Preview: S14, Round Thirteen, Day One
May 08 2008
At least six teams are chasing the remaining three play-off spots in this penultimate thirteenth round of the Super 14 which is turning out to be the closest ever contested in the tournament's long-serving history.
The Hurricanes kick off this weekend's festivities against the unpredictable Western Force where they will be looking to retain their top four place at Westpac Stadium.
The John Mitchell-coached Force snatched a late one-point win over the Chiefs last weekend to put the Hurricanes on high alert this week.
And then, the defending champion Bulls (who only have two more weekends to hold on to their precious title) face up against the former two-time Super Rugby-winning Brumbies in Pretoria.
The Bulls have picked up some momentum now after good wins over the Highlanders and the Waratahs, and if that translates into bums on seats, then some of the intimidation factor will be back for a Brumbies team that may be a bit flat after losing their interest with their defeat to the Stormers.
But the Brumbies and Western Force, both on 28 points, still have an outside chance of making the semi-finals in the remaining two rounds, but are up against the Blues (31), Sharks (32), Chiefs (33), Stormers (35), Hurricanes (36) and Waratahs (37), who are fighting to either stay in the top four or get there.
Hurricanes v Force
Westpac Stadium, Wellington, 19:35 (08:35 BST, 07:35 GMT)
Who could forget the last time these two sides did battle?
The last encounter was a blockbuster which tore the non-existent roof off of Subiaco Oval. Cameron Shepherd crossed in the dying minutes of the match and converted after the siren to help his team post their first win at home.
This time around, the Hurricanes would be keen to put the Western Force to bed early, knowing full well of the potency of the Force's "never-say-die" attitude.
The Force will come off last week's match on a high. Battling with a large number of injured players, the team worked hard for each other and eventually accounted for the Chiefs with a Matt Giteau penalty after the siren.
The Western Australia side was poised in attack, crossing for three tries and showing a marked improvement from the barren matches against the Reds and Waratahs.
The Hurricanes, on the other hand have lost only three of their eleven matches and are sitting on third on the Super 14 ladder, but will be dangerously close to slipping out of finals contention if their visitors can post a win on Friday.
The Western Force will have their work cut out for them if they are to do so.
Victory over the Force in Wellington on Friday will book the Hurricanes' place in the Super 14 play-offs and see them playing for a lucrative home semi-final in their final round-robin match against the Blues a week later.
The Hurricanes have hit the ground running in the business end of the season, posting some emphatic victories and scoring an average of almost 35 points per game in their last four.
They are third on the table after securing five points against the Lions and the Chiefs' defeat, coupled with the Brumbies' loss to the Stormers in Cape Town and the Waratahs losing to the Bulls in Pretoria, leaves them well placed with two rounds to be played.
If the Western Force's Super 14 rugby season was to be turned into a television drama, this week's episode could be categorised as "The Young and the Restless".
What the Force have got are a team with 10 likely participants missing through injury - forcing coach John Mitchell to select a backline with an average age of 22.
With 17-year-old O'Connor joined by 18-year-old winger Dane Haylett-Petty and 21-year-old centre Josh Tatupu, Drew Mitchell finds himself one of the Force's senior citizens, aged 24.
But despite the injuries they have got, there are guys there with quite a bit of experience, like Matt Giteau and Cameron Shepherd who can lead the new young talent around.
Friday's outing is certainly going to test the Force's versatility, and luckily they have got guys who can play in different positions.
The Force arrive in Wellington still with the chance to achieve their early-season ambitions of reaching the last four.
But as well as the unlikely mathematics, being seven points outside the top four with two games remaining, the probabilities of other results falling their way leave the Force looking to win back pride rather than ladder position.
Super head to head: Drew Mitchell played one of his best games for the club against the Chiefs, was named man of the match and scoring a terrific try despite carrying a hip injury into the fixture. He will be keen to back it up with another solid performance in a relatively inexperienced backline this week. His battle with Hosea Gear along the touchline should be one to look forward to. Mitchell's defence will have to be switched on, or this excitement machine will run rampage on the field and scoreboard.
Prediction: The Hurricanes will know that a loss is non negotiable and a place in the last four can only be met with a victory with a potential home semi only extra motivation to seek out the bonus point. The Force will give their hosts more of a challenge than the Lions did, but will ultimately follow the same road to defeat. The Hurricanes to win by fourteen points.
The teams:
Hurricanes: 15 Cory Jane, 14 Hosea Gear, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Zac Guildford, 10 Willie Ripia, 9 Piri Weepu, 8 Rodney So'oialo, 7 Scott Waldrom, 6 Chris Masoe, 5 Jason Eaton, 4 Jeremy Thrush, 3 Neemia Tialata, 2 Andrew Hore, 1 Tim Fairbrother.
Replacements: 16 Hikawera Elliot, 17 John Schwalger, 18 Craig Clarke, 19 Thomas Waldrom, 20 Alby Mathewson, 21 Jimmy Gopperth, 22 Shannon Paku.
