SUPER 15 - WEEK BY WEEK

mr hawaii Wrote:

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> Ou Ryperd Wrote:
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> > They missed Dan Carter. But, good result for SA
> > teams.
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> and Dagg

And as Naas said, bad call from Macaw with the penalty. Should have gone for the line out

I looked at Brums and I think they'll win easily

QF1.) Team 3 vs Team 6
QF2.) Team 4 vs Team 5

The first placed team from the regular season will play the lowest ranked qualifier in week 1 of the play offs.

The second placed team from the regular season plays the team highest ranked qualifier in week 1 of the play offs.

SF1.) Team 1 vs lowest ranked qualifier.
SF2.) Team 2 v highest ranked qualifier.

The final will be made up by the teams who won the semi-finals.

Final Winner SF1 v SF2

Home advantage will be given to the team that finished highest on the overall table in the regular season. Read more about this

Chiefs can add another 8 or 5 points playing Crusaders & Canes @ home Total = 70 or 67

Stormers can add 15 points max against Lions @ home, Cheetahs away, & Rebels @ home = Total 69 or 68 (only 4 against Cheetahs)

Brumbies can add max 13, but both Warathas away & Blues at home could be tight Total = 62 or 56 losing both games by less than 7

The wild card teams;

Reds can add 8 or 5. The game against Highlanders @ home will be tight, but they should pick up 4 points away against the Warathas total = 57 or 54

Crusaders away against the Chiefs at home against the Force. They might just get the 9 points = Total 61

Sharks @ home against the Bulls and Cheetahs. Home advantage 9 points = Total 58

Bulls @ home against Cheetahs, Lions and away against the Sharks losing by less than 7. 11 points = Total 60 points

Chiefs, Stormers, Brumbies.........Crusaders, Bulls, Sharks

Sharks to play Brumbies away & Bulls to play Crusaders away.....EISH

Very hard for the SA teams....Sharks could win, but I cannot see the Bulls beating the Crusaders away. If the Chiefs should beat the Crusaders next week and they finish with 58 (losing with less than 7) they will finish 5th and then will have to come to Loftus which means that if Bulls win, they must travel to play the Chiefs and if the Sharks win away, they will the Stormers at Newlands.

Exciting times and I might have everything wrong above. Waiting to here from the experts

There is no ways that the breezers can win S15. The Lions with all their problems played against 18 guys tonight. Officials were poor. Bekker overrated, Franco proved that tonight. The cup will go to NZ

HIGHLANDERS vs CHIEFS

The Chiefs took another important step towards winning the NZ conference when they outlasted a gritty Highlanders side in Dunedin.

The match was surprisingly a somewhat muted affair despite the high score. But the Chiefs always appeared to hold the extras needed to overcome the home side.

REBELS vs REDS

The Reds placed the heat squarely back on to the Brumbies by recording a five pointer in their Melbourne clash.


CRUSADERS vs HURRICANES

The important lesson which punters need to take from this result is this :

If you have taken the prices on offer about the Crusaders this season then you need to carefully and rationally review your decision making process. This is a classic example of how oddsmakers can lure punters into taking a STUPID price. If you go back over my posts since Super 15 started I have consistently cautioned that the Crusaders have been priced up like a De Kock first timer – way under the odds merited based on FORM but rather on REPUTATION. You cannot argue against or simply sweep under the carpet 5 losses in the league portion of the competition to date.

Now – almost unbelievably – it is conceivable that the Crusaders could actually fail to make the top 6! Yet conversely they could still win the competition.

You might also like to reflect that an earlier punt on the Hurricanes at 50/1 was labelled ‘not an act of madness’. So those amongst you who believe that good sports bets are only ever available at odds on need to go back to the drawing board.

The Crusaders have now ironically put the Chiefs in a quandry : Do they now send a ‘B’ side out to meet the Christchurch side (and keep their cards close to the chest for a possible meeting in the knockout phases) or do they attempt to ram home the advantage ? A Chiefs win against the Crusaders in Hamilton next weekend could well put the latter out of the competition altogether.

Well done to the Hurricanes! They were pulverised in the scrums. They hardly won a lineout in the entire first half. Yet they gutsed out a famous victory.


WESTERN FORCE vs BRUMBIES

The Brumbies started like a house on fire and went into the break 22-0 in front.

In the second half they went to sleep and almost allowed the Western Force back into the match. All they managed was two penalties against two tries and a penalty from the home side; but they still left with the points.


STORMERS vs LIONS

The best thing we can say about the Stormers was that they got the points. As usual they should have / could have got a 5 pointer but no matter – we are used to them squandering that opportunity.

They have been ‘resting’ for three weeks and it showed. Their forwards were miles off the pace and preferred to rely on one-off runners who inevitably got separated from their support players who, in turn, seemed to be battling to keep up almost throughout the whole encounter. That’s when they weren’t being bent in half in the set scrums.

Add to the above a petulant, ill-tempered and unimpressive return from injury by Andries Bekker together with the usual flat footed Stormers backs and it was hardly a game to remember.

The Lions huffed and puffed, attracted plenty of penalties, and inevitably conceded a game that they also could have / should have won.

If I were a contending NZ franchise head coach I would be sleeping soundly tonight with three words on my lips : Bring them on.

If I were a newcomer to Super 15 I would NEVER believe that this side sits second on the log.

So what’s new?

BULLS vs CHEETAHS

The Cheetahs came to Pretoria. They saw. They capitulated.

Forget about the 24 points they scored after half time. All of their frailties and shortcomings were ruthlessly exposed in the first half. Game over.

Thanks Garrick, but what now? I think the big game is between the Crusaders & Chiefs.

I also noticed little change in betting was expecting drift with crusaders and bulls to shorten? Can you please explain how the compo works as we enter the last few weeks and possibilities?

Txs in advance

scotia Wrote:

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> I also noticed little change in betting was
> expecting drift with crusaders and bulls to
> shorten? Can you please explain how the compo
> works as we enter the last few weeks and
> possibilities?
>
> Txs in advance

This is how it plays out ( and please correct me if I get it wrong )

Six teams qualify.

We will number them 1 through to 6.

The playoffs stretch over three weeks.

In Week 1 qualifiers 1 and 2 get a bye. ( This is one of the 'rewards' for finishing 1st or 2nd on the overall table ).

3rd qualifier will be at home to the 6th qualifier
4th qualifier will be at home to the 5th qualifier

In Week 2 qualifiers 1 and 2 enter the fray.

1st qualifier will be at home to the winner of the playoff between 3 and 6
2nd qualifier will be at home to the winner of the playoff between 4 and 5

In Week 3 the two surviving sides will contest the final. Home ground advantage will accrue to the side which finished highest on the overall log.

Thanks Garrick 100 % now cheers!

Garrick I just wanted to check with you ,I was under the impression the first qualifier would play the lowest ranked side that made the semi's so that if it was 3 and 5 the 1st qualifier would play 5 and not 3.

shrek Wrote:

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> Garrick I just wanted to check with you ,I was
> under the impression the first qualifier would
> play the lowest ranked side that made the semi's
> so that if it was 3 and 5 the 1st qualifier would
> play 5 and not 3.


Shrek - I think you are 100% correct. Thanks for correcting this.

Q: How do the finals work?

A: The two National Conference winners with the most log points earn themselves a bye. The third placed National Conference winner hosts the third placed Wild Card entrant, while the first and second placed Wild Card teams meet each other. The winners travel to play the top two teams in the semifinals.