TRF's Super 15 prediction game

TRF_Ezequiel · Mar 28, 2011

What's also cool to know is that you and darwin_23 are the only people to get double digits every round. You guys never scored lower than 10

TRF_Ezequiel · Mar 29, 2011

Hey lads,

Here is an early preview for round 7. Most interesting thing of round 7 is one where we will see 3 new stadiums this season.

The Highlanders play at Rugby Park (Invercargill) for the first time where they host the Brumbies, who have been disappointing this season. They won once against the Chiefs, lost 4, including a 52-10 beatdown in Nelson against the 'Saders and a last second loss against the Rebels by a Cipriani penalty, and are in 10th spot on the OVerall Log with only 12 points. With the Force and Rebels at 11, the Brumbies should focus to prevent themselves from being bottom of their conference. The Highlanders are phenominal this season. They won the season opener in Wellington against the Hurricanes and even managed to beat the Bulls in Pretoria by scoring 4 tries. The Otago side were brought back down to earth when the Crusaders visited in week 5. Last week they had the bye. 2 years ago both teams played the season-opener at Carisbrook Stadium in Dunedin and the Brumbies won by 2 points (31-33) with a total of 9 tries in it. Let's hope they can do something similar this week.

The Waratahs at home... A match that cannot be predicted. They beat the Reds 30-6, lost to the Cheetahs 3-23. This will be the 3rd match in Sydney for the side of Beale, Mitchell and Waugh. The Chiefs travel to Australia where to lost to the Brumbies in week 1. They beat the Sharks at home without scoring a try but lost to the Blues when scoring more than the opponent. Outside of Hamilton, the Chiefs look very insecure and that is where the side is vulnerable. Can they repeat the stunt of the Cheetahs 2 weeks ago? Or will they run Red and lose the way the Brisbane side did in week 2? Weirdly enough the teams have played each other more often in Hamilton (7 times) than in Sydney (4 times) since the turn of the century. 2 years ago it was 11-7 but most interesting were the matches between the 2 played across the water. In '06 the Chiefs both won 37-33.

Toll Stadium, Whangarei... The second new venue we see this round. The Blues against the Cheetahs is a match only to predict the score and the number of tries to be honest. The Blues are leading the NZ conference and the Cheetahs are last in the SA conference. Both teams lost to the Sharks at the start of the season but the Blues did it after beating the Crusaders in round 1. The Cheetahs have used 5 captains this season already, just to illustrate how injuryblown the Bloemfontein team is. Matches between these 2 teams are a great opportunity to see some tries. In the last 3 seasons when these 2 teams were playing, they scored 58 points or more together (46-12, 26-50 and 36-32)

Who would have thought the Bulls from Pretoria would have been in 7th place after 6 weeks? Who would have thought their point-difference would be negative (-4)? Meanwhile the Hurricanes have only managed to beat the Rebels. This match can really go either way. The 'Canes rely on a backline with Nonu, Jane, Gear, Savea and Smith while the Bulls have been very dependant on New Bull Basson and scrum-half Fourie du Preez, who missed the entire Currie Cup season and made his comeback in week 1 after 9 months of recovering from surgery. Together the duo scored 5 tries this season so far. Can the Bulls win their first match on tour or can the Hurricanes finally win again?

In Perth we see the bottom 2 of the Australian conference go head-to-head and decide who grabs the final straw to make the play offs at the end of the season. I know the season is still long, but the team that loses this one, can forget about the play offs. The Force have been without Pocock since week 3 and have to rely on James O'Connor with not just his boot, but his running as well. The Rebels seem to have finally found the way to the try line, scoring 4 against the Sharks and 5 asgainst the Hurricanes after only scoring 2 in the first 3 matches and staying try-less in Brisbane 2 weeks ago. Cooper Vuna, who switched this year from League to Union, has gotten used to the different style and is their most dangerous asset on the wing. Who will win this? No history here of course since the Rebels are new.

