As most SuperBru* players will testify, it was a weekend few could have predicted. The Super Surprises of the weekend in terms of results were the Chiefs losing at home to the Reds and the Crusaders losing to the Force. In both instances, I needed to check again to make certain I read that right.
The South African conference proved interesting as the Kings, seen as lambs to the slaughter at the start of the competition, keep on surprising. Winning their fixture in Melbourne against the Rebels,proved to be yet another case in point. This side is by no means the embarrassment many predicted they would be. Actually, it’s refreshing and exciting to see a side play for each other like these guys do.
The Sharks will be disappointed with their showing at Newlands. The Stormers delivered a solid performance to quite easily win a fixture we all thought would be much more fiercely contested. The home side showed huge improvement in their first phases and it was noticeable at scrum time how the young Kitshoff and Malherbe won the battle upfront against the springbok pairing of Beast and du Plessis. Whether it was legal in terms of alignment is a moot point for discussion, but, with the experience of the Bok front row, they should have been able to adapt. The large figure of the debutant Michael Rhodes on the flank for the Stormers impressed and this kid will be a contender for many more Man of the Match awards in future!
The Bulls will be relieved to return to winning ways after their poor tour and the Cheetahs are no doubt bitterly disappointed. Seldom have they stood a better chance of beating the Bulls in their own back yard. As mentioned in the preview, their defence and counter attacking was excellent. The Bulls, however, are seething after their poor showing on the road and they were much better in their approach in terms of discipline and clinical finishing when the opportunity presented itself. A really good game, I thought, and a result that was not a foregone conclusion until the very end. The Bulls inside centre, Jan Serfontein, was excellent. His strength on defence and skills on attack keep impressing.
The SA conference is still wide open!
* SuperBru is a free social sports prediction game.
Down Under On Top At Last
– Paul Kruger writes from the UK:
Thanks to the one hour lag, I was able to watch the playoff between Cabrera and Scott until that fabulous final put under tremendous pressure, on a very tricky green. For some unknown reason, I was hoping that Cabrera would win, but the Aussie showed composure and mental strength to break the duck of players from the land down under, in the Masters.
The see-saw final holes, with the lead changing regularly, made this another fabulous Masters , adding to the allure that this prestigious event holds.
