Controversey Corner.......Force V Bulls

[Rex Messup]

The Bulls will be hard to beat for the title if they get home semis, and final
The Stormers who recruited well are going great
Forget the rest from RSA

Oz
Dead set nothing
Tahs and Brumbies are pretenders
Reds will fall short but look good

Blues. Will build. A smokey for the title
Crusaders, always in the running
Chiefs have the firepower. Came home with a full sale last year
'canes........delivering so little as usual

I'm backing the Bulls. Watch out for the Blues and the Crusaders though

[jombi]

The reds season will depend on whether or not they can pickup 2 games from the Republic, if they can do that they'll make the semis.

Blues suck, jsut like the last 50 years since King Carlos and Caucau left they don't have a solid backline. Toeava will probably play at tighthead next week.

Canter are underperforming, but they usually do that at the start of the season - so who knows.

Chiefs have the same problem as the blues, but it's in the forwards. Their best (Delany) is on the bench. It's so stupid how the people who say Delany is too small to be a flyhalf are usually the same bemoaning about how O'Connor should be at flyhalf for us, even though he's bloody smaller!!!

'Canes were unlucky (especially against the bulls) and have a good run home now. They usually win the majority of their home games so you could put a few on them atleast making the 4.

As for SA, the stormers will capitulate on the road and we'll all be glad that Grant didn't sign for the force. Bulls will lose every game in NZ.

You heard it here first!

[GIGS20]

The Bulls will be hard to beat for the title if they get home semis, and final
The Stormers who recruited well are going great
Forget the rest from RSA

Bulls, pretty much have it stitched up already, they just need to survive the travel and they'll be OK, Home semis would help them a lot, but I'll wait till after their tour to see whether even that would be a deal breaker.
Stormers.......haven't impressed me as much as they should....maybe they're the South African Brumbies! I don't think they'll make the semis, but they'll be top half.

Oz
Dead set nothing
Tahs and Brumbies are pretenders
Reds will fall short but look good

Agreed with Tahs and Brums, it seems that Aussie superstars are team poison.......as soon as the pressure gets on , both teams crack, that won't be fixed before the finals.
Reds on the other hand are looking good, they seem to have grown the balls that they always lacked and are simply refusing to die....they shouldn't be in the semis, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if they do!

Blues. Will build. A smokey for the title
Crusaders, always in the running
Chiefs have the firepower. Came home with a full sale last year
'canes........delivering so little as usual

Blues are a shambles at the moment, less organised and predictable than the 'Canes, they'll be in the hunt (but only because they always are) and miss out late in the season
Saders have the heritage, but won't repeat the feats of previous years, it seems the longer Blackadder has them, the worse they get.....he probably needs to clean the slate and build his team, rather than managing Robbie Deans'
Chiefs are a worry, traditionally they suck early and build to the end of the season, but this year.........they'll definately be in the mix in the semis
Canes......are the Canes, I've said every year they'll win the ones you expect them to lose and vice versa, still yet to be proven wrong, Blind Freddie is as good a pick as anyone for how they'll do.

I'm backing the Bulls. Watch out for the Blues and the Crusaders though

There's a safe bet Rex!

As for SA, the stormers will capitulate on the road and we'll all be glad that Grant didn't sign for the force.

Is Grant out with a season ending hamstring injury before a ball was kicked?


Looking over that, I think I've tipped about six for the semis, so let's have a closer look and see if I can whittle it down.

Bulls - Almost a certainty
Chiefs - Looking the strongest of the Kiwi teams ATM
Saders, Reds, Stormers are probably the three I'd put next...with the Stormers being the smokey.

I just don't think there's the momentum in any other team yet.

That being said, the Brums and Tahs have enough points that if they ever extract the digit (unlikely) they could easily make it at the expense of the others.

I guess the most accurate call I could make is for the hardest fought fourth place in recent memory!

[jombi]

s Grant out with a season ending hamstring injury before a ball was kicked?

Nah but I just rate Harris over Grant at flyhalf, and with David Hill we're defintely better off.

[beige]

Home semis would help them a lot

Maybe not, considering it'd be played in Soweto!