Round 13. Unlucky for some, but for others, well they make their own luck. In this week’s Super Rugby tipping I’m going to again take a look at a few of the more lopsided looking contests to see if there’s an upset to be tipped here and there.
Round 12.
There was little movement on the weekend in the GaGR League of the ARU tipping competition. The Rhummdoggs is still sitting precariously in first position with Ozymandias in second and Lindommer in third. Last weeks hot tipper, Tassie Lad had a bit of a shocker though and has for the moment fallen out of the lead pack. This week also marks the beginning of a new tipping period (Rounds 13 to 18 inclusive) and the top tipper overall through these 6 rounds will be up for an undisclosed prize. Good luck!
The Roughies.
Looking at the match ups I have spotted 2 games that interest me. The first is the Rebels vs the Hurricanes. I had both of these teams as my roughies last week and both lost. The Hurricanes are the favourites this week and are the form team but as I mentioned last week, the Rebels love slaying a giant. Both teams can rack up some big scores and both teams are prone to conceding a fair few points also.
When I had a look at each teams form the home and away results were the stand out for me. The Hurricanes are 5 and 5 this season but apart from their win in Christchurch have lost everything else on the road, relying on home games to get their wins. The Rebels love playing at the Stockade and are 3 and 5 at home. The bookies have them close but are favouring the Hurricanes. A punt on the home side here could be worth a gamble though.
The second match I like is the Cheetahs and the Force. There’s not a lot in it when you look at the tipping stats but the Force are favoured by just under 60% of you for the win. It is hard to argue against that when you consider the form of the two teams: The Force have been hot and are playing winning Rugby where the Cheetahs have been woeful and at times seem absolutely bereft of ideas on what to do on the pitch. What surprised me though is that looking at the betting sites, the Cheetahs are the favourites with the bookies and are giving up between 3.5 and 4.5 points start which made me wonder why.
I had a little bit of trouble finding good info on the clashes between these two teams but it looks like the Force don’t have a happy record against the Cheetahs. The lads from Perth have won once in Bloemfontein but I had to go back to 2009 to find their last win over the Cheetahs. The Force also are yet to be tested on their South African tour, with this being their first tour game. Although the SA Teams aren’t travelling that well this year, South Africa has not been a happy hunting ground for many of the Australian or New Zealand teams.
I don’t think there will be a lot in this one and I don’t think it would be an upset if either team gets up, but if you wanted to go against the crowd and try to pick up a spot on the ladder, then a punt on the Cheetahs could be the tip you’re looking for.
The Lock
There’s a few options this week for the Joker depending on what you look for. The Chiefs are short priced favourites to topple the resurgent Blues in New Plymouth and while the Chiefs haven’t reached their devastating best and the Blues have not won a single match on the road, I’m not taking a chance on this one.
The Bulls should weather the Stormers best without too much fuss but you should know by now that a derby game and my joker don’t tend to mix.
The Crusaders are strong favourites to extend the four game losing streak that the Reds are on but I still am expecting the Reds to just ‘click’ one weekend soon and take a big scalp before the season is out. This week doesn’t look good for it but even still I’m not yet ready to put my Joker against them.
Which leaves me with the Highlanders. The Clan are hosting the once hot, but now barely tepid Lions in Dunedin. The home side will be pumped by the re-signing of stalwart Brad Thorn and will be relishing being back at their home ground after an impressive tour away. The bookies are being conservative with their line bets; this one could get ugly. Lock it in. The Highlanders could win this with their eyes closed.
