All times Houston
Tomorrow, Fri 22 Feb
Highlanders v Chiefs 00:35
Rebels v Brumbies 02:40
Bulls v Stormers 11:10
Sat 23 Feb
Hurricanes v Blues 00:35
Reds v Waratahs 02:40
Cheetahs v Sharks 09:05
Southern Kings v Force 11:10
The best picture on internet last year was www.kostatz.webs.com
He will give you a password when you make a donation.
I don't know how he does it, but it is almost as if you were watching on TV.
He must have state of the art computer equipment.
I donate $5 a month. I am really grateful for the quality of the coverage. But a single payment of $5 for whole season should suffice
Click on donate and you'll go through Paypal.
If you don't have a paypal account, I'm sure there is a way of donating via credit card.
Once again Wiziwig and vipbox are the 2 main places to watch for free.
If you have Direct TV, check to see if it is available.
I'll find out soon and post.
One of the satellite companies usually coverage. This is the way Kostatz gets his feed as he lives in Lake Tahoe.
Another good site is on vipbox.tv
It is a 24/7 rugby channel out of New Zealand
http://www.vipbox.tv/rugby/136237/1/rugby-tv-24x7-live-stream-online.html
You can find the schedule here;
http://www.skysport.co.nz/
go to rugby channel.
Lots of replays here. So, if you miss a game go here.
It doesn't get any better.
Super Rugby 2013 Round 2 is sure to be a cracker with last weekend's Australian conference only matches barely enough to whet the appetite. There are seven matches in Super Rugby 2013 Round 2 and despite being a tipster of some repute, several of these matches are tough to call. The early rounds are often tight with local derby matches and all teams are relatively fresh before the lack of depth of some squads is exposed.
Highlanders vs Chiefs
The Super Rugby 2013 action kicks off in Dunedin at the flash new Forsyth Barr Stadium infront of a packed crowd of students back from the University holidays. The Highlanders have been bolstered by the old All Blacks stars like Tony Woodcock and Ma'a Nonu to add some experience to their team. This match will be a typical tussle between the galant Highlanders who play with plenty of mongrel and the Super Rugby 2012 champions. Both teams are missing players, with All Blacks hooker Andrew Hore suspended and fellow All Blacks Tamati Ellison and Brad Thorn also missing. The Chiefs have been hit by a backline especially ravaged by injuries and when you consider that they won't have gamebreakers like Richard Kahui, Sonny Bill Williams, Sona Taumalolo, Robbie Robinson and Andrew Horrell then they may struggle. In saying this, they have some exciting young players who excelled at ITM Cup level like Bundee Aki, Gareth Anscombe and Tim Nanai-Williams who will keep the Highlanders on their toes. The battle between the Number 9s will be awesome, while John Hardie must rise to the challenge of All Black Sam Cane and get to the breakdowns or else the Highlanders may not see much possession. The Highlanders need to get back to nailing their set pieces like they always used to, this will enable Ben Smith and new skipper Hosea Gear a chance to cut loose at the back.
Teams
Highlanders
1. Tony Woodcock , 2. Brayden Mitchell , 3. Ma'afu Fia , 4. Jarrad
Hoeata (vc) , 5. Josh Bekhuis , 6. Joe Wheeler , 7. John Hardie , 8.
Nasi Manu , 9. Aaron Smith , 10. Lima Sopoaga , 11. Hosea Gear (c) , 12.
Ma'a Nonu , 13. Phil Burleigh , 14. Kade Poki , 15. Ben Smith
Replacements :16. Liam Coltman , 17. Bronson Murray , 18. Elliot
Dixon , 19. Tim Boys , 20. Fumiaki Tanaka , 21. Hayden Parker , 22.