The question everyone has been asking lately is "Can the Lions win matches with the attractive attacking gameplay they show now?" So far they only managed to beat the Cheetahs but they were awfully close to beating both 2010 finalists earlier. Scoring 3 tries at home against the Bulls who only got 2, they lost the match mainly because of Elton Jantjies missing conversions and bad luck. In Round 2 they travelled to Cape Town to score 2 tries (again 1 more than their opponent) but Jantjies missed both conversions which ended up expensive since they lost 19-16. Against the Blues at home, they lost 32-41 with another missed conversion, which would have given them a BP. Well, how about the Reds? They beat the Reds by 1 point at home, got crushed by the Tahs, beat the Brumbies in week 3 and the Rebels 53-3 2 weeks later after their bye. Strange to see that the Cheetahs last week were the first foreign opponent this season. Now they travel overseas themselves. Can they beat the Lions? More important: Can they put up a good performance outside of Australia? It's a good warmup for next week's match against the Stormers. Fun fact about this match is that ever since the Lions are a franchise of their own (With being seperated from the Cheetahs) no match between these 2 was won by the team playing at home! The Reds won in Johannesburg in '10 and '06 and the Lions won in Brisbane in '09 and '07 while they came to a 24-24 draw in 2008.

What else can I say about this match? Both teams played each other back in October in the Currie Cup final. The Sharks beat Western Province 30-10 with 25 points to Patrick Lambie (which is a CC final record) but Lambie is missing out on the match with a hand-injury. Jacques-Louis Potgieter was bad with the boot in London last sunday which cost the Sharks an extra bonus point. What can they do at home? The Sharks return after a 4 week tour Across the Tasman in which they beat the Force and Rebels with bonus point wins and lost to the Chiefs and Crusaders, which both got them a bonus point despite losing. This resulted in a total of 12 points for their 4 overseas matches. The Stormers have only played in South Africa so far and were leading the overall log last week with only 2 tries to their name! This weekend they scored 6 including 4 by Fourie (2 for Deon, 2 for Jaque). Can the Stormers beat the Sharks in Durban? Or will the Banana Boys recover from the loss and put first blood to the Stormers this season. Will the Stormers finally beat the Sharks? Yes, you heard me. Finally. The Sharks have won 5 in a row against the Stormers. Beating them in Durban in 06 (24-17), 08 (12-10) and 2010 (20-14) and in Cape Town in '07 (10-36) and '09 (15-20).

TRF_Olyy · Mar 29, 2011

Just to let you know that I've started wearing this around, as a symbol of me being in the lead:

TNT88 · Mar 29, 2011

Should make a thread for your preview/review each week. They are a great ice-breaker for each round.

TRF_Ezequiel · Mar 29, 2011

I am just trying something new, just to see if you guys like it. I would like to continue this during the World Cup

TRF_Ezequiel · Mar 31, 2011

Stormer2010, 187!

You guys have set up your account not to receive PM messages so I have to do it this way:

Please let me know your predictions for round 7!

TRF_stormer2010 · Apr 4, 2011

I couldn't make this round but will be sure to continue from this week on.

TRF_Ezequiel · Apr 4, 2011

Round 7: Championship contender AWOL, a new participant and a new record score

The city of Invercargill prepared for their first Super 15 match this year when the Highlanders left Dunedin to play the Brumbies at Rugby Park. 6,500 people showed up to see the boys in Blue beat the Canberra squad 26-20 thanks to 2 tries of Jason Rutledge. Jamie Mackintosh scored the 3rd try. For the Brumbies Andrew Smith and Patrick Phibbs scored tries next to Matt Giteau who scored a try, conversion and penalty to make it 20 points. This loss leaves the Brumbies with only 1 win after round 7 and can forget about the play-offs despite the bonus point. The Highlanders have their best start in ages with only 4 points behind Conference-leader Crusaders.

