Super Rugby Oracle: All the picks for Round 7
Super Rugby stats guru Paul Neazor offers his tips for Round 7.
After flirting with perfection for the previous two rounds the Oracle finally went all the way last week, tipping a perfect round. 7/7 brings his season record to 38/49 or 78%. Let’s see if he can keep rolling in Round 7…
Hurricanes vs Waratahs (Wellington)
The Hurricanes have been killing teams this year with their speed and ability to get the ball into space. If they hadn’t had the rub of the green against them and taken a little more care at Brisbane they would have won by 50+ as they created so many opportunities but finished very few. The Waratahs were more or less worth what they got against the Crusaders on Sunday. The one issue may be the weather, which has been awful over the central part of New Zealand this week. It shouldn’t change the result, but it will make the Hurricanes work harder for what should be a comfortable win.
Pick: Hurricanes
Sunwolves vs Bulls (Tokyo)
If the Bulls play anything like as well in Tokyo as they did in Hamilton, they’ll have little trouble winning this game. Their aggressive defence rattled the Chiefs, who are a lot better than the Sunwolves, and for the first time all season the Bulls showed signs of waking up. The Sunwolves have surprised at odd times; their attack is okay but the defence still leaks badly and the Bulls can and will find the holes. Last year the men from Pretoria struggled at Singapore; playing at Tokyo will suit them better as the pitch is bigger, and they should be good enough to win comfortably.
Pick: Bulls
Highlanders vs Blues (Dunedin)
The Highlanders won at Eden Park a few weeks ago when they had absolutely no right to do so. Since then the Blues have started making numerous errors, particularly with their hands, that have been something of a handbrake. On the flip side the Highlanders have used that win as a springboard and put together two good wins against Australian teams since; the Canberra win was tough and last week the Rebels were dispatched in clinical style. I think I have to favour the southerners here, as they’re the team with an upward trend to their performance graph, but I wouldn’t be rushing off to place a bet on it.
Pick: Highlanders
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Brumbies vs Reds (Canberra)
The Brumbies win this fixture almost by royal decree. The Reds have a dire record against the Brumbies and it’s worse at Canberra than at Brisbane. In recent seasons the margins have been fairly wide too, so it has to be said the Canberra crew have the Reds’ number. While the Brumbies play dreary, unimaginative football it is planned and hard to defend if you’re not quite on the pace, and they should be just that little bit more precise than the Reds. I have no doubts the home side will win, and they might have ten or so points in hand by the end.
Pick: Brumbies
Sharks vs Jaguares (Durban)
This one is tricky to pick. The Jaguares have been formidable in Argentina so far this year – which is what we expected to see 12 months ago – but they have hardly been tested on the road. The Sharks, likewise, have been going well, apart from two narrow losses, and are yet to lose at home. They don’t take many backwards steps and now with Curwin Bosch capable of kicking monster goals, no lead can be considered safe. I’m going for the home side, narrowly, simply because they have impressed me a little more in the last two or three weeks if we ignore a poor effort against the Kings.
Pick: Sharks
Stormers vs Chiefs (Cape Town)
This has the potential to be the match of the round. As it was last year in the first playoffs, this is the moment of truth for the Stormers. They’ve run up some good wins in the first month and put some big scores on the board, although the Kings, Sunwolves and Cheetahs are hardly scary opponents. I’ve been impressed with a bit of what the Stormers are up to but there is always that niggle that says if they try to play ad-lib against the Chiefs it could all end in tears very quickly; they can get very loose and skittery under pressure. I think there are enough holes in the Stormers game to interest the Chiefs, but they’ll have to play well to expose them. The clash of the locks should be a highlight; you probably won’t see better all season. I’m going with the Chiefs.
Pick: Chiefs
Force vs Kings (Perth)
Neither of these teams is playing particularly well over the first six rounds – or going down with all guns blazing when they fall short – but the Force did go well for lengthy parts of Saturday’s game at Auckland. I’m going to take the home side here. I think they’ll try to do simple things well and repeat until dizzy; if they’re accurate that should be too much for what is a pretty frail Kings side.
Pick: Force
TL;DR: Hurricanes / Bulls / Highlanders / Brumbies / Sharks / Chiefs / Force
Comments on RugbyPass
Beautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to comments