The Hurricanes and Bulls will square off on Saturday the 22nd of June in the second of the weekend’s Super Rugby quarter-finals.
An in-form Bulls outfit will be looking to cause a major upset when they travel to Wellington to take on a star-studded Hurricanes outfit. The hosts come into this one as hot favourites with the ‘books to advance to the semi-finals but you simply cannot write off a Bulls side that has already picked up some positive results in New Zealand this term.
Hurricanes v Bulls
Saturday 22 June
Westpac Stadium
09:35
To Win (80 Mins)
Hurricanes 1/6
Draw 30/1
Bulls 4/1
Handicap
Hurricanes (-13.5) 9/10
Bulls (+13.5) 9/10
Hurricanes
It’s been a strange old season for the Hurricanes who haven’t really seemed to get out of third gear this term. Yes, mitigating factors such as injury and national rest periods have robbed them of their superstars for long periods of the season, but even when they have had their best starting XV on the pitch they have not looked as menacing as in years gone past.
Nevertheless, the Hurricanes are a solid side and will be a tough nut to crack on home soil especially with the Barret brothers and Dane Coles starting. They also come into this one off the back of a great come-from-behind victory over the Blues that saw them overturn a 5-24 deficit to run out 29-24 victors.
The Hurricanes have history on their side here as they have won four of the last five matches between the sides. They did taste defeat against their South African rivals last season though, as they went down 21-19 at Loftus.
Bulls
The Bulls ended their round-robin phase campaign in the best possible manner as they defeat a weakened Lions side 48-27 at Loftus last Saturday. The Pretoria-based franchise were unplayable at times last week, with every member of their starting XV delivering great shifts.
Pote Human’s men welcomed back a number of stalwarts last weekend and more will return this week with Springbok outside centre Jesse Kriel having recovered from a long-term injury to take a place in the starting XV. He will be joined by fellow Springbok Jason Jenkins who returns to the second-row having been rested against the Lions.
It’s not all good news on the injury front for the Bulls, however, as burly inside centre Burger Odendall will miss out having suffered a collarbone injury against the Lions. His absence sees Johnny Kotze shift into the 12 channel.
Verdict: Half-Time Handicap – Bulls (+6.5) 9/10
The Hurricanes haven’t been the fastest of starters this term and I can see the Bulls keeping things tight in the first stanza.
Written by Darry Worthington for Hollywoodbets
