Preview: Waratahs v Reds, Blues v Crusaders highlight round three action in Super Rugby
SUPER Rugby heats up with some blockbuster clashes — including Waratahs v Reds — this weekend. Read our R3 preview here!
NEW South Wales Waratahs’ blockbuster clash with Queensland Reds headlines another big weekend of Super Rugby.
Read on for a full preview of all seven matches in round three!
Note: Sharks have the bye.
Blues v Crusaders
Friday, Auckland, 5.35pm AEDT, Fox Sports 2
It may not quite be the glamour fixture it once was but in terms of New Zealand pride Blues-Crusaders matches are always keenly fought. It just so happens that Friday’s match takes on extra significance after both sides struggled to first-up losses last weekend. Neither side wants to fall two games behind in the tight New Zealand conference. The Crusaders make their way to Auckland with the game’s best player, Kieran Read, back at No. 8 while All Blacks fullback Israel Dagg has made way for the injury-prone Colin Slade. Tom Taylor also returns to the starting side giving the Crusaders two goalkicking options, which was easily their biggest problem against the Chiefs last weekend. The Blues, meanwhile, have promoted rookie Simon Hickey to No. 10, meaning Benji Marshall will once again start from the bench. The Blues swept aside the Crusaders in the corresponding fixture last year but with Read back alongside Richie McCaw and two playmaking options in the backs, the visitors look well placed to turn the tables this time around.
TIP: Crusaders — SB
Rebels v Cheetahs
Friday, Melbourne, 7.40pm AEDT, Fox Sports 2
A new era begins in Melbourne on Friday night as the Rebels finally get their season underway. It’s Tony McGahan’s first game as coach, Scott Higginbotham’s first as full-time skipper, former All Black Tamati Ellison’s first for his new club — and Melbourne’s first match since cutting ties with Kurtley Beale and James O’Connor at the end of last season. McGahan’s mantra since taking charge has been about improving the struggling club’s dismal defence, and the Rebels will want to have done just that as they prepare to host a potent Cheetahs attack led by Springboks star Willie le Roux.
Melbourne has played the Bloemfontein outfit three times for three losses, conceding more than 30 points on each occasion. The Rebels have rarely lacked for try-scoring prowess of their own, but come up against a side yet to concede a five-pointer in three games (going back to their quarter-final loss to the Brumbies, whose 15 points came via five penalty goals). Still, it’s a new season and the Rebels, off the back of three encouraging trial wins, will be out to prove — at home — that they’re a new team with a new mindset and can turn that into victories.
TIP: Rebels — DB
Stormers v Hurricanes
Saturday, Cape Town, 4.10am AEDT, Fox Sports 2
It’s too early to call this a crunch game but both sides will be looking for much-improved performances after opening their seasons with disappointing losses in round two. A 34-10 upset to the Lions was hardly how Stormers fans envisaged kicking off 2014 and they will expect a much-improved effort when they open their home account at Newlands. Coach Allister Coetzee has given his charges the chance to “redeem” themselves, with Springbok Jaco Taute’s return at fullback the only change named to the Stormers XV. The Hurricanes were hammered in the press for having a “lemon” scrum in their loss to the Sharks, and coach Mark Hammett has looked to address that problem by promoting prop John Schwalger and lock Mark Reddish for Jeffery Toomaga-Allen and Mark Abbott respectively.
TIP: Stormers — DB
Chiefs v Highlanders
Saturday, Hamilton, 5.35pm AEDT, Fox Sports 2
Last season’s champs against last season’s chumps — it shapes as a foregone conclusion, on paper anyway. But while the Chiefs were as brave as can be in somehow holding out the Crusaders to notch an 18-11 win in Christchurch, the Highlanders put their 2013 season of woe quickly behind them to notch an impressive 29-21 win over the Blues. All Blacks stars Ben Smith and Aaron Smith were in electric form as they raced out to a 24-0 lead by half-time. The Chiefs have the edge in class and recent head-to-head form, winning their past three clashes and five of their past six at home. And while injuries have rocked the Waikato men in recent weeks — All Black lock Brodie Retallick is the latest big name casualty — they get some welcome relief in the return of flanker Tanerau Latimer and halfback Tawera Kerr-Barlow, who are among six changes to the side that downed the Crusaders. The visitors will be missing veteran lock Brad Thorn.
TIP: Chiefs — DB
Waratahs v Reds
Saturday, Sydney, 7.40pm AEDT, Fox Sports 2
Australia’s equivalent of the Blues-Crusaders classic, the Waratahs-Reds showdown pits north against south in an always fiery encounter. But while many of their previous clashes have been dogged by penalties and ill-discipline, both sides have made it clear their intention is to play attacking rugby in 2014 — no matter the opposition. The Reds arrive in Sydney having won the past five interstate encounters, including the last two at ANZ Stadium, and are riding high after last week’s victory over the Brumbies in Canberra. Coach Richard Graham has made just the one injury-forced change at inside centre with Anthony Faingaa replacing Mike Harris. Injury has also forced a change at the Waratahs with veteran Stephen Hoiles replacing skipper Dave Dennis due to a knee complaint while coach Michael Cheika has opted for mongrel over size in swapping Will Skelton for Jacques Potgieter at lock. There’s quality all over the paddock — including last week’s NSW hat-trick hero Israel Folau, and Reds attacking ace Quade Cooper — and should the conditions and referee allow, this annual dogfight could finally deliver a match worthy of its hype.
TIP: Waratahs — SB
Force v Brumbies
Saturday, Perth, 10pm AEDT, Fox Sports 2
The two Australian teams to lose in the opening local derbies, the Force and Brumbies get the chance for redemption at nib Stadium on Saturday night. The Force were far from disgraced in Sydney last weekend despite the final 22-point scoreline, with the Waratahs’ superior backline class seeing them kick away in the final quarter. The biggest positive from their trip east was that all their frontline stars — Kyle Godwin, Nick Cummins and Ben McCalman — had solid games. That’ll need to be the case again this weekend as they welcome a Brumbies outfit stung by a stuttering home defeat to the Reds in round two.
The Brumbies had more than enough ball to win that clash but a lack of patience mixed with some crucial errors saw them fall to a 10-point defeat. Coaching duo Stephen Larkham and Laurie Fisher will have addressed that during the week and with Tevita Kuridrani adding some much-need thrust in the midfield, the Brumbies should offer more of an attacking threat in Perth.
TIP: Brumbies — SB
Bulls v Lions
Sunday, Pretoria, 2.05am AEDT, Fox Sports 2
Can the Lions keep their unlikely unbeaten run alive? Tipped by most to prop up the ladder this season, the Super Rugby newcomers have opened up their campaign with back-to-back upsets over the Cheetahs and Stormers to join Jake White’s Sharks as the only unbeaten South African sides. The Bulls, meanwhile, have barely fired a shot in opening up their South African conference defence with two disappointing defeats. Bulls coach Frans Ludeke has reacted by dumping fly half Jacques-Louis Potgieter for Louis Fouche and giving Springbok veteran Victor Matfield his first start since coming out of retirement. The Lions have the boot of previously unknown fly half Marnitz Boshoff — who leads Super Rugby point-scoring with 50 — to thank for their winning start to the season and, with the Sharks on a bye, if he can fire them to another victory they’ll sit alone atop the Super Rugby ladder after three rounds.
TIP: Bulls