With Kurtley Beale at fly-half the Waratahs were not what we are used to from them. The Chiefs are struggling this season and in Sydney they didn't get very far with only 1 try thanks to Tim Nanai-Williams. The Waratahs got a little help from the referee with a penalty try after the Chiefs deliberately pulled down a ruck several times close to the try-line. Referee Jaco Peyper from South Africa had already sent Nathan White to the sin-bin for 10 minutes right before that. A little over 20,000 people wanted to see the Tahs win after their embarrasing defeat at home 2 weeks ago against the Cheetahs. 23-16 was the final score for the Tahs, who announced they signed Adam Ashley-Cooper from the Brumbies for next season.

53 points scored in total in the Blues-Cheetahs match is a record low between these 2 in the last 5 years. The Blues who hosted the Bloemfontein team in Toll Stadium, Whangarei this round, managed to score 4 tries and clinch the bonus point in their win over the Free State Cheetahs. Joe Rokocoko, Stephen Brett, Peter Saili and the Iceman Isaia Toeava crossed the line for the Auckland side. Luke McAllister converted 3 out of the 4 tries and also added 3 from a penalty. The Blues are, thanks to the 4 tries, 1 point closer to the Crusaders, who had the bye this week. On the Cheetahs side, scrum-half Sarel Pretorius was the big man. After scoring the decisive try against the Waratahs 2 weeks ago, he managed to cross the line twice against the Blues. Prop Coenie Oosthuizen scored the 3rd try while Naas Oliver converted 2. Robert Ebersohn had a good match at center and saw his twin brother Sias score a penalty which resulted in a bonus point. A 29-22 loss is not bad for the Cheetahs who lost Juan Smith, Heinrich Brussow, Andries Strauss and cousin Adriaan Strauss so far to injury. The only thing that was a disappoinment was the number of spectators. Toll Stadium in Whangarei can hold 30,000 people but a mere 9,000 showed up on saturday night.

McLean Park in Napier is the 3rd new stadium we have seen this round. The Hurricanes from Wellington made the trip there to host the defending champions, the Bulls from Pretoria. The match itself was not what most of us expected from it despite the serious prospects in the backline of both teams. Only Serge Lilo (Hurricanes) and Francois Hougaard (Bulls) managed to score a try while especially the Hurricanes backline promises more than that with Ma'a Nonu, Cory Jane, Conrad Smith, Hosea Gear and Julian Savea. Morne Steyn scored 5 penalties and managed to snatch 2 dropgoals to give the Bulls a deserved 14-26 lead and get them a positive point difference again on the log. The Hurricanes are last in the NZ conference.

What a match this turned out to be. Western Force, only in Super Rugby since 2006, hosted the new Rebels. No history here, but a lot to look forward to. When Danny Cipriani moved to Melbourne a couple of months ago, people were not sure if it was a good decision but seeing him play every week in the world's strongest club championship, proves it was a good move. His kicking from the tee is yet to be perfected but his ball-in-hand approach of play is something to cherish. He showed some brilliance when a penalty for the Rebels was kicked all across the field without any Force player noticing, for Richard Kingi to catch and ground for the match winning try. Fullback Mark Gerrard and Hugh Pyle also scored 5-pointers for Cipriani's side. The Western Force was still able to win the match in the dying seconds. After tries by Sam Wykes, Nathan Charles and Rory Sidey they were 1 point behind the Rebels with a last minute penalty to James O'Connor. The young lad who helped Australia to victory in a similar situation last october in Hong Kong, failed this time to give the Rebels back-to-back victories, final score: 25-26

You guys who read my preview noticed I said that in matches between these 2 teams, neither one of them ever managed to win at home. This match was no exception. The Lions started of very strong with Michael Killian scoring a try. With the lack of succesful kicks, Elton Jantjies was on the bench today to be replaced by veteran Andre Pretorius. The 32-year old missed several penalties and both conversions which again saw the Lions lose. Jaco Taute scored a magnificent try when he snatched up the ball from an up-and-under. For the Reds it was Luke Morahan, Quade Cooper and Digby Ioane to score tries with Mike Harris converting all 3 and adding 9 points from the tee with 3 penalties. With the final score 25-30 we can conclude that the Lions have really picked up the pace and they are able to beat teams but they need a decent kicker. Missing conversions and penalties has been the main reason for them losing 6 out of 7 so far. The Reds are on top of the Australian conference with 26 points, 4 points ahead of nr. 2 Waratahs.

