Week 6 was probably as good it could get for the SA teams. The Bulls produced a magnificent display, the Sharks gutsed out a win, the Lions got lucky and then 3 upset results all worked in our favour. Only the Cheaters let SA down, but that ain’t anything new…

Picks 3/6

Horricanes (14) v Bulls (19)
The Bulls remain unbeaten. And what a great effort it was. This was a game marred by the ref. Matt Goddard you are a fish. Bugger off and stop ruining the game. The hybrid ELV’s are not helping, the game is more complex and not producing decent rugby. I have an issue with them devaluing the set pieces and taking away the traditional foundations of the game. At the moment it seems some refs are hell bent on not allowing the ddefending player any rights to the ball, even if they’re on their feet.

Whilst I thought the ref was atrocious both ways, the Bulls wore the brunt of the bad calls. But like a champion team they rose above it. They played for 50 minutes with 14 men, and the tight five as a whole were simply superb. Bakkies Botha was simply a collosus in the tight, leading by example and marshalling the troops to stop wave after wave of Horrorcanes attacks. And Steyn was simply the general of the army who called all the right shots.

The Bulls try in the second half was outstanding. It was the best worked move I have seen all year, and shows how easy it can be when you play with confidence and run straight and hard.
The Bulls now move to Dunedin in a must win game against the Islanders. I fugure we then only need to win 1 more game out of 3 on the road to set ourselves up for a great position when they get back to Pretoria. Go Bulle!

Islanders (32) v Cheaters (8)
The Cheaters were actually ahead at halftime, but finally stuck to their game plan to get the loss. The Islanders were the lucky team this week that were allowed to get back their confidence and run with the ball against a team that tries to bore the opposition to death. This sorry excuse for a Cheaters team now get to return home and lose in front of their home crowd.

Chiefs (63) v Blues (34)
Whilst I expected the Blues to win, I knew that historically the Chiefs often upset them. Once again they showed greater enthusiasm and desire to upset a Blues team that really nneded to win this game. From a SA perspective it was an ideal result. Why can’t the Chiefs play this way each week?
Their defence was great, and so to their ability to run the ball and get over the gain line. This in turn helped their set pieces which improved greatly, and they looked an all round class team. IThankfully it doesn’t usually last long.

Worrytahs (13) v Crusaders (17)
A fairly big upset here, and a loss of the Worrytahs impressive home record. They haven’t played that well this season and now they have some tough games to come. Their lack of depth has been exposed, and the Crusaders showed what desperation and commitment is required week in and week out. They are still hanging in there just.

Farce (10) v Sharks (22)
The Sharks were the hungrier of these 2 teams and although they lacked field position and territory, their hunger in defence allowed them to keep the Farce out, and capitalise on turnovers to score 3 good tries. Frans Styen was still extremely unconvincing at flyhalf, and Kockott showes why i’d never pick hom for the Boks. too many basic errors, and poor decision making. Adi Jacobs still provides most of the spark to create things in the backline, and Daniel, Botes and Smit provide most of the go forward. This is a team that is hanging in there with a lot of luck, without Pienaar and Deysel they’ll need more of it as they must really make the most of their great draw with 6 home games. The Farce once again bombed out at home, although O’Connor looks a good player.

Lions (25) v Brumbies (17)
An important result in the bigger scheme of things, it is so important for the Lions to help out the other SA teams. Again it shows that commitment and a desire to win are so crucial every week. A throughly deserved win.

Week 7 sees must win games for the Bulls and Sharks to consolidate and set themselves up for home semis. Go Bulle Go…