So much for my Bulls over the Blues tip!! The Blues played a fine game against the South African Bulls in Albany last night to win 56-19. Carlos Spencer was at his five eighth best, controlling the play and guiding his team to victory. The try of the match would have to go to David Gibson - but the try was a true team effort. 75m from the try line, Carlos Spencer got the ball fom a quick throw in. He tossed the ball over to Muliaina, backed up and Rokocoko supported. Eventually Gibson went in for the try. Awesome stuff!

The Brumbies were also in fine form last night and thumped the Highlanders 50-18 in Canberra. The Highlanders didn't really get going in the match - no doubt they'll have some soul searching to do at the end of this Super 12 season. George Gregan - who sat on the bench at the start of the game, was brought in during the 55th minute, and once he was on the field the Brumbies ignited. Nice going guys!

Tonight we have the Reds playing the Stormers in Brissie, and later on the Sharks - Crusaders game from Durban is on. 11pm AEST - that's 1am Kiwi time? I'm confused... I don't know if daylight saving is still happening in the Southern states or across the Tasman. Anyway, check your local guides - Foxsports 2 has the Reds game on at 7.30pm and the Sharks game at 10.55pm. By the time that's over - all those receiving Easter eggs in the morning should be asleep so the Easter bunny can visit :)

Have a good 'un!

Round 8. Oh boy, tips for this week are difficult! But, I shall continue to make a twat of myself this week...

Here goes:

The Bulls over the Blues in Albany - surely all that Gold Coast sunshine has super charged the Bulls :) Actually, I think this game could go either way.
Brumbies over the Highlanders in Canberra - home ground advantage and the Highlanders haven't been performing to the best of their ability this Super 12.
Stormers over the Reds in Brisbane tomorrow night - I think the Stormers have been playing fabulously (hope I'm wrong though).
Sharks over the Crusaders in Durban - another flip of the coin choice :)
And last but not least... the Chiefs over the Cats in Durban.

Yep well, as per usual, we'll just have to wait and see how the games go.

Have a safe and enjoyable Easter everyone!

Cheers!

David Nucifora has benched George Gregan for tonight's game against the Highlanders in Canberra. His replacement as starter will be Matt Henjak who's making his Super 12 starting debut. Interesting move by Nucifora!

Worcester rugby union club in England has offered five-eighth Stephen Larkham - who's been back in great form for the last few months - almost $2.5 million to play for them over three years. The deal, if Larkham accepts it, will make him the highest paid Australian rugby player. Great news for Larkham, who many had written off prior to last year's RWC. I'd hate to see him go, but that sure is a lot of $$ - take the money and run Bernie :)

Well, it would seem that my beloved Brumbies players have indeed been wielding the power at their club since its inception in 1996 when the game went professional. The whole idea of players telling the coach what to do seems very arse about face to me, and in my opinion it's disappointing. Why not just get rid of the whole coaching team then - that'll save some dollars and the players can work it all out for themselves next year :)

Tips coming in a tick...

Sometimes you just have to think What the *&$# ??? David Nucifora who has been at the helm of the Brumbies for the last three years since Eddie Jones left, was yesterday given the boot by the ACT rugby union bosses - effective at the end of this season. What a seemingly odd decision! Nucifora coached the Brumbies to the final of the Super 12s in 2002, the semi-finals last year, and in 2004 the Brumbies are top of the ladder after 7 rounds. So go figure...

I heard on the news this morning that it's rumoured that he wasn't getting on with some of the senior Wallaby playing Brumbies and that they felt that some of their power had been taken away and wanted it back. Now that could very well be a crock of crap but there's got to be at least ONE good reason why the board decided to oust Nucifora. If they don't feel like sharing it with the rugby public, let's hope that at least they give Nucifora a heads up. Sheesh!

Michael Jones - the awesome ex-All Black, has been appointed head coach for Samoa - look out for them in a bit!

The IRB released some RWC 2003 stats yesterday according to our local rag, the Gold Coast Bulletin:
1987 (first RWC) there were 16 unions - 2003 there were 83
Gate: 1987 - 600,000 and in 2003 - 1,900,000
TV audience: 1987 - 300 million, and in 2003 - 3,400 million
In 2003 each team received at least $362,000, the quarter-finalists $603,000 and the semi-finalists $724,000! That's some serious dosh, better keep my boys playing :))

Better start thinking about this week's tips I suppose.... there's some curly ones this week - again! heh.

Later!

Brumbies' lock David Giffin will miss the Brumbies Highlander clash on Friday as he injured his lower back in the game against the Crusaders. Samo is tipped to take his place.

The Reds' Wendell Sailor has a suspected clot! The Reds leave for SA in in less than two weeks. If Sailor has a clot - he almost certainly won't be going. Clots aren't something to take lightly - get better Wendell!

The Chief's hooker - Tom Willis (a Highlander defector 2004) also has injury worries. He apparently requires surgery for an acute prolapsed disc which he got while playing against his old home team last weekend. Let's wish him a speedy recovery - the Chiefs will miss him!

Meanwhile, for those of you interested in sevens news - South Africa won the Singapore Sevens last Sunday over Argentina 24-19. Wish I was there!

That's it for a bit!

Yes, well another Monday morning where I'm left with egg on my face after the Super 12 games of the weekend! The Crusaders totally dominated and walloped the Brumbies 47 - 28 at Jade stadium on Saturday afternoon. At least the Brumbies picked up a bonus point for scoring 4 tries.

The Hurricanes - Reds clash in Wellington failed to deliver any surprises with the Canes winning 29-12. I stopped watching when the halftime score was 19-0.... argh! It just goes from bad to worse for the Reds.

Meanwhile, over in Durban, the Sharks had an easy win over the Cats 42 - 28.

The Blues managed to beat the Waratahs in Auckland yesterday afternoon 22-17. Joe Rokocoko was a stand out player for the Blues, and although the Tahs lost, the game was tight right up until the final hooter, and the Blues looked relieved once the full time whistle blew.

Went down to the local club yesterday morning to check on a couple of things - turns out the Bulls were there having a training run!! Thanks guys for signing autographs for the kids :))

Okay - better go update the ladder.

Cheers!