The final match was a real cracker. Last october both teams played each other in the same stadium for the Currie Cup. That final was won by the Sharks (30-10) but the Western Province (the provincial feeder for the Stormers) was not as bad as the score makes them out to be. This time they showed why. A powerful backline with Habana, Aplon, Fourie and de Villiers was too much to handle. Fourie penetrated the Sharks defence and when he was brought down, captain Schalk Burger grabbed the ball to score the only try of the match. During the first half, the pitch started to get wet. This was not a good sign for the match. Both teams struggled too much with the humid conditions and a lot of knock-ons were the result. Referee Jonathan Kaplan, who was suspended after a poor decision in the Wales-Ireland match in this year's Six Nations, gave a lot of penalties to the Sharks but Jacques-Louis Potgieter missed too many. In the end this cost the Sharks who lost 6-16 without even getting a bonus point for staying within 7 points. The Stormers are the log leaders and remain the only unbeaten team in the competition. The Sharks drop to 3rd place in the conference and 8th on the overal log with 3 losses in a row.

Predictions:
It was an amazing round once again. BadGena had a magnificent 7 out of 7 winners prediction, Ezequiel was only 1 short for a second perfect score in a row. Stormer2010 was absent this round, which is a real shame since he was a serious contender for the top of the log. After round 6, where he and Shaggy scored 23 points, he was only 5 points behind log leader Olyy. This round he has to be happy with the mere 8 points for not playing.

Shaggy, another contender, had a weak round in which he predicted only 3 winners and only 2 try scores which gave him a total of only 9 points. Olyy, our log-leader scored a total of 21 points but sees Ezequiel come back with 28! Both Ezequiel and Olyy are leading the log with 122 points. New in the top 3 is darwin_23. TRF's puppy from Dunedin with 25 points and passes Shaggy and stormer2010 on the log.

Then there is Gavin, the Irish (or should we say Nothern-Irish?) fellow who gave me the predictions for the next 4 weeks all at once! He managed to score 32 points! Almost double the number of his best round so far (17 poinst last week) and he climbs from the 11th place to nr. 9. Will his next 3 predictions be as accurate as this one? I can already congratulate Gavin now. 32 points is a record-highscore!

We also welcome a new member! Bogdam came out of the blue, joined us and incredibly enough got 25 points! Where would he have been if he decided to join us from round 1? I guess we will never know but I would like to give special praise to Bogdam, our Romanian friend who seems to fit in perfectly in this game!

Green = Log Leader
Red = Wooden Spoon
Blue = Best achievement this round
Orange = New contender

The Log:

No wooden spoon this round because of Bogdam who started only now. From next week he will have all the bye points of the previous rounds in his points total.

Last edited: Apr 4, 2011

TRF_stormer2010

Moderator

TRF Legend

Apr 4, 2011

#109

'tis but a scratch. 8 default points is more than enough for now.

Amobokoboko

Waikato Junglist

Apr 4, 2011

#110

Good stuff as usually, you 're becoming the encyclopedia of SH rugby ;-)

TRF_Olyy

English Arrogance

Staff member

TRF Legend

TRF Supporter

Apr 4, 2011

#111

Going to have to give next round a good think, can't be losing my top spot this early on

Gavin

First XV

TRF Legend

Apr 4, 2011

#112

Wayheyy. I am so happy. Watch out lads, I am rising from the ashes like a phoenix. Good luck to everyone for the next few weeks, I shall return from Crete eager to get an update on results.

TRF_Ezequiel

Kanko Krazy!!!

TRF Legend

Apr 4, 2011

#113

@ amobokoboko: I watch the matches, think of something fun to write and make a short story of all the matches. I hope you guys like it

D

Draggs

Hall of Fame

TRF Legend

Apr 4, 2011

#114

There goes my resurgence...
Next week, watch out lads.

