Venu: Eden Park, Auckland.
Kick-off Fri 1 Mar: 19:30 (Local)
1 Mar RSA 08:30
Referee: Chris Pollock (New Zealand)
Blues: 15. Charles Piutau, 14. Frank Halai, 13. Rene Ranger, 12. Francis Saili, 11. George Moala, 10. Chris Noakes, 9.Piri Weepu, 8. Peter Saili, 7. Luke Braid, 6. Steven Luatua, 5. Ali Williams, 4. Culum Retallick, 3. Charlie Faumuina, 2.James Parsons, 1. Tom McCartney. Bench: 16 Quentin MacDonald, 17 Angus Ta’avao, 18 Liaki Moli, 19 Brendon O’Connor, 20 Bryn Hall, 21 Baden Kerr. Unavailable: Keven Mealamu.
Crusaders: 15. Tom Taylor, 14. Adam Whitelock, 13. Robbie Fruean, 12. Ryan Crotty, 11. Israel Dagg ,10. Dan Carter, 9. Andy Ellis, 8. Kieran Read (c), 7. Matt Todd, 6. George Whitelock, 5. Samuel Whitelock, 4. Luke Romano, 3. Owen Franks, 2. Corey Flynn, 1. Wyatt Crockett. Bench: 16. Ben Funnell, 17. Joe Moody, 18. Dominic Bird , 19. Luke Whitelock, 20. Willi Heinz, 21. Tyler Bleyendaal, 22. Tom Marshall. Unavailable: Richie McCaw.
Previous results:
Blues: Away 35 – 41 Reds
Home 40 – 36 Waratahs
Neutral 31 – 29 Highlanders
Away 34 – 20 Hurricanes (most recent fixture).
Crusaders:
Home 26 – 27 Hurricanes
Away 21 – 38 Highlanders
Away 16 – 14 Waratahs (most recent fixture).
Betting: Outright: 17/10 v.s 1/2
Handicap: +5 v.s -5
The Blues kept up their great run of form derailing the Hurricanes’ hopes last weekend. Conversely the Crusaders’ are coming off a run of poor form having won only 1 of their last 3 outings and may have early season cobwebs being the only side coming off a bye. They do however have a lot of class and fire-power at their disposal which will be a great challenge against the newly found steel in the Blues camp.
Prediction: Warning, upset meter on high. We won’t be investing any money on the ‘Saders at the current pricing. Should be a close match going down to the wire.
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