2010 Super14 Round 6 Preview - Part 2

In Part two of our Super14 Round Six preview we have a look at the Sharks in Dunedin, the Western Force at home in Perth and the Stormers in Cape Town.

Highlanders vs Sharks in Dunedin

Overall Dunedin has not been a happy hunting ground for South African sides. It was only two years ago that the Springboks ended their drought at the House of Pain.

However, for the Sharks it is a different story as they have won their last three matches at Dunedin. In 2008 they snuck a 17-19 victory and then in 2006 the score was 26-11 while in 2004 the result was 35-36 to the Sharks.

There is more good news for the currently winless Sharks as they have won the last four matches against the Highlanders and the Highlanders have only just returned from South Africa for this match. Stats have indicated that the first week back from the trip to South Africa is a weak point for teams.

The Sharks have handed a Super14 debut to Patrick Lambie who played at full back for them as Terblanche has been moved to wing after Ndungane was ruled out injured. Oddly the Sharks have also rested regular captain John Smit (on the bench) which is not normally something a team chasing their first win of the season does.

The Highlanders will be boosted by the return of Jimmy Cowan who missed last week's clash with a finger injury. He flew back to NZ early so he should not be feeling the trip back from SA too much.

The Bookies have given the Highlanders a 1.5 point start. This is surely because even though the Highlanders are at home the Sharks are more than overdue for a win. They came close (as we predicted) last week but just fell short. This week we predict the Sharks will win by 7.

Highlanders overall record against the Sharks
Played 12 , Wins 5, Losses 7 , Draws 0

Last five results
02 May 2009 Highlanders v Sharks 15-23 Durban
11 Apr 2008 Highlanders v Sharks 17-19 Dunedin
17 Feb 2007 Highlanders v Sharks 16-23 Durban
18 Mar 2006 Highlanders v Sharks 11-26 Dunedin
19 Mar 2005 Highlanders v Sharks 43-7 Durban

Match Officials
Referee: Jonathon White (New Zealand)
Assistant referees: Garratt Williamson (New Zealand), Kane McBride (New Zealand)
TMO: Glenn Newman (New Zealand)

Teams

Highlanders - 15 Israel Dagg, 14 Ben Smith, 13 Kenny Lynn, 12 Michael Hobbs, 11 James Paterson, 10 Robbie Robinson, 9 Jimmy Cowan, 8 Adam Thomson, 7 Alando Soakai, 6 John Hardie, 5 Hayden Triggs, 4 Josh Bekhuis, 3 Clint Newland, 2 Jason Rutledge, 1 Jamie Mackintosh.

Reserves: 16 Jason Macdonald, 17 Chris King, 18 Joe Tuineau, 19 Tim Boys/Steven Setephano, 20 Sean Romans, 21 Jayden Hayward, 22 Fetu’,u Vainikolo

Sharks - 15. Patrick Lambie , 14. Stefan Terblanche , 13. Adrian Jacobs , 12. Riaan Swanepoel , 11. JP Pietersen , 10. Andy Goode , 9. Ruan Pienaar , 8. Ryan Kankowski , 7. Jean Deysel , 6. Keegan Daniel , 5. Johann Muller ( C ) , 4. Steven Sykes , 3. Jannie du Plessis , 2. Bismarck du Plessis , 1. Tendai Mtawarira

Replacements 16. Craig Burden , 17. John Smit , 18. Alistair Hargreaves , 19. Willem Alberts , 20. Jacques Botes , 21. Rory Kockott , 22. Waylon Murray

Western Force vs Waratahs in Perth

The Waratahs found their attacking groove in a big way last week. In the process of thumping the Lions they broke several records. Drew Mitchell who has arguably been their best player this season scored four tries to join David Smith as the leading try scorer currently.

Mitchell will surely want to continue with his try scoring ways against his old team who have shown confidence in selections by naming the same team as last week even though they were outclassed 50 -10 by the Reds.

Sadly the Force are so far off the mark this year even the Lions are higher on the points table. The Force's defence is off as well as their attack which is evident on the points table which shows a points difference of -92 after four matches. Even if they has Andre Pretorius or Matt Giteau back there is more to the problem this year.

The Waratahs have shown great willingness to throw the ball around twice this season - Bulls and Lions - and it is clearly the way for them to play and they have named an unchanged team to face the Force.

Historically the Force have only beaten the Waratahs once. They got a draw in 2007 but overall the Waratahs have the edge at 2 wins from 4 matches.

The Bookies have given the Force a 10.5 point start. We think the Waratahs will win by more. Waratahs to win by 18.