TRF_Ezequiel

Kanko Krazy!!!

TRF Legend

Apr 12, 2011

#115

Hey guys!

Here we go again! I don't have time for a complete review of the matches so I hope you guys don't mind that I jump immediately to the scores of this week by you guys.

A short note at first:
I decided not to count the points I got for match nr. 1 since I only posted it friday afternoon. I got 12 points for the Highlanders-Cheetahs game but I want to avoid any rumours that I would give myself points I don't deserve. This brings me to 20.

Well, here we go.

It was a round with only 6 matches to predict and of course nobody could have predicted the 0 points for the Bulls. There was however 1 person who predicted the outcome right of all 6 matches. Olyy managed to tell us who won in every match. Congrats on that Olyy!

When it comes to points, it was a very disappointing round. Best score this round was for our Welsh Sharks fan Draggs, who scored a total of 23 points. This means last week's record of 32 points by Gavin is still in the books. Gavin, who is on a holiday and gave me his predictions for several rounds was not as lucky this week, he only got to 10 points. Log leader Olyy only got to 12 where Ezequiel, that's me, managed to score 20 points and that means I am on top of the log alone halfway through the regular season!

Our Romanian contender Bogdam scored 16 points this week and climbs from 14th to 12th with his 16 points. It won't be long before he will be in the top 10! Meanwhile Amobokoboko, the Belgian All Blacks supporter with a name that derives from the Xhosa word for Springboks, scored only 3 points which is equal to the record low-score on weeks 2 and 3.

Intercept King JDV, Tank94, 187 and Jimz0051 didn't participate and get only 3 bye points this week.

Draggs climbs to nr. 4 while Shaggy and stormer2010, who were almost on top 2 weeks ago, have had 2 very disappointing rounds which landed them a total of 19 and 16 points respectively over those 2 rounds. This results in them dropping to 5th and 6th place. Stormer2010 is tied at 112 points with TNT88 who, after his amazing 28 points last week got 17 now. 45 points in 2 weeks... Not bad!

Well, enough talk. Now let's see those statistics!

Green = Log Leader
Red = Wooden Spoon
Blue = Best achievement this round

Shaggy

First XV

Apr 12, 2011

#116

Mehhh! ... I'm like General MacArthur ... I'll be back

... I hope!

Amobokoboko

Waikato Junglist

Apr 13, 2011

#117

Still in the middle order but a bad week. Will post my new predictions tonight and lets keep the fingers crossed.

TRF_Ezequiel

Kanko Krazy!!!

TRF Legend

Apr 17, 2011

#118

The Chiefs decided to host the Crusaders in Tauranga this week. The question was not if the Crusaders could win but if they could manage to score 4 tries. With lightning fast wingers Zac Guildford and Sean Maitland tere is always the threat. This match however was more about the return of King Richie. The All Blacks captain started in his first match this year coming on as a sub. After Fruean, Maitland and Ellis scored tries, it was McCaw who, despite knocking the ball on in the process, gave Romano the chance to get the bonus point. Craig Joubert didn't see it and it meant the Saders got the full 5 points in round 9. The Chiefs only managed to score 1 try by Lelia Masaga. While the Crusaders stay second on the log, the Chiefs drop to 12th place.

In Melbourne the Rebels were looking for a 3rd win in a row after their bye last week. They beat the Hurricanes and Force in their last 2 matches and managed to sign Kurtley Beale for next year. This week they came onto the field wearing special training T-shirts which were auctioned afterwards for the people of Canterbury. This was initiated by Greg Somerville and followed by the whole franchise. The Highlanders were also looking for a 3rd win in a row. The team from Otago is the biggest surprise so far this season and biggest asset so far is flanker Adam Thomson. After 2 tries against the Cheetahs last week, he did it again this week! Scoring 2 of the total of 6 tries to crush the poor Rebels who had to do it without the injured captain Stirling Mortlock. Alando Soakai and Kade Poki also crossed the try-line, while Siale Piutau did it twice. For the Rebels there were tries by Hugh Pyle and Greg Somerville.

