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Mixed results for the Experts in Round 16, with everyone stuttering upfront with the Hurricanes, and then coming home to varying degrees of strength.
My stutter with the Hurricanes involved a powerplay, unfortunately, pushing it into near-choking territory.
Elisha takes the honour this week, by virtue of his superior for-and-against record, though I can claim something of a moral victory for the round with just the one wrong pick. (But what a wrong pick!)
Digger again proved the leading the Expert panel is far harder than what his Canes have enjoyed this season, yet finding his reign at the top short lived. But his confidence remains high, happily pointing out during the week that he is still leading. Which is true-ish.
The big Round 17 questions: Are the Highlanders conceding this one, resting their All Blacks? Is a doubles ticket at a Force game a waste of money? Is the sunshine what brings back the best of the Rebels?
Can the Blues end the 2015 Crusade? Will the Chiefs see Red in the worst possible way? Will the Waratahs win by 20 or 30 in Bloem? Can the Lions finish their season as South African conference champs?
Elisha Pearce
Tips: Tips: Hurricanes, Brumbies (PP), Bulls, Crusaders, Reds, Waratahs, Stormers.
“Due to my excellent results last week I get the honour of being wrong first this week. I’ll take that as a compliment.
“The Hurricanes let me down last week and will probably do so again, but I’m picking them over the Highlanders. Take the Brumbies over the Force (Cummins needs a big game here with Wallabies wing players opposite, this is a big week for him) and they’ll nurse my powerplay for a second week in a row.
“I’m taking the Bulls in Melbourne, but I’m not confident either way there; two almost teams. The Crusaders earn themselves one last chance and even greater heartbreak with a win over the Blues.
“The Reds sneak home against a depleted Chiefs at home. Take the Stormers on their own patch; it’s one they have to win if they’re pretending to be contenders. The same goes for the Waratahs away to the Cheetahs; they need to win this to keep up the charade.”
Brett McKay
Tips: Hurricanes, Brumbies (PP), Rebels, Crusaders, Reds, Waratahs, Stormers Lions.
It’s occurred to me this week that my hopes for a late run home for the panel win are fading. If they were ever alive at all, you might rightly ask. So this week, it’s a mix of gut feel, reasonable logic, and outright guessing.
The return for Beauden Barrett and the removal of three All Black Highlanders leaves me with no choice but the take the Hurricanes in Napier. They probably should’ve won this game anyway, but goings on this week just tips the scales their way. Brumbies over the Force seems obvious enough to lay down the powerplay.
Rebels to beat the Bulls. Don’t really know why. And though I did raise the idea of the Blues ending the Crusade on Tuesday, the Crusaders still have too much to play for to drop a game now. Reds to beat the Chiefs, and with no real reason why here, either, especially with Liam Messam and Brodie Retallick back.
If the Waratahs don’t win well in Bloem, then they’re not finals worthy, while as much as I want to the Lions fairytale to live on, the Stormers’ class will win out.
But then, I’ve got nothing to lose now in this comp, so bugger it. Lions!
Paddy Effeney
Tips: Hurricanes, Brumbies (PP), Rebels, Crusaders, Chiefs, Waratahs, Stormers.
“Back in the lead, eh? What a terribly lovely surprise. I also note that Elisha is in third place. Swell chap, I hear.
“Picking the Hurricanes/Highlanders is harder than getting Michael Cheika into full Hello Kitty cosplay. I’ll go with the safe bet of the Canes.
“The Brumbies should towel up the Force, so they get my powerplay, as should the Crusaders the Blues. I’m exceptionally tempted to pick the Rebels, so I will. Carn the Rebs!
“I’m also very tempted to back the Reds in Brisbane, but I’ll play it safe with the Chiefs. Waratahs and Stormers round out my week.”
Diggercane
Tips: Hurricanes (PP), Brumbies, Bulls, Crusaders, Chiefs, Waratahs, Stormers.
“Fair to say that after last week’s cereal shenanigans I now have toast for breakfast. I tried asking the dog by speaking each team name to him and watching how he reacts. I thought I was on to something until I realised he just wanted to go outside to conduct his business. I am on my own obviously.”
“Well, no reason for me to stop now so the Hurricanes at home over the Highlanders, while I have to back the Brumbies after the Force rather upset me with their performance against the Reds. The Stormers and Lions shapes as a beauty, and I am picking the bad weather due to home-ground advantage.
“For the rest of my picks I am going for the ‘whichever team has the most to play for’ theory, abandoning my ‘never pick more than three away games’ theory. So, the Bulls have more to play for than the Rebels, so do the Chiefs over the Reds (although I suspect that is the Kiwi in me rather than sound logic; moving on) and the depleted Crusaders over the depleted Blues. The Waratahs should also have too much for the Cheetahs.
“For the powerplay, I am going to break my ‘never put it on a New Zealand derby game’ theory and give it to the Hurricanes, dunno why. If nothing else, it’s to stop Brett from getting any satisfaction from choosing to powerplay them again and making me nervous.”
Brett’s note: Boo!
Spiro Zavos
Tips: Highlanders, Brumbies, Rebels, Crusaders (PP), Chiefs, Waratahs, Stormers.
“This is the time in the tournament when the finals bound teams make their drive towards putting themselves in a position to win the Super Rugby title.
“So I am picking teams that I think will be in the finals. But given the way that there have been upsets galore this year, I am not confident about my picks for this round, or for the finals.”
The summary
| Round 17 | Diggercane | Patrick Effeney | Brett McKay | Elisha Pearce | Spiro Zavos |
| Overall | 84 | 84 | 78 | 82 | 80 |
| Last week | 4 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 4 |
| HUR v HIG | Hurricanes | Hurricanes | Hurricanes | Hurricanes | Highlanders |
| FOR v BRU | Brumbies | Brumbies | Brumbies | Brumbies | Brumbies |
| REB v BUL | Bulls | Rebels | Rebels | Bulls | Rebels |
| BLU v CRU | Crusaders | Crusaders | Crusaders | Crusaders | Crusaders |
| RED v CHI | Chiefs | Chiefs | Reds | Reds | Chiefs |
| CHE v WAR | Waratahs | Waratahs | Waratahs | Waratahs | Waratahs |
| STO v LIO | Stormers | Stormers | Lions | Stormers | Stormers |
| POWERPLAY | Hurricanes | Brumbies | Brumbies | Brumbies | Crusaders |
| BYE | Sharks | ||||