Buxton Popoalii
Chiefs
1. Pauliasi Manu, 2. Hika Elliot, 3. Ben Afeaki, 4. Craig Clarke (c) ,
5. Brodie Retallick, 6. Liam Messam, 7. Sam Cane, 8. Fritz Lee, 9.
Tawera Kerr-Barlow, 10. Aaron Cruden, 11. Asaeli Tikoirotuma, 12. Bundee
Aki, 13. Tim Nanai-Williams, 14. Patrick Osborne , 15. Gareth Anscombe
16. Rhys Marshall, 17. Ben Tameifuna, 18. Michael Fitzgerald, 19.
Tanerau Latimer, 20. Augustine Pulu, 21. Charlie Ngatai, 22. Lelia
Masaga
Players to watch - Aaron Cruden, Liam Messam, Lima Sopoaga, Ma'a Nonu, Brodie Retallick, Joe Wheeler, Hosea Gear.
My pick - Highlanders by 5
Rebels vs Brumbies
Both of these teams won last week and so they are fighting for the top of the table in the Australian conference. The Brumbies were the more impressive side last week and should win, but the Rebels have that handful of stars who will make life tough for the visitors. This game also threatens to be quite close, although I think if the impressive Jesse Mogg has anything to do with it, then the Brumbies should win.
Teams
Rebels
15. James O'Connor , 14. Lachlan Mitchell , 13. Mitch Inman , 12. Rory Sidey
, 11. Richard Kingi , 10. Kurtley Beale , 9. Nick Phipps , 8. Gareth Delve (c)
, 7. Scott Fuglistaller , 6. Scott Higginbotham , 5. Luke Jones , 4. Hugh Pyle
, 3. Laurie Weeks , 2. Ged Robinson , 1. Nic Henderson
Replacements : 16. Shota Horie , 17. Paul Alo-Emile , 18. Cadeyrn Neville ,
19. Jarrod Saffy , 20. Nic Stirzaker , 21. Alex Rokobaro , 22. Tom English
Brumbies
1. Ben Alexander , 2. Stephen Moore , 3. Dan Palmer , 4. Scott Fardy , 5.
Sam Carter , 6. Peter Kimlin , 7. David Pocock , 8. Ben Mowen (c) , 9. Nic White
, 10. Matt Toomua , 11. Clyde Rathbone , 12. Christian Lealiifano , 13. Andrew
Smith , 14. Joe Tomane , 15. Jesse Mogg
Replacements , 16. Siliva Siliva , 17. Scott Sio , 18. Fotu Auelua , 19. Colby
Faingaa , 20. Ian Prior , 21. Robbie Coleman , 22. Tevita Kuridrani
Players to watch - Stephen Moore, Hugh Pyle, James O'Connor, Scott Higginbotham and Jesse Mogg.
My pick - Brumbies by 10 or more.
Bulls vs Stormers
The battle between two traditional heavyweights the Bulls and the Stormers will be a great match. The Stormers are the most fancied South African side, up against the Bulls team which has lost some of the players which made it such a great side in the past. The Stormers will be missing Schalk Burger, but should be too strong for the Bulls. The Bulls offer limited attack and both teams have massive forward packs, so this will be a tight match.
Overall the Stormers have a winning percentage over the Bulls of 56%
and the Bulls have lost 39% of their matches against the Stormers. There
was also a 19-all draw between the teams in 2000 in Cape Town.
In Pretoria the Bulls have hosted the Stormers nine times and won
four times. That means that the Bulls have also lost 56% of their
matches against the Stormers at home.
The average score when the Bulls play the Stormers in Pretoria is Bulls 28 Stormers 22.
Worryingly for the Bulls is that the Stormers have won their last two
matches against the Bulls at Loftus and the last time they lost in
Pretoria was in March 2009.
The Bulls have named a team which heavily relies on experience. They have depth this year as well as experience.
Bulls loosehead Morne Mellett and Stormers inside centre Damian de Allende will be making their Super Rugby debuts.
The 2013 Stormers have experience and a little bit of flair with the
addition of Elton Jantjies and a couple of other new additions such as
Jaco Taute and both have been named in the starting line up.
On paper the Stormers look to be the slightly stronger team.
Teams
Bulls
Zane Kirchner, Lionel Mapoe, JJ Engelbrecht, Wynand Olivier, Bjorn
Basson , Morne Steyn, Francois Hougaard, Pierre Spies (c), Dewald
Potgieter, Deon Stegmann, Juandre Kruger, Flip van der Merwe,Werner
Kruger, Chiliboy Ralepelle, Morne Mellett.