Western Force: 16 Cameron Shepherd, 14 Dane Haylett-Petty, 13 Josh Tatupu, 12 James O'Connor, 11 Drew Mitchell, 10 Matt Giteau, 9 James Stannard, 8 Richard Brown, 7 David Pocock, 6 Matt Hodgson, 5 Nathan Sharpe (c), 4 David Pusey, 3 Troy Takiari, 2 Tai McIsaac, 1 Gareth Hardy
Replacements: 16 Luke Holmes, 17 Kieran Longbottom, 18 Sitaleki Timani, 19 Sam Wykes, 20 Chris O'Young, 21 Scott Daruda, 22 Haig Sare
Referee: Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa)
Touch judges: Marius Jonker (South Africa), Bryce Lawrence (New Zealand)
Television match official: Gareth Williamson (New Zealand)
Assessor: Alan Riley (New Zealand)
Bulls v Brumbies
Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria, 19:10 (18:10 BST, 17:10 GMT)
Victory over the Brumbies on Friday will be a massive step forward for the embattled Bulls when these two teams lock horns in South Africa's capital.
There was plenty of talk of a turnaround after the Bulls thumped the Highlanders at Loftus a fortnight ago, but that match was never going to test them.
The Highlanders are New Zealand's weakest franchise and one of the worst in the tournament. The Bulls, in beating them, achieved nothing other than restoring a measure of self-belief after a nightmare Australasian tour.
They do, however, deserve credit for the clinical manner in which they set about dispatching the Waratahs in torrential rain on Saturday. Tactically they were solid and that separated them from the visitors, who lacked composure at critical times and were often caught somewhere between a ball-in-hand and a territory-based kicking approach.
It wasn't a polished performance from the Bulls by any means. It was never going to be, considering the conditions and that they had a number of new combinations.
But the fact that the Waratahs came into the match on the back of a five-match winning streak indicated that they would take some beating - and in achieving this the Bulls have shown progress.
After that commendable victory the Bulls simply cannot regress with defeat against the Brumbies this weekend.
Momentum must be maintained if they are prove that the win was not a false dawn but rather the beginning of process which will see their form graph rise.
A strong finish will create a sense of optimism for their 2009 campaign as well as boost confidence levels going into the Currie Cup. Crashing at the tail end of the Super 14 will only compound the woes of the team and coaching staff.
The Canberra-based franchise pose similar challenges to the Waratahs - a talented loose trio, a pack who have punched above their weight this season, and a backline who have the potential to wreck havoc when they click.
The Bulls' preparations should therefore not differ much for this clash and one should expect to see them adopt a phase-based approach before attempting to test the Brumbies in the wide channels.
After victory over the Waratahs the Bulls come into the contest as favourites, especially since it appears that the Brumbies chances of cracking the play-offs were dealt a cruel blow with their defeat against the Stormers.
That doesn't mean they will be easy targets, though, and failure by the Bulls to front across the park on Friday will see them punished.
But the Brumbies will need to start a lot better than they did against the Stormers in Cape Town last week. If they give the Bulls a big start as well, they'll pay a hefty price again.
Super head to head: Bulls fly-half Morne Steyn is not the most spectacular player in the competition but saved the day for his team after slotting the winning drop-goal against the Waratahs. He got the better of Kurtley Beale on that occasion and will be hoping to do the same against another Aussie youngster in the form Christian Lealiifano. Filling the boots of Wallaby and Brumby stalwart Stephen Larkham is a daunting prospect, but the rookie Brumbies fly-half has taken it all in his stride in his debut season for the Canberra-based franchise. At only 20-years of age, Lealiifano is one of the youngest players in the Super 14 and faces another big challenge against the defending champions at home in his first trip to Loftus Versfeld.
Prediction: Has anybody got a 50-cent coin? With both sides out of the race for the business end of the tournament (the Brumbies need a miracle to bag a place in the last four) anything could happen. The Brumbies have had more time to acclimatise to South African conditions and if the rain stays away they are a good chance to steal this one. The Brumbies to win by seven points.
The teams:
Bulls: 15 Zane Kirchner 14 Akona Ndungane, 13 JP Nel, 12 Wynand Olivier, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Fourie du Preez (c), 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Wikus van Heerden, 6 Deon Stegmann, 5 Wilhelm Steenkamp, 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Derick Kuün, 1 Gurthro Steenkamp.
Replacements: 16 Bandise Maku, 17 Rayno Gerber, 18 Jaco Engels, 19 Danie Rossouw, 20 Francois Hougaard, 21 Burton Francis, 22 Pedrie Wannenburg.
Brumbies: 15 Mark Gerrard, 14 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 13 Stirling Mortlock, 12 Tyrone Smith, 11 Afusipa Taumoepeau, 10 Christian Lealiifano, 9 Josh Holmes, 8 Stephen Hoiles, 7 George Smith, 6 Mitchell Chapman, 5 Mark Chisholm, 4 Alister Campbell, 3 Guy Shepherdson, 2 John Ulugia, 1 Nic Henderson.
Replacements: 16 Saia Faingaa, 17 Ben Alexander, 18 Peter Kimlin, 19 Adam Wallace-Harrison, 20 Julian Salvi, 21 Patrick Phibbs, 22 Matt Toomua.
Referee: Steve Walsh (New Zealand)
Touch judges: Vinny Munro (New Zealand), Craig Joubert (South Africa)
Television match official: Johann Meuwesen (South Africa)
Assessor: Dennis Immelman (South Africa)
Timekeeper: Gabriel Pappas (South Africa)