Rebels (+6.5)  v Stormers (-6.5) 

The Stormers travel to Melbourne to take on the Rebels in a last gasp bid to save their S15 season! The Stormers will need a miraculous end to their Super Rugby campaign if they are to sneak into the play-offs and anything less than a bonus point victory against the Rebels would be a failure. The Stormers are currently 8 points off the playoff places and were disappointing in their defeat to the Waratahs last weekend. The Stormers have made six changes to that side with Rynhardt Elstadt and Duane Vermeulen both out injured. Deon Fourie moves to flank and Nizaam Carr and Scarra Ntubeni get starts with Elton Jantjies preferred at flyhalf. The Rebels are 6 points behind the Stormers on the log and just playing for pride after their 4th consecutive defeat last weekend. The Rebels are without Kurtley Beale who has checked into rehad for Alcohol related issues and the unknown Bryce Hegarty makes a debut for the Rebels at 10. Looking at the betting and one must bear in mind that it is the Stormers last match of their overseas tour which has taken it’s toll on the men from Cape Town. Fatigue will be a factor but with the Rebels without their two stars in Beale and O’Connor, I am giving the Stormers the edge. I expect the Stormers to win by double digits and make the Stormers -6.5 one of the better bets this weekend.

Stats 
Head to Head 
Round 18, 2012 – Stormers 26 Rebels 21
Round 16, 2011- Rebels 3 Stormers 40

Form
Rebels (L,L,L,B,L) Stormers (L,L,W,B,W)

Bulls (-14.5)  v Highlanders (+14.5)

The Bulls take on the Highlanders at Loftus this weekend and the Top placed South African side will look to cement their spot with a bonus point victory as the target. The Bulls picked up 4 points for a bye last weekend and are sitting pretty with a 5 point lead in the SA Conference. The Bulls have been superb at home this season with 5 wins out of 5 in their back yard at an average winning score of 33-19. There most impressive performance to date came in Round 12 where they smashed the Hurricanes 48-14 in a one sided contest. The Highlanders could not build on their first win of the season and they went down to the Kings in PE. It was the Highlanders 9th loss of the season which has them firmly rooted to the bottom of the Super Rugby Table with just 16 points to show for their 10 matches played. The Bulls have 41 points which shows the gap between the sides in 2013! Looking at this clash and the Bulls have been given a handsome start by Voltbet with a handicap of -14.5. Onto the team news and Zane

Kirchner has not yet recovered from his finger operation and will spend one more week on the sidelines while Pierre Spies plays his 100th Super Rugby match for the Bulls and Morne Steyn is set to become the most capped Super Rugby player for the Franchise making his 117th appearance in the S15! The Highlanders had not named their team at the time of writing. Looking at the betting and the history between the sides and one would expect a game with plenty of points! The All-Time average score between the sides is 31-31 with an average of 62 points scored in each encounter. Anything over 56 points and I am getting on the Overs in the points market! I fancy the Bulls to dominate all areas of this match and expect them to cover both the Half-Time handicap of -7.5 and the Full-Time handicap. Go Bulle!

Stats 
Head to Head in Pretoria
Round 3, 2011 – Bulls 28 Highlanders 35
Round 5, 2010 – Bulls 50 Highlanders 35
Round 10, 2008 – Bulls 47 Highlanders 17
Round 5, 2006 – Bulls 23 Highlanders 16

Form
Bulls (B,W,W,W,W)
Highlanders (L,W,B,L,L)

Cheetahs (6/7) v Reds (10/11)