Replacements: Willie Wepener Frik Kirsten, Grant Hattingh, Arno Both, Jano Vermaak, Louis Fouche, Francois Venter.
Stormers
15. Jaco Taute , 14. Gio Aplon , 13. Jean de Villiers (captain) , 12.
Damian de Allende , 11. Bryan Habana , 10. Elton Jantjies , 9. Nic
Groom , 8. Duane Vermeulen , 7. Rynhardt Elstadt , 6. Siya Kolisi , 5.
Andries Bekker , 4. De Kock Steenkamp , 3. Pat Cilliers , 2. Deon Fourie
, 1. Steven Kitshoff
Replacements : 16. Martin Bezuidenhout , 17. Frans Malherbe , 18. Don
Armand , 19. Nizaam Carr , 20. Dewaldt Duvenage , 21. Gerhard van den
Heever , 22. Joe Pietersen
Players to watch - Deon Fourie, Jaco Taute, Siya Kolisi, Elton Jantjies, Bryan Habana, Juandre Kruger, Morne Steyn, Pierre Spies.
My pick - Stormers by 5.
Hurricanes vs Blues
Interestingly, the Blues start Saturday night's game against a team which was in a similar position to them last year. This is year two of the new era for the Hurricanes against the Blues who are in the first year of a new cycle. The Hurricanes were one of the best attacking teams last season, while the Blues have plenty of gamebreakers. The Hurricanes are favourites for this game, but the Blues have had a promising preseason and so this game could be high scoring. Watch for some bargains in the Blues, while the Hurricanes players like Dane Coles, Beauden Barrett, Victor Vito, Julian Savea and Andre Taylor could score plenty of points.
There are four players in the Blues team for this weekend that will
be making their Super Rugby debut but Piri Weepu will win his 100th
Super Rugby cap and Rene Ranger will play in his 50th Super Rugby match.
The Hurricanes on the other hand have a similar look to the team that
played last year but with a few changes such as Ben Franks coming in to
the starting line up.
Blues coach John Kirwan said earlier this week that the Blues are a
work in progress and it will take time for them to become the team they
once were.
The Hurricanes and the Blues are both in a rebuilding phase but the
Hurricanes are building on last year's progress while the Blues are
starting from fresh. The Hurricanes will also have home advantage.
Teams
Hurricanes
1. Ben Franks,2. Dane Coles,3. Ben May,4. Jeremy Thrush,5. Jason
Eaton,6. Victor Vito,7. Karl Lowe,8. Brad Shields,9. TJ Perenara,10.
Beauden Barrett,11. Julian Savea,12. Tim Bateman,13. Conrad Smith
(c),14. Alapati Leiua,15. Andre Taylor
Replacements : 16. Ash Dixon,17. Reggie Goodes,18. Mark Reddish,19.
Faifili Levave,20. Chris Smylie,21. James Marshall,22. Reynold Lee-Lo
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 (C),4. Culum Retallick,3.
Charlie Faumuina,2. James Parsons,1. Tom McCartney
Replacements :16. Quentin MacDonald,17. Angus Ta'avao,18. Liaki
Moli,19. Brendon O'Connor,20. Bryn Hall,21. Baden Kerr,22. Jackson
Willison
Tough game to pick for me. Bookies have given Blues a 6pt start.
My pick - The Hurricanes by 2
Players to watch - Julian Savea, Andre Taylor, Conrad Smith, Beauden Barrett, Alapati Leiua, Dane Coles, Victor Vito, Charles Piutau, Frank Halai, Francis Saili, Steven Luatua, Keven Mealamu.
Reds vs Waratahs
The Reds were disappointing last week and will be missing James Horwill and Will Genia. These local derbies are tough encounters and it will be interesting to see the new look Waratahs playing a new brand of rugby. The Waratahs will have more potential than in the past with the performance of Israel Folau a talking point. I think the Reds will miss the direction of Genia and Horwill and so far Quade Cooper hasn't done anything to suggest that he can fill their leadership shoes.
