Traditionally you would give this one to the Blues without a thought – this year however the Highlanders are firm favourites to take this one at home.
Recent results:
2011: Blues won 33-16, Auckland
2011: Blues won 15-10, Dunedin
2010: Blues won 19-15, Dunedin
2009: Blues won 26-6, Auckland
2008: Blues won 40-15, Dunedin
Teams:
Highlanders: 15 Tamati Ellison, 14 Kade Poki, 13 Phil Burleigh, 12 Shaun Treeby, 11 Hosea Gear, 10 Mike Delany, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Nasi Manu, 7 James Haskell, 6 Adam Thomson, 5 Jarrad Hoeata, 4 Josh Bekhuis, 3 Chris King, 2 Andrew Hore, 1 Jamie Mackintosh (captain).
Replacements: 16 Jason Rutledge, 17 Ma’afu Fia, 18 Doug Tietjens, 19 Culum Retallick, 20 Jimmy Cowan, 21 Chris Noakes, 22 Kurt Baker.
Blues: 15 Hadleigh Parkes, 14 George Moala, 13 Rene Ranger, 12 Ma’a Nonu, 11 Benson Stanley, 10 Gareth Anscombe, 9 Alby Mathewson, 8 Peter Saili, 7 Luke Braid (captain), 6 Chris Lowrey, 5 Filo Paulo, 4 Ali Williams, 3 Charlie Faumuina, 2 Tom McCartney, 1 Tony Woodcock.
Replacements: 16 James Parsons, 17 Tevita Mailau, 18 Liaki Moli, 19 Daniel Braid, 20 Piri Weepu, 21 Michael Hobbs, 22 David Raikuna.
Referee: Bryce Lawrence (New Zealand)
Assistant referees: Mike Fraser (New Zealand), Kane McBride (New Zealand)
TMO: Vinny Munro (New Zealand)
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April 20th, 2012 at 10:11 am
two kiwi teams have the treat of the kiwi ref of the year 2011 officiating
Love it!
Bwahahaha!
April 20th, 2012 at 10:12 am
Landers 13- 11 Blues 30min in
April 20th, 2012 at 10:23 am
Excellent game so far…
JT what bets you got for the rugby this weekend?
I’ve gone against history here and have Highlanders @ 2.70-1 (1-12 pts) and Reds @ 2.88-1 (1-12pts) so far…
Seriously thinking of punting a roughie with the Brumbies causing a major upset @ 6-1
April 20th, 2012 at 10:27 am
Reply to bryce_in_oz @ 10:23 am:
Couldn’t believe they gave such good odds for the Highlanders 1-12pts bet… must have either been a mistake or that the Landers would pump them?
April 20th, 2012 at 10:32 am
Reply to bryce_in_oz @ 10:23 am:
I have the Landers and Reds as well. Bwin is giving 6.25 for a Brumbies win… But I am surprised that the Chiefs are at 2.10 against the Sharks!?
Friday, April 20, 2012
11:40 AM
Reds 2.00
Stormers 1.75
Saturday, April 21, 2012
9:35 AM
Hurricanes 2.80
Crusaders 1.40
11:40 AM
Waratahs 1.12
Rebels 5.75
5:05 PM
Sharks 1.70
Chiefs 2.10
7:10 PM
Bulls 1.10
Brumbies 6.25
April 20th, 2012 at 10:42 am
Reply to JT_BOKBEFOK! @ 10:11 am:
Hmmm….i wonder if Bryce lives in Auckland…..
April 20th, 2012 at 10:44 am
Reply to JT_BOKBEFOK! @ 10:32 am:
Yep Chiefs is on the radar too… worth a punt there…
What’s with the PK after PK… if this carries onto the AB’s they’re in trouble come TRC!
April 20th, 2012 at 10:51 am
Kiwi commentators are simply the pits!
April 20th, 2012 at 10:54 am
Much better game now… excellent defence by Blues!
April 20th, 2012 at 11:03 am
Reply to bryce_in_oz @ 10:51 am:
Why? (Not watching).
Maybe they should take lessons
from Blades?
April 20th, 2012 at 11:07 am
Reply to Boertjie @ 11:03 am:
Not the sharpest tools in the box… jinx players at PK’s… just generally irritating saying ridiculous things… kind of like Warren Broshihan but without all the general knowledge…
Blades will always be a fav of mine…
However I’d currently take the Foxsports Aussie team (bar Marto) every single game… entertaining and call games how they should be with the right amount of humour and analysis…
April 20th, 2012 at 11:09 am
Mike Delany the 10 having a blinder… Kiwi’s have a lot of young 10′s coming through…
This game is going right down to the wire 30-27 Highlanders…
April 20th, 2012 at 11:15 am
We live again JT… Blues kick for touch rather than draw the game!
April 20th, 2012 at 11:16 am
30-27 Landers with 1m 30sec to go 5m scrum!
April 20th, 2012 at 11:17 am
‘Another’ re-set! 30 secs to go!
April 20th, 2012 at 11:18 am
Another one!
No more time… 5m out!
April 20th, 2012 at 11:18 am
PK!
Another scrum!
April 20th, 2012 at 11:21 am
Huge arm wrestle there in the maul… Lawrence calls it time overrrr…
Nice on JT we got that bet and I got 6 pts in RatRace (I think)!
April 20th, 2012 at 11:27 am
Reply to bryce_in_oz @ 11:07 am:
Blades my favourite too.
Just don’t like Brosnihan’s style
of delivery.
And I just CANNOT listen to the
Afrikaans commentaries.
April 20th, 2012 at 11:45 am
Reply to bryce_in_oz @ 11:21 am:
I only got 4 points (I think) in RR but nice doubling my money which always a good feeling
April 20th, 2012 at 12:06 pm
Good game which the commentators predicted. They said the Blues with 5 straight losses have lost the ability to close out close games whereas the Highlanders with all those never say die Southland boys can win the tight games.The commentators didnt piss me off but then I was watching in a country pub and all the local knowledge stuff like the Anzac Day tribute and the stuff about Gordon Hunter the coach after whom the cup is named is close to the hearts there.
Blues showed ticker. Their defence was good (a tad offside at times)and their scrums were damn good against a strong Highlanders scrum.
April 20th, 2012 at 1:30 pm
Blues v Reds next week