Preview: S15 Round 13, Part Two
It is not often that teams will rest players when they face the Sharks, but the Hurricanes certainly feel they can do without key backs Julian Savea and TJ Perenara.
The Sharks may well use the 'gesture' as motivation when the two sides meet in the Cake Tin in the first of Saturday's matches.
The Hurricanes, who lead the Chiefs by five points in the New Zealand conference and are nine points ahead of South Africa's Bulls in the overall standings, will also be without record points scorer and flyhalf Beauden Barrett - who is sidelined for a month with a knee injury.
Coach Chris Boyd said he has elected to hand wing Savea and scrumhalf Perenara a break under the rest requirement for All Blacks players in this World Cup season.
In Saturday's only derby the lowly Western Force host the defending champion Waratahs in Perth.
The Waratahs are just one point behind the Brumbies in the Australian conference and poised to jump into the top three if they beat the Force and the Canberra side slip up against the Stormers in Cape Town.
The Force are on the bottom of the standings following a 10-match losing run, but they have won their past two games against the Waratahs.
The Highlanders, who put 48 points and seven tries past the Sharks last week, are fifth on the global standings and third in the New Zealand conference. They are six points clear of the eighth-placed Lions.
The Bulls have the weekend off, leaving the door open for the Stormers to leapfrog them back to the top of the South African conference if the Cape Town-based franchise can get a bonus-point win over Australia's Brumbies in Cape Town on Saturday - in the last of the weekend's matches.
The Brumbies, who lost to the Waratahs at home last weekend, have a good record at Newlands with four wins and a draw in their last seven visits.
We look at Saturday's games!
Saturday, May 9
Hurricanes v Sharks
(Westpac Stadium, Wellington - Kick-off: 19.35; 09.35 SAST, 07.35 GMT)
It is a fact that trouble Sharks simply can't escape: Two coaches they kicked out two years ago are coming back to haunt them.
The Durban-based franchise already face an enormous task when they take on the table-topping Hurricanes in Wellington on Saturday.
Sharks Director of Rugby Gary Gold acknowledged the influence the duo will have in the Hurricanes camp.
"We understand what this weekend is going to bring," Gold said, adding: "There's a big personal element involved.
"I'm a good friend of Plum [Plumtree], but it doesn't help that he knows the intricacies of nearly all of our players."
As Gold admitted, they are up against a Hurricanes team on an absolute high.
"This is probably going to be a big challenge for many of our players at this moment in time, with our backs against the wall."
The positives for the Sharks are the return of some seasoned Springboks - Frans Steyn and Jannie du Plessis.
"It's wonderful to have a guy like Frans back," Gold said.
"Jannie will also make a difference for us.
"It's cruel how sport is -when things are bad they're particularly bad. We've had an injury crisis, but it is an opportunity for young guys to step up to the plate.
"We have some big challenges ahead, but other teams have also been in this position before and came out stronger.
"So it's exciting to have guys like Frans, Jannie and Renaldo [Bothma] back and it's important that we focus on the positives."
Recent results:
2014: Sharks won 27-9, Durban
2012: Hurricanes won 42-18, Wellington
2011: Sharks won 40-24, Durban
2010: Sharks won 29-26, Wellington
2009: Sharks won 33-17, Durban
2008: Hurricanes and Sharks drew 13-all, Wellington]
Prediction: The Hurricanes are aiming to become the first side to notch 10 wins this year. They last won 10 in a campaign in 2012, but did not claim that 10th victory until the final game of the regular season. The home side has won just one of their last seven against the Sharks. The tourists have lost four in a row, their worst run of form since May 2013 (when they lost five). Julian Savea (17; second) and Cobus Reinach (15; fifth) are amongst the top players for clean breaks this season, however the latter returned to South Africa early this week with a fractured hand. The Hurricanes have forced the most missed tackles from their opponents this season, an average of 22.7. The Sharks have averaged the most missed tackles (22.5). The Hurricanes may have lost some of their attacking sting - with Julian Savea, TJ Perenara (rested) and Beauden Barrett (knee injury) missing. However, they still look a classy outfit and while the Sharks are likely to be more competitive than last week, the home should win by seven points or more.