The Waratahs have a new playing style for this Super Rugby season and they
have a couple of new players. The highest profile new player in the Waratahs
line up is code hopper Israel Folau.
Folau is a dangerous player with the ball but has had little time in Rugby
Union so the Reds may put him under pressure in certain situations.
The Reds will still be without their star No.9 Will Genia this week and last
week the Brumbies nullified Quade Cooper by making sure the Reds got little
playable ball. The forwards know they will have to step up this week.
Last week the Waratahs had a bye which gives the Reds a significant advantage
as they will be up to speed in Super Rugby while the Waratahs will be less familiar
with each other and their new game plan.
Bookies have given Waratahs a 1 pt start. I think that is about right given they are playing away. I normally say the team playing at home is worth 5 pts. So, the fact that Tahs only have a 1 pt start suggests bookies believe Tahs have a good chance.
Teams
Reds
1. Greg Holmes,2. Saia Faingaa,3. James Slipper (c),4. Ed O'Donoghue,5. Rob
Simmons,6. Eddie Quirk ,7. Liam Gill,8. Jake Schatz,9. Ben Lucas,10. Quade Cooper,11.
Digby Ioane,12. Ben Tapuai (vc),13. Chris Feauai-Sautia,14. Dom Shipperley,15.
Mike Harris
Replacements : 16. James Hanson,17. Albert Anae,18. Adam Wallace-Harrison,19.
Jarrad Butler,20. Nick Frisby,21. Jono Lance,22. Luke Morahan
Waratahs
15. Israel Folau ,14. Drew Mitchell ,13. Adam Ashley-Cooper ,12. Tom Carter
,11. Tom Kingston ,10. Bernard Foley,,9. Brendan McKibbin ,8. Wycliff Palu ,7.
Michael Hooper ,6. Dave Dennis (c),5. Kane Douglas ,4. Sitaleki Timani ,3. Sekope
Kepu ,2. Tatafu Polota-Nau ,1. Jeremy Tilse
Replacements:16. John Ulugia ,17. Benn Robinson ,18. Paddy Ryan , 19. Mitchell
Chapman ,20. Lopeti Timani ,21. Matt Lucas ,22. Ben Volavola
My pick - Waratahs by 2.
Players to watch - Sitaleki Timani, Drew Mitchell, Israel Folau, Tatafu Polota-Nau, Digby Ioane, Saia Faingaa.
Cheetahs vs Sharks
The Cheetahs are always entertaining with their attacking style of play but their defence has let them down in recent seasons. The Sharks should win this game given that they are one of the favourites for the overall title, but derby matches can provide the underdogs with the incentive they need. The Cheetahs have enough quality players to keep the Sharks honest.
Just about every statistic from the Cheetahs and Sharks history points to the Sharks winning.
Both teams have said how well their preparations have gone in the
pre-season and both teams have lost high profile players to injury.
Last season the Cheetahs finished in 10th place while the Sharks reached the final.
Since last year the Cheetahs have lost Sias Ebersohn (Western Force),
flanker Ashley Johnson (London Wasps), lock George Earl (Scarlets),
prop WP Nel (Edinburgh) and centre Andries Strauss.
There have been a couple of new signings in former Boland flyhalf
Elgar Watts and former Bulls centre Johann Sadie but no new big name
players.
The Cheetahs will be aiming to improve on last year's final position but they shouldn't threaten too many of the bigger teams.
The Sharks have recruited Butch James and lock Franco van der Merwe
for this season and have lost Ross Skeate and Steven Sykes and Frenchman
Frederic Michalak.
Overall the Sharks have not lost too much but they do have a lot more
experience having reached the final. They should worry a lot of teams
and should be challenging for the South African Conference title if not
the Super Rugby title.
Bookies have given Cheetahs a 6 pt start which is about right.
Teams
Sharks
Louis Ludik, JP Pietersen, Paul Jordaan, Francois Steyn (captain),
Lwazi Mvovo, Patrick Lambie, Cobus Reinach, Ryan Kankowski, Marcell
Coetzee, Jacques Botes, Franco van der Merwe, Anton Bresler, Jannie du
Plessis, Craig Burden, Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements: Kyle Cooper, Wiehahn Herbst, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Jean Deysel, Charl McLeod, Meyer Bosman, Odwa Ndungane.
