Rugby - now the semi semi finals are over, we get the real deal SEMI finals of Super Rugby

Schalk Brits -  are you calling me a hooker? (picture from http://bit.ly/llBcII )



Super Rugby

Saturday , July 2

Reds vs Blues 11:40

Stormers vs Crusaders 16:05

The action kicks off in Brisbane where the Reds, overall competition winners and in my eyes favorites for the title, take on the Blues from Auckland. The Reds beaten the Blues, Stormers and Crusaders this year, so why shouldn’t they be favorites? The Reds have had their fair share of injuries this season but have Digby Ioane and Anthony Faingaa as well as flanker Beau Robinson back for this match. Benson Stanley, the Blues centre, had this to say : "At this point in time a win is bloody valuable and it beats sitting on your butt at home and not doing anything." Good man, Benson, tell it like it is. Their sleeper agent, Daniel Braid, who was sent over to play for the Reds for two years for just this type of eventuality, will have the dope on the Reds. The Blues also welcome back speedster Rene Ranger. But at home, the Reds as the form team of the tournament are going to do the business and get into a home final.

Then it’s the Stormers entertaining the Crusaders in Cape Town. Without a home venue this year, the Crusaders have spent the whole season on the road, and now add in another 11000km trip to the total, dodging ash clouds on the way. The last time the two teams met, the Crusaders won, and that was in Cape Town too. But playing a bruising encounter against the Sharks and then all that travel to face the Stormers is hardly ideal preparation for the Crusaders. The Stormers did well to finish second, but when you look at their losses, the Reds, the Crusaders, and to the Bulls when it really mattered, there’s a suspicion they don’t have the steel to go all the way.

The Crusaders in terms of preparation will see them as having a slightly less competent pack than the Sharks, and a slightly more competent backline. You’d have to say a feature of this year’s Super Rugby has been the number of injuries – the Stormers have problems at fly half, scrum half and in the loose forwards, to the extent that they’ve shipped Schalk Brits over from the Saracens as loose cover, and in fairness although he’s a hooker, he’s played there before. Uncertainty about who your two major play makers are going to be surely hands an advantage to the Crusaders. The ‘Saders have a few injury worries of their own, McCaw may be back for the match, but Kieran Read is a big doubt. But I think home advantage and travel are the biggest factors here, so I’m going with the Stormers