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Will the Kings rise in round ten?

Michael Willemse celebrates during the round 9 Super Rugby match between the Waratahs and the Kings. Friday, April 21, 2017. (AAP Image/Craig Golding)
Roar Rookie
27th April, 2017
18

Super Rugby round 10 starts with only one unbeaten side – and the Crusaders have a record of eleven finals appearances, the last being 2014.

The New Zealand conference is still wide open, with the Chiefs and Hurricanes just three points behind the tournament titans. Surely the Crusaders will continue their unbeaten streak against the Bloemfontein Cheetahs and the Chiefs will be licking their lips for another easy win at home against the Sunwolves, so there’s no chance for any team to catch up to the tournament leaders this round.

With the Hurricanes resting, the Highlanders and the Blues will be desperate for a win to close the gap, if only slightly, on the New Zealand conference table.

The Stormers will be a difficult team to beat, but I can see the Highlanders sneaking to a home win. On paper the Blues should win against the Australian ponies, but this one is anyone’s game. It depends on who shows up – I am yet to see a convincing performance from the Blues, a side I expected to perform much better in 2017.

Is this the rise of the Kings? Surely they are out of the tournament with no chance of reaching the final stages, but one has to acknowledge the team from the Eastern Cape.

They still have a long way to go, but I think they showed everybody that they are on the right track. This is a team who are definitely tired of being written off before the start of the tournament.

Let’s forget how they got into the competition for a while and look at the type of rugby this side is playing. It is exciting to watch and they can cause an upset at any given time.

The Kings are back home this weekend with a lot of confidence after an away win against the Waratahs – surely a lot of you will say that the Waratahs are playing poorly and that it cannot be considered an impressive win, but this is the Kings we’re talking about. All in all, it’s still impressive. Watch this space, because the Rebels will have to play a very good game on Saturday if they want to beat this rising team on home soil.

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As for the rest of the action in round 10, the Reds will play Waratahs, which means we’re up for a very good Australian derby – or are we? These two teams might just show each other who’s playing worst at the moment, but they both still have a lot to play for.

The Force will have a tough time against title contenders from South Africa in the Lions, who will surely put another win on the record to move away from the inconsistent Sharks, who will have to play a much better game than they have so far against the Jaguares, who are back home. I think the Jaguares are playing better rugby at the moment and, although they normally like to play with only 13 or 14 men, they will still sneak a win at home.

I suspect a lot of the fans in Pretoria will be happy for a rest weekend – I know I’m definitely tired of watching inconsistent and poor rugby. They’ll have to take this bye week to get back to the drawing board, because if they don’t start impressing their brutal fans quickly, it will be a very silent Loftus for the rest of the tournament.

I’m glad the Bulls could manage a win against the Cheetahs last week, but it definitely isn’t enough to impress this Bulls fan.

So it should be an enjoyable weekend fo rugby all round — and watch out for those upsets…

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