I was just reading the local paper - Gold Coast Bulletin. XXXX Hill at Ballymore has been turned into the 'Don't go Sharpie' Hill for tonight's Reds vs Highlanders game. For the uninitiated, XXXX is Queensland beer - owned by Kiwis, but that's another story. The idea is that the fans will show their appreciation of Nathan Sharpe and he will be so pleased to see this outpouring of devotion that he won't head off to Perth next year. Well it's worth a try I suppose :)

Carlos Spencer might be crying tears in his beer - he's been sent to the bench for the Blues game against the Brumbies this weekend.

But let's get to the serious stuff - this week's tips. There's only 4 games this round, all the South African teams are enjoying a bye!

Round 6 Super 12 2005 Tips

Tonight:

Hurricanes vs Chiefs: Live 5.30pm on Foxsports. I'll have to the Canes on this one, I think they'll be just too good for the Chiefs who really have had some troubles this Super 12 season. The Hurricanes by 4

Reds vs Highlanders: Live 7.30pm on Foxsports. Oh boy.... the Highlanders were apparently training at our local club all week - if I had gone and locked them all in the change sheds until tomorrow then I could have confidently tipped the Reds for a win tonight :) But I of course didn't lock anybody up anywhere so.... while I really think I should be tipping the Highlanders, I'm going to hope that XXXX Hill will inspire the entire Reds team tonight. I'm also going to cross my fingers and tip the Reds by 1.


Tomorrow: (2nd April)

Blues vs Brumbies: Live 5.30pm on Foxsports. King Carlos dumped, Ali Williams banned... not a lot of joy in the Blues camp. On the other side Stirling Mortlock is back for the Brumbies, and Stephen Larkham just might be fit enough to play. I'm going the Brumbies by 6

Waratahs vs Crusaders: Live 7.30pm on Foxsports. This should be a cracker of a game! The Tahs will be keen to maintain their winning streak, and the Crusaders will be just as keen to give them a flogging in front of the Sydney crowd. Whichever team is the hungriest - especially at the breakdown should have the edge. I'm going for the Waratahs by 2.

Have a great rugby weekend :)

Wowee.. the Lions tour of the Shaky Isles this year is estimated to inject $250 million into the NZ economy. Our east island friends will be rich! :)

Young white South Africans are looking for Perth Super 14 selection. As we are all aware, there is a racial quota system for South African teams. It's hardly surprising that the quota system causes resentment amongst players. Players should be selected for teams based on their playing ability - not the colour of their skin. It's a complicated issue - does it need to be, given that we're now in the year 2005?

How scary is this pic of Nathan Sharpe? Yikes! I found that pic over at Foxsports.

Hansie's tips for Round 6 are over here.

Cheers!

Four Waratah players were injured at training yesterday. MacKay, Elsom, O'Young, and Mafi were all hurt when Ewen McKenzie unleashed.. er ran... the NSW A side against the Tahs. I'll bet I know what THOSE boys were thinking.. heh :) Mat Rogers is still out injured, and Dan Vickerman has an infected foot. A troubled crew they will be when they face the Crusaders this weekend. Eeek!

Elton Flatley will be watching the Reds take on the Highlanders from the sideline again this week. He's still suffering from the concussion he received when the Reds were belted by the Crusaders. Here's hoping Flats gets better soon!!

Cheers!

Good morning!

Well my smugness over my tipping lasted until the Brumbies played the Sharks in Durban. The Sharks won comfortably 36 - 24. Bugger! I had thought that the kerfuffle with the sacking of Shark's coach Kevin Putt during the week and the Sharks dismal losses thus far in Super 2005 meant they had about as much chance as winning as a three legged rottweiler in a greyhound race. The Shark's hero was their scrumhalf Ruan Pienaarscored who posted an individual 21 points.

At least the Waratahs had a good win :)

You can find Hansie's wrap up of Round 5 over here. I was just reading his comments about the 'man of the match' award. It is bit of a joke most of the time - and there are a lot of players in the engine room who don't get noticed. I think they're called forwards.. heh :)

Craig from Cairns picked all the winners in Round 5 - so he's our winner this week. Smarty pants!! <--- I'm just jealous :) Anyway Craig, drop me an email and I'll send out your $5 scratchie.

Here's the Super 12 Points Ladder as at the end of Round 5. The Tahs are clear leaders on 24 points, the Brumbies 6 points behind in second place. The Sharks' win got them off the bottom of the ladder, where the Chiefs now sit on 4 points.

Mat Rogers has revealed too much information for my liking - but if you want to know what's going on in his personal life you can read all about it over here. The abridged version of the story is: he's been drinking too much and it's contributed to his marriage breakdown and affected his public image so he's going to give up the grog.

Hope the Easter bunny was good to everyone yesterday :)