The Cheetahs host the Reds in a Saturday evening clash in Super Rugby. The Cheetahs were brought back down to Earth with a defeat at home against the Hurricanes last weekend which was a bit of a speed bump in an impressive season. The Cheetahs are 2nd in the SA Conference but 2 points off the playoff places and this is a must win for them, particularly as the match is in Bloemfontein. The Reds are 2nd on the Aussie Conference and 3rd on the Overall log standings after an impressive win against the Sharks last weekend where they dominated proceedings from the opening minute! The Reds have had to endure a 40-hour trip to the Free State but do have James Horwill back from his head knock. Jono Lance is the only doubt from the starting XV from last weekend. The Cheetahs are without Burton Francis for this clash so Elgar Watts starts in the flyhalf position. This should be a great match to watch with both teams able to through the ball around which should make for a classic free-running battle. Willie le Roux is the man to watch for the Cheetahs while Quade Cooper should spark the fireworks in the Reds team. This is a tough matchto call but I think the Reds travelling will have an adverse effect on the way they start this match and am tipping the Cheetahs to lead at Half-Time at odds of 8/9. The Cheetahs are off the back of a defeat and will be looking to bounce back while the could catch the Reds cold in the first 40 minutes.

Stats
Head to Head in Bloemfontein
Round 7, 2010 – Cheetahs 10 Reds 31
Round 8, 2008 – Cheetahs 29 Reds 14
Round 7, 2006 – Cheetahs 10 Reds 6

Form
Reds (W,D,W,D,W)
Cheetahs (L,B,W,W,L)

Waratahs (-1.5) v Stormers (+1.5)

The Waratahs welcome the Stormers to Sydney in an interesting clash of Round 13. The Tahs absolutely demolished the fatigued Kings in PE last weekend, running in 11 tries in the process. The win put the Tahs 8^th on the combined log, 5 points behind the 6^th placed Cheetahs. The Stormers were patchy in their match against the Blues and narrowly lost out despite outscoring their Auckland opponents 2 tries to 0. Elton Jantjies made a hash of the last minute drop goal to the despair of Allistair Coetzee and his troops who are 6 points behind the Cheetahs in the SA Conference. The Stormers have made one change to their line-up with Eben Etzebeth returning which is a boost. The Tahs had not announced their side at the time of writing but are still without Berrick Barnes and Drew Mitchell. Looking at this clash and its understandable why the Waratahs are slight favourites as they have won 4 of their 5 matches in Sydney this season. The Waratahs have also notched up 31 tries in 2013 while the Stormers have only managed 17 tries! The Stormers are far better defensively having conceded 11 tries this season while the Waratahs have let in a whopping 25 tries! The Stormers will need to keep their defensive structures and the return of Etzebeth will definitely help. I fancy the Stormers to grind out an ugly victory on Saturday and will take the Stormers +1.5 as a precaution. I will also have a small stab on the Stormers to win by 1 to 5 points at 9/2.

Stats
Head to Head in Sydney
Round 8, 2009 – Waratahs 12 Stormers 6
Round 7, 2007 – Waratahs 10 Stormers 16
Round 4, 2005 – Waratahs 25 Stormers 10
Round 5, 2003 – Waratahs 29 Stormers 39

Form
Waratahs (L,W,L,W,W)
Stormers (L,W,B,W,L)

Kings (+7.5)  v Highlanders (-7.5)

The Battle of the basement takes place on Saturday evening when the Highlanders travel to PE to take on the Kings. The Kings suffered their first humiliating defeat of the season last weekend as the Waratahs gave them a pasting, running in 11 tries. It was a woeful performance for the men from PE and their 3^rd successive defeat which has them bottom of the SA Conference. The Kings are still above the Highlanders on the log standings though. The Highlanders snapped an 8 game losing streak last weekend as they managed to edge the Sharks in a thriller in Dunedin. The Sharks had a healthy half-time lead but the Highlanders hit back with some superb running rugby . The Highlanders were desperate for the win and that should lift them going into this clash. The Highlanders will also take confidence in the manner of the Kings defeat last weekend and their backline is set for a field day, despite the injury to Ma’a Nonu. Luke Watson returns to the starting line-up for the Kings but Jacques Engelbrecht and Sergeal Petersen are out as they have BabyBoks duty. I really fancy the Highlanders to compound matters for the Kings and win this match comfortably. The Highlanders have showed glimpses of brilliance on attack this season with their defensive structures letting them down in most of their defeats. The Highlanders have a far superior backline and that will be the difference between the sides. I fancy a fairly sized bet on the Highlanders -7.5 on the full-time handicap and a medium sized bet on the Highlanders -3.5 on the half-time handicap.

