The two fixtures that do catch the eye are the opener between the Chiefs and Drua - which should see tries galore - and the final fixture of the round which will see an injury ravaged Highlanders outfit make the trip to Perth to take on the Western Force.
Friday 21 April
Chiefs 1/20 | Draw 40/1 | Fijian Drua 8/1
Handicap
Chiefs (-23.5) 9/10 | Drua (+23.5) 9/10
The undefeated Chiefs will be looking to extend their winning run to eight games when they take on a dangerous Drua side in the Round 9 opener. The hosts have gone seven from seven but currently sit level on points at the summit of the log with the Brumbies, who have played a game more than the New Zealanders. The Drua are seven spots further down the table in eighth but are still well in with a chance of making the play-off round.
The Chiefs enjoyed a solid Round 8 showing beating the Hurricanes 17-33 in Wellington. Having gone into the break 17-8 down, the Chiefs shifted through the gears in the second stanza with their forward pack dominating at set-piece and some barnstorming runs seeing them turn the tide and eventually canter to a 16-point victory.
While the Chiefs bagged a win last weekend, the Drua went down 43-28 to the Brumbies. The Drua gave a brilliant account of themselves in the fixture and if it wasn’t for some extremely poor refereeing decisions, the scoreline would have been a lot tighter.
The hosts have been hit by two major injuries headed into this one with All Black loose forwards Sam Cane and Luke Jacobson ruled out with head knocks, while scrum-half Brad Weber is rested for the fixture.
This should be an absolute cracker and I’m predicting the Drua to just sneak in under a rather high handicap.
Drua on the plus.
Rebels 11/2 | Draw 33/1 | Crusaders 1/9
Handicap
Rebels (+16.5) 9/10 | Crusaders (-16.5) 9/10
We cross the Tasman for our next fixture which sees the 10th-placed Melbourne Rebels rake on the fourth-placed Crusaders. The hosts desperately need to start picking up points if they are to book a play-offs berth while the Crusaders will be looking to cut the eight point deficit between themselves and the second-placed Brumbies and log-leading Chiefs.
Both these sides enjoyed a bye in Round 8 with their most recent outings being the Rebels Round 7 clash with the Blues and the Crusaders fixture against Moana Pasifika. The two sides experienced contrasting fortunes in that round with the Rebels going down 17-54 to the Blues while the Crusaders beat a fired up Moana Pasifika 38-21.
There’s good news for Crusaders fans with Sam Whitelock and Cullen Grace returning to the squad, while the Rebels have made a few changes with Matt Gibbon and Sam Talakai replacing Cabous Eloff and Pone Fa’amausili, while Stacey Ili returns to 12, seeing Reece Hodge shifting to 13 and Andrew Kellaway moving to fullback.
I can’t see anything but a big Crusaders win here. Back the hosts to clear the handicap.
Saturday 22 April
Blues 1/10 | Draw 33/1 | Waratahs 6/1
Handicap
Blues (-18.5) 9/10 | Tahs (+18.5) 9/10
We head to Eden Park for Saturday’s opener and the penultimate game of the Round which will see the fifth-placed Blues take on the ninth-placed Waratahs. Both teams will be desperate to pick up points here with the Blues trying to move into the home quarter-final places, while the Waratahs are looking to move into the ‘Top 8’.
The Waratahs enjoyed a solid outing in Round 8 as they registered only their second win of the season beating the Force 36-16. The Waratahs looked pretty slick with ball-in-hand during the first half of the fixture and a smart piece of defensive play from scrum-half Jake Gordon, who charged down a grubber and then ran in a try from 50 metres out, gave them a well-deserved 22-6 half-time lead.
And while they were sloppier on defence during the second stanza, they again showed promise with the ball running in a further two tries to claim a vital bonus point win.
The Blues enjoyed a bye last week and the break came arguably at the wrong time for Auckland’s finest who went into it off the back of a solid outing against the Rebels, who they beat 17-54 in Round 7.
While the Waratahs did look handy against the Force, the Blues are a totally different proposition with the New Zealand side boasting world class talent in each position. I expect the hosts to win this one at a canter.
Blues on the minus.
Force 24/10 | Draw 25/1 | Highlanders 1/3
Handicap
Force (-18.5) 9/10 | Highlanders (+18.5) 9/10
The round comes to a close with an interesting old tie out in Perth which will see the 11th-placed Force take on the seventh-placed Highlanders. Only five points separate the sides on the log, and a win for the Force would put them right back in contention for a quarter-final berth.
The hosts have struggled for form this term with last weekend’s 20-point defeat to the Waratahs being their fifth loss of the campaign. And while they have shown they are capable of playing some rugby, they’ve struggled to put 80-minute performances together this term.
While the Force went down in their derby fixture against the Waratahs, the Highlanders had their feet up watching proceedings unfold as they were on a bye week. They headed into that break off a decent run of form having won three of their last four games. Their only defeat came a week before their break as they went down 14-29 to a bang in-form Hurricanes outfit.
The Highlanders are missing some key players for this one and while I still think they will bag the win, I can’t see it being by much.
Force on the plus.
