Sportsbet Blog

With the RBS Six Nations beginning last weekend, and the Super 14 kicking off on Friday the rugby season is truly upon us. I thought this week I’d take a quick look at the Super 14 and go through country by country and maybe offer up some insight into how each team is looking for the season ahead.

I’ll start off with the South Africa teams.

Sharks

The Sharks have recently employed the services of league great Andrew Johns as a coaching consultant, and Johns has come away very impressed with the set-up and approach of the Durban based outfit. He is of the opinion that the Sharks can give the tournament a real shake this year, and the bookies would seem to agree installing them as third favourites to lift the trophy at the end of May.

Last year’s success was based around their amazing start to the season with their first loss coming in round 10. Things will be tougher this year with 5 of their first 6 games away from home. If they come through this stretch in the top four look for them to take a home final and anything can happen from there.

Bulls

On paper the Bulls should always win more than half of their games. They have a strong Springbok presence, and should improve on last years embarassing season where they finished tenth and took some extreme punishment in a couple of home games against the Crusaders and the Hurricanes.

Look for Pierre Spies to lead the team this year to much better performances – he is the sort of player who inspires others to raise their own game, and a top four berth is possible if he has a strong season. Habana is a player who will need to lift his form a little to produce the magnificent finishing we all know he is capable of.

Stormers

The Stormers had a good season last year finishing equal fourth place with the Hurricanes and missing out on a finals berth due to an inferior points difference. They will need to lift again this season if they are to emulate their efforts from ’08. Andries Bekker is probably their stand out player and ranks amongst the top open side flankers in world rugby.

Half Ricky Januarie had a great season last year and his performances this year will be a major determinant in how far the Stormers can go. Percy Montgomery is still running around, and his experience at the back will be of great value to the explosive backline the Stormers field.

Bookies have them middle of the pack, and this is probably about right.

Lions & Cheetahs

Fought it out for the wooden spoon last year, and there is really nothing to indicate that this year will be any different. If you know something I (and every other rugby fan) doesn’t know about either of these teams, then by all means take the massive odds on offer e.g Lions $29 to finish in the top 4.

In the next post I’ll take a look at the always strong New Zealand teams, with some of them losing key players that may have an effect on their success this year.

Craig Crooks