The Blues beat the Crusaders 38-29 in Christchurch last night. The big Fijian winger Caucaunibuca put down three tries, and glamor boy flyhalf Carlos Spencer scored two tries as well as four conversions. Muliaina also scored for the Blues giving the Blues 6 tries (and a bonus point) to the Crusaders 3 tries - coming from Reuben Thorne, Blair and Carter.

It was good to see the Blues playing positive football by opting to go for the sideline rather than the goal posts when it came to penalties. That's what we like to see!!

The Brumbies were brilliant again this week whipping the cats 68-28 in Canberra. Thirty minutes into the game, the Brumbies had scored 6 tries and went on to score 4 more before the full time whistle blew. Larkham kept his form from last week and made a pile of line breaks, Giteau was great, and Mortlock was his tough defending self. David Nucifora would also have to be pleased with Jeremy Paul and Samo's games as well. Nice going guys!

Today we see the Waratahs take on the Sharks in Sydney, and I guess we'll see how the Reds go tonight! Josh Valentine has been passed to play - Yay!! He's matched against Byron Kelleher who this year is playing for the Chiefs. Strange to see him out of his Highlander colours...

I'll have to stay up all night to watch the South African games, but it's all good!

An interesting Super 12 statistic (found it at foxsports.com.au)... Since the tournament began, no team that has lost its first two matches has gone on to win or even to make the final! Wonder how the Blues and Crusaders feel about that? heh.. yes I know the Reds lost their first game as well.. :O anyway, just thought I'd throw that in!

hmmmm.. might need a Kiwi or a Sth African here to tell us what they think about Super 12. Any volunteers - send me an email.

Also - don't forget to signup for the footy tipping comp. It's free to join :) You can do that Here right now!

Reds fans keep your fingers crossed! Josh Valentine injured himself and mightn't make the game tomorrow night.. ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

Damn it where has this week gone? sheesh!

Good news on the Steve Kefu front. The ARU has cleared him to play this Saturday night's game against the Chiefs at Ballymore in Brisbane. Thank you ARU for showing common sense. The IRB still has to receive a report on the matter from the ARU and decide whether they agree with the ARU's finding that Kefu took the banned substance on medical grounds rather than competitive. Surely - I can't see how they could find otherwise. Great to hear the Kefu is well enough to play as well :)

The Queensland Red's coach Jeff Miller has made three lineup changes for the game this Saturday. Front-rowers Tai McIsaac (who plays here on the Gold Coast) and Angus Scott have been given the boot in favour of Sean Hardman and Anthony Mathison. Steve Kefu will be at inside centre in place of Tim Atkinson. Good luck guys!

Other confirmed rugby news this week is that the men in skirts (aka the Scottish team) will be out here later in the year for two matches so pencil them in your diaries. Match one will be in Melbourne at Docklands stadium on June 13, the second in Sydney at Olympic stadium on June 19 - 7pm kick off.

Righto well Melbourne and Sydney can host the Scots, the biggie test this year will be between Australia and England at Suncorp stadium in Brisbane on June 26. Cool!

Super 12 games this weekend see the Crusaders playing the Blues in Christchurch at 7.35pm local time kick off. Let's hope the Crusaders give the Jade stadium crowd something to cheer about this week, and that Daniel Carter has shaved off that moustache :) Also on Friday night the Brumbies take on the Cats down in Canberra with a 7.40pm local time kick off. The Brumbies team is unchanged from the powerhouse lineup of last week - 9 wallabies in the team!

Make sure you've got plenty of coldies in the fridge for another super Saturday of super 12.
The Waratahs take on the Sharks in Sydney at 5pm (local time), the Reds as I mentioned earlier take on the Chiefs in Brisbane at 8pm (my time - Qld time). The Highlanders have headed over to Cape Town and face the Stormers at 5.05pm - that should be a good game based on both teams' performances last weekend, and the Bulls verse the Hurricanes in Pretoria at 7.10pm. I'm hoping the Hurricanes get up - I like the Hurricanes, oh OKAY I like Tana Umaga :) The Canes should get up though!

Our neighbours in the northern hemisphere aren't playing any 6 nations games this weekend - in fact, after their first two rounds they have a break until the first week in March, so we'll just let them train :)

Okay - better go put my tips in for this week. And they would be... Crusaders, Brumbies, Waratahs, Reds (call me optimistic), Highlanders, and the Hurricanes. If you are a serious tipster you can stop laughing at my picks about now

Well, that's it until the weekend. Enjoy week 2 of Super 12.

Go REDS :)

What a fantastic Saturday of super 12 for the Aussies! The Waratahs walloped the Crusaders over in Christchurch on Saturday afternoon beating them 43-19 and picking up a bonus point. No doubt the hoodoo the Waratahs suffered when the Crusaders beat them on their last visit to Christchurch in 2002 a humiliating 96-19 (I don't want to remember that game) has been broken. And in what style they did it! Mat Rogers potted 9/9 kicks over the posts and scored as well. (It'd be nice though if somebody would mail the boys a pack of razors - that goatee Mat, that beard Brendon.. )

The Brumbies/Blues game later in the day was awesome! Many, including myself, had some serious doubts about how well the Brumbies were going to perform, and the Blues are fantastic. But - boy oh boy the Brumbies came out hammering. Stephen Larkham played like Larkham of old. He was everywhere and scored an amazing try when he leapt into the air to grab the ball over the tryline. Nice one Bernie! Matt Giteau was also outstanding, but so were most of the guys out there on the paddock. Stirling Mortlock appeared to be relishing his new captaincy role and David Nucifora, the new coach, would have to have been pleased with the efforts from Clyde Rathbone and Guy Shepherson. Rathbone, making his super 12 debut had to handle Caucau - that huge Fijian winger who plays for the Blues. Caucau got through on one occasion, but Rathbone didn't let him past again. Super stuff! 44-27 full time score giving the Brumbies a bonus point as well :)

In the middle of all that - the Chiefs downed the Hurricanes 19-7 in Hamilton in a match that was rather uneventful and not all that exciting to watch. The poms continue their winning streak meanwhile in the six nations beating Scotland 35-13 while France trounced Italy 25-0.

Hopefully Steve Kefu will be cleared over the next few days by the IRB to play. I hope his recovery continues strongly.

Okies - that's it for today!