Cheetahs
Hennie Daniller, Willie le Roux, Johann Sadie, Robert Ebersohn,
Raymond Rhule, Johan Goosen, Piet van Zyl, Philip van der Walt, Lappies
Labuschagne, Frans Viljoen, Francois Uys, Lood de Jager, Lourens
Adriaanse, Adriaan Strauss (captain), Trevor Nyakane.
Replacements: Ryno Barnes, Coenie Oosthuizen, Waltie Vermeulen, Boom Prinsloo, Sarel Pretorius, Elgar Watts, Ryno Benjamin.
My pick - Sharks by 7.
Players to watch - Adriaan Strauss, Johan Goosen, Lappies Labuchagne, Craig Burden, Marcell Coetzee, JP Pietersen, Patrick Lambie, Franc Steyn.
Kings vs Force
This is probably the best chance the Kings have for victory. The Force are the other rank outsider in the competition and this game is being played in South Africa. The Kings have had to draw on players from far and wide in an attempt to have a competitive team. Given their recent results, the only thing they are favourites for is the wooden spoon. The Kings are a new entity and they will be looking to set their own standards in the coming months.
They have a host of players who will be making their Super Rugby
debuts and realise it will not be easy, but Kings coach Matt Sexton said
his team had done as much as they could in preparation for their debut.
"Whatever we could do, we've done as far as preparation goes," Sexton said.
Mixed in with the newbies, are a host of players that have played a
fair amount of Super Rugby, including Kings captain Luke Watson, who has
played 82 matches at this level for The Sharks and the Stormers, Steven
Sykes (69 for The Sharks), Andries Strauss (40 for The Sharks and
Cheetahs) and Bandise Maku (33 for the Bulls and Lions).
"We have a number of experienced players who have played a lot of
Super Rugby, but on the flip side there are some who have not," said
Watson.
"We all have to start somewhere and we have no doubt in the ability
and commitment of those guys who will be pulling on a Super Rugby jersey
for the first time."
No one really knows how good or bad the Southern Kings are. We have
no statistics as they are brand new to Super Rugby but we do have some
stats on the Force in South Africa.
The Force have already played one match this season so they are match fit and they have Super Rugby experience.
The last three teams to enter Super Rugby all lost their opening
matches so a good result for the Southern Kings would be to do better
than any one of the last three debutants.
Kings have maybe half a dozen decent players of Super XV level quality. I include Luke watson in that group although he is in his twilight years.
Teams
Southern Kings
15 SP Marais, 14 Sergeal Petersen, 13 Ronnie Cooke, 12 Andries
Strauss, 11 Marcello Sampson, 10 Demetri Catrakilis, 9 Shaun Venter, 8.
Luke Watson (c), 7. Wimpie van der Walt, 6. Cornell du Preez, 5. Steven
Sykes, 4 David Bulbring, 3 Kevin Buys, 2 Bandise Maku, 1 Schalk Ferreira
Replacements : 16 Edgar Marutlulle, 17 Jaco Engels, 18 Daniel Adongo,
19 Jacques Engelbrecht, 20 Johan Herbst, 21 George Whitehead, 22
Hadleigh Parkes
Western Force
To follow. At the time of writing the Force had not released their team.
My pick - Force by 14.
Players to watch - Luke Watson, Bandise Maku, Ronnie Cooke, Alf Mafi, Nick Cummins (if playing), Angus Cottrell.
Well after first 3 games this tipper has not done well.
Chiefs played great rugby and beat Highlanders 41-27.
If you can't spare the time to watch the full replay on the 24/7 channel, here is the highlights
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQ9eRqWE9dg&feature=em-uploademail&noredirect=1
Brumbies did beat Rebels 30-13
Bulls beat Stormers 25-17. A really bad call by ref and TMO allowed one converted try for Bulls.
But, once again, Stormers have a problem unleashing their backs. This pundit thinks they are one of the best in league.
Next game is Hurricanes vs Blues...should be interesting.
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