My Round 2 picks weren’t quite as good as Round 1 with some unusual results in various Super 14 games. My win percentage still stands at just below 80%, and I’m hoping Round 3 will take me closer to 90%.
The Stormers v Brumbies was the trickiest one to call, and I’m backing the Cape Town side to make it three from three with home advantage being a factor. They finally appear to be living up to their potential.
The Cheetahs are a team that I don’t normally back, but they seem to be much more competitive this year and upset the Sharks in Durban last weekend. Juan Smith is a fine player, and his team are following his lead and I’ve picked them to beat the Highlanders.
Here are all of my predictions for Round 3:
Game 15: Crusaders v Sharks: Crusaders by 17
Game 16: Stormers v Brumbies: Stormers by 3
Game 17: Hurricanes v Lions: Hurricanes by 24
Game 18: Reds v Blues: Reds by 13
Game 19: Force v Chiefs: Chiefs by 7
Game 20: Cheetahs v Highlanders: Cheetahs by 5
Game 21: Bulls v Waratahs: Bulls by 17
I think that the waratahs might just beat the bulls. Good forward pack and I think that the tahs backline is a lot more more dangerous out wide. I am sure Barnes’s deft touches at altitude may just give them a bit of an edge.
Giteau looked a bit chunky last week and never really got the team going forward with good territorial kicking.
I think this is going to be the upset of thwe weekend.
I think Giteau will be infinitely better with a game under his belt, but I can’t see them winning in South Africa. The Tahs have got some good backs, but they haven’t really used them yet, and they’ve looked fairly average so far.
Games 16 and 20 will be hard contested ones and although I would tend to predict different winners in each game, it could perfectly be that way.
I quite agree with the rest of the predictions, but for two of them:
I don’t think the game in Christchurch will be so one-sided and I think the Sharks will put the Crusaders into a lot of trouble.
I don’t think the Reds are reliable, just yet.
Even more one-sided than we thought! Crusaders 35 Sharks 6