How many minutes does it take to score 4 tries? According to Auckland logic it's 17 minutes. That is the time between the first try by John Afoa and the 4th by Rene Ranger, who I didn't recognize after his haircut. Jared Payne and Tevita Mailau scored the other 2 that gave them the bonuspoint. The Waratahs finally woke up after the 4th try and Daniel Halangahu brought the deficit back to 19 points by crossing the try line. For a minute there was hope but soon aferwards Alby Mathewson got a 5th try for the Auckland side. When the Blues led 31-7 at the break, everybody expected another bunch of tries but unfortunately the only tries seen int he second half were by the Waratahs. Drew Mitchell and Ryan Cross scored tries which were not converted, bringing the score to 31-17. This brings the Blues in 4th place on the log despite having 1 point more than the Stormers. The Waratahs are in 7th with 27 points and are 2 behind the Sharks who had the bye and who they are visiting still this season.

Brisbane was the setting for a record-win. The Reds won their 6th consecutive match for the first time since the inaugural season in 1996. Quade Cooper was without a doubt man of the match. Not only was he important with his passes, quick steps and kicking, he also showed things you never see in a professional match. A pass behind his back, dodging players in fashionable way... He is a true diamond to modern rugby. A try, a dropgoal and 3 conversions gave him 14 points. The Bulls are not the team they used to be. However they did manage to score tries this time, it was simply not enough defensively conceding 6. With Bjorn Basson scoring 2 tries including a chased kick off they have a brilliant winger but besides him and scrum half Fourie du Preez it all seems so average this season. Danie Rossouw scored the 3rd try for the Bulls but by then the Reds were flying all over the place. Luke Morahan (2), James Horwill and Radike Samo scored tries but the moment of the night was when Digby Ioane chased a kick. Not the chase and try, but the celebration was amazing, doing a caterpillar-move to rub it in. The Bulls failed to put pressure on the Sharks in the South African Conference and the Reds stay top of the log with a 5-pointer.

Ellis Park, Johannesburg. The place where the Springboks won their first World Cup has a lot of history but when it comes to provincial rugby it's not very pleasant. While the Springboks scored 8 tries against Australia in Ellis Park in 2008, the Lions have been unlucky. This whole season is marked by only getting applause but no points. When scoring more tries than your opponent doesn't give you a win, something is wrong. They did that to the Stormers and Bulls in the first 2 matches and against others they got bonuspoints for staying within 7, but lately the Lions have not lived up to expectations losing 27-3 in Durban to a rejuvinated Sharks team and this weekend losing at home against the Stormers. Neither Elton Jantjes nor Andre Pretorius was allowed to start as fly half. In stead, Burton Francis got a chance. What a big difference was it! Scoring 3 penalties, succesfully converting the only try scored by Warren Whiteley and scoring a drop-goal. With his kicking the Lions might have even won a couple of matches in the last couple of weeks. The Stormers have been suffering from injuries with Habana, Grant and de Villiers joining the list. This meant Juan de Jongh was allowed to start and he was a real threat, despite not scoring a try. Jaque Fourie scored against his former team-mates after a brilliant setup by Juan de Jongh. The other 2 tries were scored by Danie Poolman and Johann Sadie. With Peter Grant absent, the kicking duties for the Cape Town side were divided over a couple of players. Scrum-half Dewald Duvenhage converted the first try, Gary van Aswegen scored a penalty before being replaced by Lionel Cronje who converted the other 2 tries and 3 penalties. The Stormers stay top of the Conference and the Lions bottom of both the Conference and the overall log.

