SUPER 14 ROUND 5

ADDED THURSDAY 13/03/2008

Bit of a quick look at round 5 in the Super 14,  starting tomorrow (Friday) night in New Zealand.  I think the Chiefs will get that one.

Friday night follows up with the Hurricanes and the Brumbies in Canberra.  The big news out of Canberra is Brisbane State High product,  Matthew To'omua being elevated to the bench of the Brumbies for this game.  He is probably being elevated into the toughest role in rugby,  that number 10 jersey,  if and when he gets on.

I have heard on the vine that he is nervous and excited,  and of course we wish him well,  he is the third of the 2007 Aussie Schools side to debut at this level,  the second at the Brumbies,  plus the mercurial Robbie Horne at the Waratahs.  The Brumbies back row has been terribly efficient,  no doubt the best in the country,  with Hoiles in awesome form,  but even despite that,  I will tip the Hurricanes,  and explosive side that can hurt you from anywhere,  with a backrow of it's own that would possibly be the most physical and intimidatory in the competition,  Collins,  Masoe and So'oialo.

The Blues and the Force kick off Saturday arvo,  and as well as the force have been playing,  I'm going with the Blues in this one,  again two very good backrows going head to head,  but I reckon the rest of the Blues pack is a notch above the Force,  with some better backs in key slots,  namely Rokocoko and Tuitivake (not sure how this bloke has missed higher honours).

The Crusaders should deal with the Cheetahs in a fairly usual ruthless manner in Christchurch,  expect a four try bonus point from Deans' men.

Then the Reds clash with the Bulls.  A few more changes to the Reds,  and to their credit,  with little fanfare,  that's a good thing,  Roe dropped from the captaincy and Croft dropped to the bench.  Not sure how Turinui keeps his spot,  but lo and behold he does,  so we will just have to back Phil Mooney and his coaching staff on that one.  Don't know the guy replacing Croft,  so won't comment on him,  I hear he is big and abrasive.  Papers today hoping he pulls off some big hits,  please people,  they are playing the Bulls,  plenty of older guys that are really dam big and very tough and abrasive themselves,  you think they can't deal with big hits.  They would be one of the more intimidating sides in the competition,  a 20 year old at 110 kilograms is not going to scare them too much.  Not sure that we are going in with a genuine 7,  again don't know this kid and can't spell his name,  but I hope he goes well,  he may be a genuine and large 7.

As much as I want the Reds to win,  I'm going with the Bulls,  I think they will be too big and physical for this Reds side.  Too fast too if they unleash some width.

The Sharks should overpower the Lions somewhere there in Africa too.

We should be starting to see some splitups in the table now,  with those fighting for the bottom and top becoming clearer.

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