The big bye weeks are upon us with only four fixture lists this coming weekend. There are some intriguing clashes, however, with the Drua leaving the sanctuary of their home ground to take on the Rebels in Melbourne, while Brumbies and Waratahs renew their long-standing rivalry.
Friday 5 April
Blues 1/33 | Draw 40/1 | Force 10/1 (08:05)
Handicap
Blues (-23.5) 9/10 | Force (+23.5) 9/10
The Blues will be looking to leapfrog the Hurricanes – who are one of the sides enjoying a bye week – into top spot on the log when they take on a Force outfit that has only registered one win this term and now sit at the foot of the log after the Crusaders beat the Chiefs this past weekend.
The hosts for Saturday’s encounter made it five wins from five starts with their 8-47 bonus point victory over Moana Pasifika. Having played a more conservative structure during the early salvos of the season, the Blues cut loose in this one with most of their tries coming from deep inside their own territory. And while Moana Pasifika were sloppy defensively, it was good to see the Blues giving the ball some width.
While the Blues bagged a comfortable win in Round 6, the Force were well beaten by the Drua going down 31-13 at a soaking-wet Churchill Park. The Drua were pretty impressive in poor conditions with their handling skills especially slick in the first half while the Force struggled to adapt to the wet and were guilty of making a load of handling errors.
Verdict: Blues (-23.5) 9/10
This should be bread and butter for the Blues. The Force – who look a spent force at the minute – will struggle here. As such, money is on the hosts clearing the handicap.
Rebels 7/10 | Draw 20/1 | Drua 12/10 (10:35)
Handicap
Rebels (-2.5) 9/10 | Drua (+2.5) 9/10
Friday’s action comes to a close out in Melbourne where the Rebels will take on the Drua in a crucial encounter as both sides are likely to be battling it out for one of the last quarter-final berths come the close of the regular season.
As noted in the Blues versus Force segment, the Drua were extremely impressive last weekend as they made light work of the Force in the pouring rain. Some of their tries were an absolute joy to watch and if they can tighten up their defence a bit, they are more than likely to make the quarter-final stage for the second time running.
While the Drua’s win was pretty much expected, the Rebels pulled off something of a shock as they beat the Waratahs 21-27 in New South Wales. Having trailed 14-10 with just 15 minutes to play, the Rebels kicked into gear scoring three unanswered tries to claim what could be a crucial win.
In terms of team news for this one, the visitors have made a couple changes with Kitione Ratu returning to the fullback berth while Zuriel Togiatama starts at hooker. On the Rebels side of the team news front, Filipo Daugunu and Matt Proctor come into the Rebels backline.
Verdict: Drua (+2.5) 9/10
I reckon this one will be pretty tight with the Drua looking for an elusive away win and likely to tighten things up. I’m backing the visitors to make a real fist of this fixture and stay within the ‘cap.
Saturday 6 April
Chiefs 1/100 | Draw 33/1 | Moana Pasifika 14/1
Handicap
Chiefs (-27.5) 9/10 | Moana Pasifika (+27.5) 9/10
Onto Saturday’s double-header now which sees the fourth-placed Chiefs take on ninth-placed Moana Pasifika to open things up. The Chiefs suffered only their second defeat of the campaign this past weekend and will be determined to bounce back against an improved but still rather limited Moana Pasifika outfit.
Last week’s defeat will have stung as it came at the hands of a Crusaders side that had yet to win up until last weekend’s 37-26 derby victory. The defeat underlined Damien McKenzie’s influence and impact on the Waikato outfit, with his side lacking guile and direction on attack.
Moana Pasifika also endured a poor Round 6 showing as they suffered their second heavy defeat of the trot going down 8-47 to the Blues in Auckland. After an impressive start to the campaign that saw them win two of their first four fixtures, they seem to have run out of steam at the worst possible time.
Verdict: Chiefs (-27.5) 9/10
McKenzie is back to steer the ship and I can see him navigating his side to a big bonus point win this weekend against a Moana side that is running on fumes.
Brumbies 2/7 | Draw 25/1 | Waratahs 11/4 (10:35)
Handicap
Brumbies (-9.5) 9/10 | Waratahs (+9.5) 9/10
We close things off with a rather interesting Australian derby that will see the third-placed Brumbies take on the tenth-placed Waratahs.
Both teams were involved in chaotic derbies this last weekend with the Waratahs letting a four-point lead slip in the final 15 minutes to go down by six points to the Rebels while the Brumbies came up clutch in a big-ticket fixture against the Reds with a superb comeback that saw them turn around a 19-10 deficient with a try and a penalty late on in the piece.
In terms of team news for this one, Billy Pollard comes into the Brumbies starting hooker berth in place of the injured Lochlan Lonergan while Nick Frost is elevated to the starting second row. The ‘Tahs have also made a couple of changes with Lalakai Foketi getting a start in the centres while Angus Bell returns to the front row.
Verdict: Brumbies (-9.5) 9/10
The Brumbies are on a four game win streak and can see them extending that to five with a comfortable win over the Waratahs.
