 5 points the Horrorcanes ever earnt.

Reds (20) v Lions (31)
A good game of rugby, played with pride, passion and a willingness to entertain from both sides. It was pleasing to see how hard the Lions tried, and how much the vicotry meant to them. Why don’t that put that much effort in every week?? Is it simply because they believed they could actually beat the Rubble Reds?

Worrytahs (14) v Farce (15)
I switched this one off at halftime. I thought Ref James Leckie was extremely biased against the Farce, especially at the breakdowns. And 2 legitimate tries by the Farce were disallowed. In the end justice was served. The Worrytahs look to me as if they’ll now miss out on the semis…good job.

Cheaters (10) v Chiefs (28)
The Cheaters simply believe they can beat SA teams, but not Kiwi teams. No desperation or hunger other than Juan Smith. It’s why they’ll never seriously be contenders for anything other than the bottom of the table. No consistency.

This is a Chiefs team made to look good by the opposition. Deny them the ability to run from broken play. Stick to the basics and they have no answer. Instead the Cheaters played in their own half, and did stupid things like not putting the ball out, trying to run out of their own 22. They just gifted the Chiefs opportunity after opportunity. Well they got the tackling practice they were looking for, and another demoralising loss.

Sharks (10) v Crusaders (13)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               The Sharks are overrated and the wheels have now fallen off and departed. This is a Crusaders team that is a shadow of previous versions. Their backline is poor, yet the Sharks still couldn’t breach their defence.

Steyn is a worldclass chump at flyhalf, and can’t get anything going. Jacobs is the only one who is creating anything. In the forwards no one is giving go forward, the beast tried when he came on. With Deysel back things may change. But having 2 breakaway flanks and a number 8 who doesn’t want to get his hair dirty in the tough stuff will never give quality posession. And if you then simply kick it away aimlessly and don’t know how to catch a ball you have the Sharks game plan.

Here’s another piece of advice…practice your lineouts during the week until you can get it right during a match. It helps…The Sharks will NOT win this years Super 14.