Stats
Head to Head
First meeting between sides

Form
Kings (L,L,L,W,D)
Highlanders (W,B,L,L,L,)

Reds (-5.5) v Sharks (+5.5)

The Reds take on the Sharks at Suncorp Stadium on Friday and will be looking to get a win under their belts after two draws in their last three matches. The Reds have dropped to 2^nd in the Aussie Conference, just 2 points behind the Brumbies. The Sharks have lost 3 consecutive games on the trot and are battling to put a starting XV together! The Sharks are tie 3^rd on the SA Conference log and trail the 2^nd placed Bulls by 8 points. The Sharks will take confidence from their last visit to Brisbane where they put in their performance of 2012, beating the reigning Champs 30-17 in their own backyard. The Sharks injury list grew last weekend with Frans Steyn and Craig Burden joining the crowded sick bay! JP Pietersen moves to centre which enables Piet Lindeque to get his 2^nd start on the wing. Jannie du Plessis gets a rest with Wiehann Herbst coming in at tighthead. JC van Rensburg starts at loosehead and Jean Deysel starts at flank. The Reds welcome Rod Davies back to their starting line-up making up a formidable trio with Ioane and Lance in the backline. Looking at this clash, the Reds will be disappointed with their draw last weekend and will be looking to keep their excellent home record in tact while the Sharks are low on confidence and far from their best starting XV. The Genia/Cooper pairing gets better with each game and this looks like a match where the Reds halfback pair could flourish. I expect the Reds to run riot against the Sharks and expect them to win by double figures making the Reds -5.5 on the handicap the standout bet for Friday!

Stats
Head to Head in Brisbane
Eliminator, 2012 – Reds 17 Sharks 30
Round 5, 2009 – Reds 25 Sharks 13
Round 10, 2007 – Reds 16 Sharks 59
Round 9, 2005 – Reds 30 Sharks 25

Form
Reds (D,W,D,W,B)
Sharks (L,L,L, W,B)

Cheetahs (-7..5) v Hurricanes (+7..5)

The High-Flying Cheetahs take on the Hurricanes in a key clash on Friday Night. The Cheetahs are coming off a BYE weekend and are 2^nd in the SA Conference and 6^th on the Combined Super Rugby Table. The Cheetahs have been the surprise package in the SA Conference and will fancy their chances this weekend against a Canes side that got thumped by the Bulls last time out. The Canes are 4^th on the NZ Log and in 11^th spot on the Combined Table.  The team news for this clash for the Cheetahs is that Frans Viljoen comes in for the injured Lappies Labuschagne and the big news in the Canes camp is that inspirational centre, Conrad Smith is out after his concussion last weekend. Looking at the betting and a standout bet would be going over on the points total as this clash has a history of being high scoring as both sides play good running rugby. An average of 59 points has been scored in Bloem when these sides meet so I will be looking into the total points market before kick-off! The handicap of Cheetahs -7.5 is appealing as the Canes have lost 3 of their 4 away matches this season by an average margin of 20 points! The loss of Smith is massive for the Canes as his leadership qualities will be sorely missed. The Canes have also been far to inconsistent to be backed while the Cheetahs have showed power in their forward pack and quality ball by their backs. Willie le Roux has been a standout player for the Cheetahs this season and he should continue his form which should give the Cheetahs a double digit victory. Cheetahs -7.5 looks a cracker of a bet!

Stats
Head to Head in Bloemfontein
Round 9, 2011 – Cheetahs 47 Hurricanes 50
Round 4, 2010 – Cheetahs 28 Hurricanes 12
Round 11, 2008 – Cheetahs 10 Hurricanes 38
Round 4, 2006 – Cheetahs 27 Hurricanes 25

Form
Cheetahs (B,W,W,L,W)
Hurricanes (L,L,W,L,W)