Force record against the Waratahs
Played 4 , Wins 1 , Losses 2 , Draws 1

Last four results
18 Apr 2009 Force v Waratahs 15-14 Sydney
12 Apr 2008 Force v Waratahs 12-17 Perth
02 Mar 2007 Force v Waratahs 16-16 Sydney
17 Mar 2006 Force v Waratahs 7-32 Perth

Match Officials
Referee: Jaco Peyper (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Stuart Dickinson (Australia), Lourens van der Merwe
TMO: Julian Pritchard (Australia)

Teams

Western Force -1. Nic Henderson , 2. Ryan Tyrrell , 3. Tim Fairbrother , 4. Sam Wykes , 5. Nathan Sharpe (c) , 6. Ben McCalman , 7. Matt Hodgson , 8. Richard Stanford , 9. Brett Sheehan , 10. David Hill , 11. Nick Cummins , 12. James O'Connor , 13. Ryan Cross , 14. Scott Staniforth , 15. Dane Haylett-Petty

Reserves:16. Ben Whittaker , 17. Kieran Longbottom , 18. Tom Hockings , 19. Luke Jones , 20. Chris O'Young , 21. Sam Harris , 22. Mitch Inman

Waratahs - 15 Sosene Anesi, 14 Lachie Turner, 13 Tom Carter, 12 Berrick Barnes, 11 Drew Mitchell, 10 Daniel Halangahu, 9 Luke Burgess, 8 Wycliff Palu, 7 Phil Waugh (c), 6 Dave Dennis, 5 Kane Douglas, 4 Dean Mumm, 3 Al Baxter, 2 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 1 Benn Robinson.

Reserves: 16 Damien Fitzpatrick, 17 Sekope Kepu, 18 Will Caldwell, 19 Ben Mowen, 20 Josh Holmes, 21 Kurtley Beale, 22 Rob Horne.

Stormers vs Cheetahs at Newlands

In stark contrast to the Bulls the Stormers are on top of the log in second place due to their defence. The Bulls have got to the top by scoring points while the Stormers are preventing teams from scoring points.

The Stormers have only conceded 51 points after five matches and they are the only team to have conceded less than 100 points. That means that they have conceded 52 points less than the next best who are the Crusaders on 103.

Points scoring and bonus points seemed to be slipping the Stormers in the early stages but over the last two weekends they have solved that problem too and they have the complete package.

The Cheetahs are enjoying a much improved season having won two and lost two matches. Traditionally they have only lifted their game for their South African or Currie Cup rivals. This is evident in the Stormers record against the Cheetahs which reads two wins two losses.

The Cheetahs won the first two Super 14 matches between the teams but for the last two seasons the Stormers have come away the victors. The Cheetahs have lost Heinrich Brussow for the rest of the season which is a big blow for the visitors.

The Bookies have given the Cheetahs a 10.5 point start. We feel the Stormers are too much of a complete team for the Cheetahs and the Stormers will win by 15.

Stormers overall record against the Cheetahs
Played 4 , Wins 2 , Losses 2, Draws 0

Last four results.
16 May 2009 Stormers v Cheetahs 28-22 Bloemfontein
12 Apr 2008 Stormers v Cheetahs 34-22 Cape Town
03 Feb 2007 Stormers v Cheetahs 9-27 Bloemfontein
18 Mar 2006 Stormers v Cheetahs 25-31 Cape Town

Stormers - 15 Joe Pietersen, 14 Gio Aplon, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 Tim Whitehead, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Peter Grant, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Francois Louw, 6 Schalk Burger (c), 5 Andries Bekker, 4 Anton van Zyl, 3 Brok Harris, 2 Tiaan Liebenberg, 1 Wicus Blaauw.

Reserves: 16 Deon Fourie, 17 JC Kritzinger, 18 De Kock Steenkamp, 19 Pieter Louw, 20 Ricky Januarie, 21 Willem de Waal, 22 Sireli Naqelevuki.

Cheetahs - 15 Hennie Daniller, 14 Lionel Mapoe, 13 Robert Ebersohn, 12 Meyer Bosman, 11 Jongi Nokwe, 10 Naas Olivier, 9 Sarel Pretorius, 8 Frans Viljoen, 7 Juan Smith (c), 6 Hendro Scholtz, 5 Waltie Vermeulen, 4 Nico Breedt, 3 WP Nel, 2 Adriaan Strauss, 1 Wian du Preez.

Reserves: 16 Ryno Barnes, 17 Coenie Oosthuizen, 18 Barend Pieterse, 19 Kabamba Floors, 20 Tewis de Bruyn, 21 Corne Uys, 22 Danwel Demas.