This should have been one of the easiest rounds of the competition with only four games to pick, but it ended up a tipsters’ graveyard! Moana Pasifika and the Waratahs were simply not supposed to win!
Many of our tipsters got zip from four. Jill Marr from Gore and the Stonelakes from Dunedin, who were sitting last in their respective comps, picked three from four with stunning efforts.
Underestimate the Pasifika boys at your peril as they did enough to upset the Reds 17-14 in a titantic struggle. The Reds didn’t help their cause by upsetting the ref as the cards were shelled out like poker in Vegas.
In a thriller, the Crusaders didn’t manage the game and the clock when they needed to and inexplicably handed the Waratahs the points, going down 40-43. Can they still make the eight from here? The odds are stacking up against them.
Predictably the Canes were too strong for the Chiefs and they ran away with the game in the second spell, winning 36-23. I’m starting to think the Chiefs are looking more like “flat track bullies” every week.
That brings us to the Landers and do we really want to go there?
First, the Rebels were very good and deserved the 47-31 win. The Landers drifted in and out of the game, brilliant one minute, dire the next. They need to find consistency very quickly or their season could disappear into the ether.
Ben from Shoe Clinic only picked one game from four to drop from first to second equal in the Southland comp. Richard, Ingill’s best grocer, has stormed to the top of the table by 2 points. Dan from Deep South Glass and Grant from Carpets and Drapes had absolute mares and didn’t trouble the scorers!!
In the third bye round does it get any easier this week? The answer is probably no.
The Hurricanes travel to Suva to take on the Drua who are nearly unbeatable in the Sunny Isles.
I’ll stick with the Canes (12-) because of their dominant pack and it’s just a bit easier in Suva than Lautoka.
The Reds will go in as favourites at home over the Landers. But the Highlanders (12-) have to win this to make the eight. It’s time to stand up and be counted, lads.
The big game of the round is the Blues v Brumbies at the Garden of Eden. The Blues (12-) have to grow a pair against a very good Brumbies outfit if they want to be finalists. Blues just.
The Crusaders (13+) travel to Perth to take on the Force. It’s the dance of the desperates but surely the Crusaders put them to the sword to stay in the race. Then again, I wouldn’t be that upset if it all came unstuck!
- By Paul Dwyer