Teams:
Hurricanes: 15 Nehe Milner-Skudder, 14 Cory Jane, 13 Conrad Smith (captain), 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Matt Proctor, 10 James Marshall, 9 Chris Smylie, 8 Victor Vito, 7 Ardie Savea, 6 Blade Thomson, 5 James Broadhurst, 4 Jeremy Thrush, 3 Ben Franks, 2 Motu Matu'u, 1 Chris Eves.
Replacements: 16 Brayden Mitchell, 17 Jeffery Toomaga-Allen, 18 Reggie Goodes, 19 Callum Gibbins, 20 Brad Shields, 21 Frae Wilson, 22 Otere Black, 23 Rey Lee-Lo.
Sharks: 15 Lwazi Mvovo, 14 Odwa Ndungane, 13 JP Pietersen, 12 Francois Steyn, 11 Sibusiso Sithole, 10 Lionel Cronje, 9 Stefan Ungerer, 8 Renaldo Bothma, 7 Etienne Oosthuizen, 6 Marcell Coetzee, 5 Marco Wentzel (Captain), 4 Stephan Lewies, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements: 16 Franco Marais, 17 Dale Chadwick, 18 Lourens Adriaanse, 19 Mouritz Botha, 20 Kyle Cooper, 21 Conrad Hoffmann, 22 Andre Esterhuizen, 23 Waylon Murray.
Referee: Chris Pollock
Assistant referees: Ben O'Keeffe, Michael Lash
TMO: Aaron Paterson
Western Force v Waratahs
(nib Stadium, Perth - Kick-off: 17.40; 19.40 AEST; 09.40 GMT)
Like true champions the Waratahs are beginning to find form at a crucial stage in the season.
After losing two of their first four matches, including the opening round against this week's opposition, the defending champions have won five of their last six outings and are on a three-match winning streak.
The Waratahs are in the top six on the standings for the first time in 2015 and are just a solitary point behind Australian conference leaders, the Brumbies.
After last week's determined and physical performance against the Brumbies, Skelton said the side enjoyed closing out last week's gutsy win even if it wasn't a complete performance.
"A win's a win," Skelton said in an interview on the Waratahs website. "There are always things that we can improve on."
"I guess that's the satisfying thing, we'll look back from after a game and review it and say we've got a lot of things that we need to work on, but to still get the win is pleasing."
Horne echoed his forward teammate's comments by saying that confidence was building throughout the side.
"I think we're starting to put it together now," Horne said. "We're earning some good tough wins and that self-belief is certainly starting to come back over the group."
This week sees the Waratahs travel across Australia determined to get revenge on a Force side that has managed to squeeze and frustrate the Waratahs in their last two encounters.
And while the Force have yet to post a second victory in 2015 since getting the jump on the Waratahs in this year's opening fixture, Horne believes that their opponents will be itching to inflict more pain on his side.
"How the Force play their game plan has I guess had the edge on us the last few times we've met," Horne said.
"It's up to us to go out and execute as well as we can because if we don't we know that they'll capitalise on our mistakes.
"They brought a lot of intensity in that [round one] game and we weren't up for it and it's as simple as that.
"It's always tough going over there. They've got a great home crowd that gets behind them when they get their tails up so I'm really looking forward to getting over there."
Recent results:
2015: Force won 25-13, Sydney
2014: Force won 28-16, Perth
2014: Waratahs won 43-21, Sydney
2013: Waratahs won 28-13, Perth
2013: Waratahs won 23-19, Sydney
2012: Waratahs won 23-18, Perth
2012: Force won 21-20, Sydney
Prediction: The Force has lost 10 in a row since beating the Waratahs on the opening weekend of the season; their worst ever run of form. The Western Australian side has been limited to single figures in the first half of 10 of their 11 games this year. The Force has won its last two against the 2014 champions; each by 12-point margins. The Tahs have pieced together three wins in a row for the first time this season; but they have come at a combined margin of just 10 points. Their first four victories this year each came by 10 or more points. Kurtley Beale (145), Israel Folau (140), Ben McCalman (135) and Bernard Foley (116) make up the top four for carries this season. Dane Haylett-Petty (108) and Kyle Godwin (107) are sixth and seventh on this list respectively. The Force rank first in average time in possession (17 minutes and 49 seconds), but second-last in points per game (16.5) - with only the Reds averaging fewer (13). Maybe it won't be as convincing as most pundits suggest, but the Waratahs have good form and too much class. They should win by more than 10 points.
Teams:
Western Force: 15 Dane Haylett-Petty, 14 Luke Morahan, 13 Kyle Godwin, 12 Solomoni Rasolea, 11 Nick Cummins, 10 Sias Ebersohn, 9 Ryan Louwrens, 8 Ben McCalman, 7 Matt Hodgson (captain), 6 Angus Cottrell, 5 Adam Coleman, 4 Steve Mafi, 3 Tetera Faulkner, 2 Nathan Charles, 1 Pekahou Cowan
Replacements: 16 Heath Tessmann, 17 Chris Heiberg, 18 Guy Millar, 19 Wilhelm Steenkamp, 20 Kane Koteka, 21 Alby Mathewson, 22 Luke Burton, 23 Marcel Brache
Waratahs: 15 Israel Folau, 14 Taqele Naiyaravoro, 13 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 12 Kurtley Beale, 11 Rob Horne, 10 Bernard Foley, 9 Nick Phipps, 8 Wycliff Palu, 7 Michael Hooper, 6 Jacques Potgieter, 5 Dave Dennis (captain), 4 Will Skelton, 3 Sekope Kepu, 2 Tolu Latu, 1 Benn Robinson.
Replacements - from: Hugh Roach, Jeremy Tilse, Paddy Ryan, Mitch Chapman, Tala Gray, Pat McCutcheon, Brendan McKibbin, Matt Carraro, Peter Betham.
Referee: Rohan Hoffmann (Australia)
Assistant referees: Andrew Lees (Australia), Matt O'Brien (Australia)
TMO: Peter Marshall (Australia)
Lions v Highlanders
(Ellis Park, Johannesburg - Kick-off: 15.00; 01.00 NZ time, Sunday, May 10; 13.00 GMT)
The Lions may have been 'slow out the blocks' in a number of games this season, but they have shown an amazing ability to fight back and stay in the game.
In fact there has been just one blow-out all season, the 6-34 loss to the Crusaders in Christchurch in Week Five.
The Highlanders, as they showed in putting 48 points and seven tries past the Sharks last week, are capable of running away with any opposition.
However, the Lions have a few things going their way.
The Highlanders had to travel across the Indian Ocean this week, they will play at altitude and the game will get underway at 15.00 with the temperatures in the mid-20s (°C).
Lions coach Johan Ackermann, who is looking for his bench to make a huge impact in the final quarter, welcomed the earlier kick-off.
"The Highlanders will be a nice challenge, but it is great to be at home with a 3-o'clock [15.00] kick-off," Ackermann told a media briefing in Johannesburg.
Highlanders coach Jamie Joseph said the Lions have been a vastly improved side this year and will be formidable challenge at Ellis Park.
"They are one of the form South African teams," Joseph told the Otago Daily Times.
"They are a really sticky team to play, so we will have to work hard to acclimatise," Joseph said.
Despite their impressive form of the past six rounds, Lions captain Warren Whiteley said they are determined to avoid back-to-back defeats - following last week's loss to the Bulls.
"We still want to improve in a lot of areas, such as the scrums and line-outs, where we're not consistent enough," Whiteley told a media briefing.
"The way in which we start this weekend against the Highlanders will also be very important, because we didn't get a good start last weekend against the Bulls."
Ackermann made no secret of the fact that the final quarter is where he expects the game to be won or lost.
With Marnitz Boshoff starting at flyhalf and Ross Cronje at scrumhalf, Ackermann is looking for his form halfbacks - Springbok flyhalf Elton Jantjies and scrumhalf Francois de Klerk to make a huge impact off the replacement bench.
"Hopefully we can get that impact we selected them for," Ackermann said, adding: "Our first XV must start well so that those guys can play with freedom when they come on."
Recent results:
2014: Highlanders won 23-22, Dunedin
2011: Lions won 26-22, Dunedin
2010: Highlanders won 39-29, Dunedin
2009: Lions won 27-22, Johannesburg
2008: Highlanders won 29-20, Dunedin
2007: Lions won 11-6, Johannesburg
Prediction: The Lions have trailed at half-time in seven of their last eight outings but went on to win six of these games. The Highlanders have never beaten the Lions twice in a row, but did win the last encounter between these sides by a single point in a match that was 364 days prior to this one. The Highlanders' 48-15 defeat of the Sharks marked their largest Super Rugby victory in over 10 years and their seventh largest overall. The Landers have lost five of their last six in South Africa. Opponents of the Lions have spent the least time in possession per game this season (14 minutes and 19 seconds). Only the Cheetahs (13 minutes and 19 seconds) have spent less time in possession than the Highlanders (13 minutes and 41 seconds). The Lions have scored the fewest number of tries when starting out with the ball inside the opposition 22 (four), 10 fewer than the Highlanders (14). It is going to be a cracker between two very exciting teams. The Lions have a good chance of victory, in fact they may even start as slight favourites. However, we feel the Highlanders will sneak a win, by five points or less.
Teams:
Lions: 15 Andries Coetzee, 14 Ruan Combrinck, 13 Harold Vorster, 12 Alwyn Hollenbach, 11 Courtnall Skosan, 10 Marnitz Boshoff, 9 Ross Cronje, 8 Warren Whiteley (captain), 7 Warwick Tecklenburg, 6 Jaco Kriel, 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Andries Ferreira, 3 Julian Redelinghuys, 2 Robbie Coetzee, 1 Schalk van der Merwe.
Replacements: 16 Armand van der Merwe, 17 Jacques van Rooyen, 18 Ruan Dreyer, 19 Robert Kruger, 20 Ruaan Lerm, 21 Francois de Klerk, 22 Elton Jantjies, 23 Howard Mnisi.
Highlanders: 15 Ben Smith (captain) 14 Waisake Naholo, 13 Malakai Fekitoa, 12 Richard Buckman, 11 Patrick Osborne, 10 Lima Sopoaga, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Nasi Manu, 7 Dan Pryor, 6 Gareth Evans, 5 Mark Reddish, 4 Tom Franklin, 3 Josh Hohneck, 2 Liam Coltman, 1 Kane Hames.
Replacements: 16 Ash Dixon, 17 Brendon Edmonds, 18 Ross Geldenhuys, 19 Elliott Dixon, 20 John Hardie, 21 Fumiaki Tanaka, 22 Marty Banks, 23 Jason Emery
Referee: Craig Joubert
Assistant referees: Marius van der Westhuizen, Rodney Bonaparte
TMO: Johan Greeff
Stormers v Brumbies
(Newlands, Cape Town - Kick-off: 17.05; 01.05, Sunday, May 9 AEST, 15.05 GMT)
The Stormers will be looking to reclaim first place in the South African conference, while the Brumbies are desperate to hold onto the No.1 position in the Australian conference.
Trailing the Bulls by four points in the SA conference, the Stormers require a four-try bonus point and victory to reclaim a spot they occupied just a week ago.
However, victory is non-negotiable for both teams.
Brumbies scrumhalf Nic White, who has been out for the past month with an ankle sprain, said it is a "crucial week" for both teams.
"The winners give themselves a chance at the play-offs, while the losers will have a hard time from here on in," White said in an interview on the Brumbies' website.
"They [the Stormers] are playing at home and their playing with a lot of confidence. Any time you get a big game at home it helps you lift and I'm guessing they'll use that extra boost on Saturday.
"They've always been very strong at the set-pieces, their scrum and their line-out have always been at the top of the competition.
"But this year I think they've added an attacking flair which we haven't seen a lot of and that's going to be something we need to contain."
Stormers coach Allister Coetzee said his team is determined to set the record straight, after last week's disappointing loss to the Cheetahs.
However, they are up against a "very good" Brumbies side.
"They're very structured and don't gift you any free possession," the Stormers coach said.
"They're well coached and well organised in all aspects of their game.
"They've got a great maul and line-out [attacking-wise and defensively] and we really have to be up for this one.
"We're bracing ourselves for one helluva clash. We have a good record at Newlands and we want to make things right - straightaway!
"We're obviously aware that we weren't good enough last week and although we've had a disrupted week of training, with a lot of our players having been with the Springboks [until Thursday], we're looking forward to being back at home in front of our supporters."
Recent results:
2014: Brumbies won 25-15, Canberra
2013: Stormers won 35-22, Cape Town
2011: Stormers won 16-3, Canberra
2010: Brumbies won 19-17, Cape Town
2009: Brumbies won 17-10, Canberra
2008: Stormers won 20-10, Cape Town
Prediction: The last three matches between these sides have all been won by 10+ points, with the Stormers picking up two 13-point victories, but losing the most recent meeting. The Stormers have won three of their last four games, while the Brumbies have lost three of their last four. Damien de Allende is set to become the first player to reach 50 for defenders beaten this season. He has beaten at least 12 more (49) than anybody else so far. Sam Carter has won at least eight more line-outs (46) than any other player this season. The Brumbies boast the best line-out success rate this season (91 percent), while the Stormers' is the second worst (78 percent). The Brumbies have scored 22 tries from possessions that started with a line-out, a competition high. The Stormers have scored five when starting with a line-out, a competition low. These are two of four sides to average fewer than 10 penalties conceded this season. The Brumbies have averaged the most penalties won this season (11.8). It is going to be a cracker, likely to be a real arm-wrestle, which the Stormers should win - although the margin will be in single digits.
Teams:
Stormers: 15 Cheslin Kolbe, 14 Johnny Kotze, 13 Juan de Jongh/Huw Jones, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Dillyn Leyds, 10 Demetri Catrakilis, 9 Nic Groom, 8 Duane Vermeulen (captain), 7 Siya Kolisi, 6 Schalk Burger, 5 Manuel Carizza, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Steven Kitshoff.
Replacements: 16 Siyabonga Ntubeni, 17 Ali Vermaak, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Jean Kleyn, 20 Nizaam Carr, 21 Louis Schreuder, 22 Kurt Coleman, 23 Huw Jones/Pat Howard.
Brumbies: 15 Jesse Mogg, 14 Henry Speight, 13 Tevita Kuridrani, 12 Robbie Coleman, 11 Joe Tomane, 10 Christian Lealiifano, 9 Nic White, 8 Ita Vaea, 7 David Pocock, 6 Scott Fardy, 5 Sam Carter, 4 Rory Arnold, 3 Ben Alexander, 2 Stephen Moore (captain), 1 JP Smith.
Replacements: 16 Josh Mann-Rea, 17 Allan Alaalatoa, 18 Ruan Smith, 19 Jordan Smiler, 20 Jarrad Butler, 21 Michael Dowsett, 22 James Dargaville, 23 Nigel Ah Wong.
Referee: Stuart Berry
Assistant referees: Jason Jaftha, Quinton Immelman
TMO: Shaun Veldsman
Compiled by Jan de Koning
@King365ed
@rugby365com
Statistical information provided by Opta Sports
Some great interviews done this past week!