If 11 tries are scored in 1 match, does that mean poor defending or brilliant attacking? I think the latter. When the Hurricanes started off in Bloemfontein and I sat down to watch it, I was sure the Cheetahs, back at home, could snatch a win. They showed what they are worth getting bonuspoints against the Blues and Highlanders and beating the Waratahs. Hosea Gear scored the first try already after 4 minutes! Immediately after that, Sarel Pretorius saw a try not allowed because it was held up but 2 minutes later he got his 10th Super Rugby try in his career by grounding it under the posts. The 3rd try of the match, scored by Jack Lam, was at the 11 minute mark. Taking a breath was really not possible because a couple of minutes later Riaan Smit already made it 15-12 with 2 tries each. With tries for Andre Taylor (Hurricanes) and again Sarel Pretorius (Cheetahs) it was 30-27 with just a minute to go in the first half before Sias Ebersohn scored a 30 metre dropgoal to get the Cheetahs in the lead at half-time before Daniel Kirkpatrick scored a penalty, 33-30. the second half started as thrilling as the first one ended. High pace, hardly a chance to catch a breath for the players. Riaan Smit scored his second try and Alipati Leiua gave the Hurricanes something to cheer about before Sarel Pretorius (who else?) got the ball from Adriaan Strauss and scored his 3rd try, a Hat-trick! If there are at any time questions who should be Fourie du Preez' successor in the Bok squad, I have the answer, it's this guy. With 47-43 after 66 minutes I was asking myself how many teams the lead would switch hands again. The Cheetahs held on to the lead until the last minute of the match when they lost the ball in attack and a counter-attack by the Hurricanes. They scored a converted try to make it 47-50, not the highest score in a Super Rugby match but by far the most thrilling one. The Cheetahs scored 47 points but lost anyway. For those who want to know: The record score in Super Rugby is from last season when in round 2, the Lions hosted the Chiefs to lose 65-72 with a record 137 points and a record 18 tries in 1 match! The Cheetahs get 2 points which gets them away from the bottom position on the log, the Hurricanes finally win and move to 10th place passing the Brumbies and Chiefs.

Our final match this weekend was a Sunday match, only the second time this year. The Brumbies had to win to stay close to the Waratahs and close to the play off spots. All they had to do is beat the Western Force. The Perth side, led by Nathan Sharpe and relying on James O'Connor however, managed to win for the first time this season on Australian soil. David Smith scored 2 for the Boys in Blue but big man was of course James O'Connor. After a kick by Rory Sidey, the Justin Bieber of Rugby used all his energy to chase and eventually get there in time to score a try which was remarkable. This was after Matt Giteau in the first half already put the Brumbies ahead by a try he converted himself. James O'Connor converted 2 tries and kicked over 2 penalties to leave the Brumbies empty-handed without even a bonuspoint. The Western Force now have 16 points after 2 wins and are tied with the Chiefs. The Brumbies drop to 11th and are 4th in the Australian Conference where they can count themselves out of the battle for the top position with 18 points behind the Reds.

The Sharks had the bye this week.

Well, I know you all want to know what this means for the Prediction League. With the 11 points scored by both Gavin and Bogdam, we have a new record. This is the highest low-score we've had so far this season after having 8 in rounds 6 and 7. TNT88 is the lucky one to grab the ***le winner-predictor of the week with all 7 winners predicted correctly, congratulations TNT88! On top of the log it was a fierce battle. Ezequiel scored 15 points but more remarkable is that he almost had a perfect score for the Chiefs-Crusaders game where he only needed a correct score-prediction for the Crusaders to snatch 17 points just for 1 match. Now he ended up with 15 in total, which is only 2 points less than his fierce rival Olyy, who scored 17 and is 2 points closer to regaining the top spot. Highest score this week was for BadGena! He got a total of 21 points which makes him jump from 8th to 4th spot in only 1 week and ties him with Draggs, our Welsh participant. Stormer2010 seems to suffer from some April virus because since this month started, he has been off his game, only scoring 14 points this time after scoring 8 twice in a row. He is now in 8th place, 2 points behind TNT88.

Green = Log Leader
Red = Wooden Spoon
Blue = Best achievement this round
Orange = perfect winners prediction

The Log: