Super 12 Round Two Picks!!!

[crookycymru]

THE CHIEFS vs THE CRUSADERS

I have been looking at this one for the past hour now! The Chiefs will be opening their brand new Waikato stadium, and it will be an occasion to savour for them with All Black greats Colin Meads, and Don Clarke opening their new base. They have been dealt a huge blow with the loss of their skipper Deon Muir, and they will need to spread the ball more to their lightning wingers if they are to trouble the Crusaders here.
The Crusaders on the other hand possess one of the most talented teams in Super 12 with no less than eight All Blacks lining up in their pack. Look out for the young 20 year old lock Bradley Mika, who is tipped for a big future. However they struggled to overcome the Highlanders last week, winning only thanks to a Mehrtens penalty in the dying moments.



The handicap depends on where you go, but you are looking at a 10-12 point start for the Chiefs. I expect the Crusaders to win here. But with the stadium opening occasion, and Chiefs excellent home form last season, a play on them does not inspire enough confidence. I am going to play safe .

NO PLAY :nono:

 

[crookycymru]

OTAGO HIGHLANDERS vs NATAL SHARKS

Vital for the Highlanders that fly-half Tony Brown is back. They may well have defeated the Crusaders last week had he still been on the field, only for his replacement to miss some vital kicks. Natal were disappointing in losing at home last week, and face a stiff task here. They will need their fly-half, Du Toit to find his kicking boots after they deserted him last week.

The handicap varies again depending on where you shop. The Sharks recieve as high as a twelve point start with some firms. However, other firms offer them just a nine point start and this is enough to tempt me to take the Highlanders here!

1 POINT WIN- HIGHLANDERS (-9) with SportingOdds

 

[crookycymru]

ACT BRUMBIES vs THE CATS

Both teams at full strength with no injury concerns. Brumbies opened up with an expected victory last week, and the scores suggest the game was a lot closer than it really was. Stephen Larkham played like a man on a mission, and has just signed a new contact with the ARU.
The Cats suprised many with an away victory at the Bulls, even if the score slightly flattered them. Look out for superb centre Gcobani Bobo who exploded into Super 12 with a hat trick last week.

The Brumbies field a truly impressive line up packed with World Cup winning Wallabies. They wasted a lot of possession last week, but with a game under the belt, expect more fluency this time. I cant see the Cats putting up too much resistance, although expect them to play with a lot of pride and passion.

2 POINTS WIN-ACT BRUMBIES (-18) with BlueSq at 5/6

 

[crookycymru]

QUEENSLAND REDS vs AUCKLAND BLUES

The Reds give a late fitness test to prop Glenn Panaho, but are otherwise at full strength. Big loss for the Blues with Fijian winger Caucaunibuca sustaining a leg injury that is expected to keep him out for at least a month. The Reds were far from disgraced in defeat, going down by ten points away to the Brumbies, while the Blues were simply irresistible, blowing away the Hurricanes while putting sixty points on the board at the same time.

Game of the round without a doubt. The bookmakers struggle to split these teams, so have gone about naming 5/6 the pair. I expect the Reds defence to do a better job on the Blues attack than the Hurricanes. With Ben Tune and Wendall Sailor on either wing, they can give the Blues plenty to think about. There`s no doubting the Blues have class, but I feel home advantage is crucial here, and that merits enough confidence to risk a play here.

1 POINT WIN-REDS (+3) vs at 9/10 with Chandler

 

[crookycymru]

STORMERS vs WARATAHS

Stormers start minus forst choice hooker and fly half, so continue with Marius Goosen. Manuel Edmonds is still not fit enough to play for the Waratahs, so they retain Duncan Macrae as fly half.
The Stormers had an excellent victory away at the Sharks last week, coming from 18-8 behind at half time to win the match. The Waratahs shattered their poor away record with an unlikely victory against the Chiefs.

Almost impossible to pick this one. Had the Waratahs been beaten away again last week, then the Stormers would be the confident pick. However, they destroyed their bad travelling team image to beat the Chiefs. Another Chiefs defeat at home last night, however does not tell us much as to how good the Waratahs actually are. Even the bookies cant split this one, with various firms offering both sides a start. Caution advised.

NO PLAY :nono:

 

[crookycymru]

BULLS vs HURRICANES

The Hurricanes travel to South Africa with a few injury concerns. Dion Waller, Paul Tito and Christian Cullen are all doubtful. Bulls should be at full strength.
The Hurricanes were simply blown away last week on their way to conceding 60 points to the Auckland Blues. That defeat will hurt bad. However the Bulls were just pipped by the Cats and the result would have been closer had they not conceded a few last minute tries.

The shattering defeat wont mean much until we see just how good the Blues are when they come up against other teams. The bookies are giving the Hurricanes a small start, but it is not easy to win in South African territory, and although I lean with the Hurricanes here. It is not with enough confidence to consider a play.

NO PLAY :nono:

 

[1837]

Well done Crookycymru! Wish the lines i had was the same as yours... because of that, i didn't make bets... Next time, i'll tell you what i've got and you tell me if it's still a play!

 

[crookycymru]

Super 12 Round Two Results!

Super 12 Round Two Results!

Here are the results from my picks :

HIGHLANDERS 45-5 SHARKS
BRUMBIES 64-16 CATS
QUEENSLAND REDS 34-23 AUCKLAND BLUES

:director: An excellent week, capping a fine start to the Super 12 campaign. I expected the first few weeks to be the toughest, while all the form spreads out, but no complaints with this start. Who knows whats to come!!

WEEK RECORD :

PICKS : 3/3 (100%)
PROFIT/LOSS : +3.48 POINTS (?348 CALCULATED TO A ?100 UNIT STAKE)

SEASON RECORD :

PICKS : 4/5 (80%)
PROFIT/LOSS : +3.31
POINTS (+?331 CALCULATED TO A ?100 UNIT STAKE)

More plays next week.......any comments or suggestions are always welcome

 

[TexasBC6]

Solid work crookycymru, best of luck the rest of the season.

 

[Cartman88]

Nice work crookycymru.

 

[PAWAQATSI]

Great start crookycymru....hope it continues.
Good effort.

 

[crookycymru]

Check out Week 3 Super 12 picks from tomorrow in the OFF THE WALL section.

Many Thanks