Bumper Rugby 5 pool up for grabs, but it won’t be easy

This weekend sees a bumper Rugby 5 pool which could reach R50,000. But before you get too excited, take note it could be a difficult pool to predict as a number of teams have been highly inconsistent so far this season. In Match 1 the Lions host the Jaguares. The Lions’ season is in danger of falling apart as consecutive defeats on South African soil have left them vulnerable. They are unbeaten against the Jaguares at Ellis Park, but will have to improve this week to maintain that statistic. Since losing to the Lions in Buenos Aires, the Jaguares have beaten the Bulls and the Blues and they will be hell-bent on recording a rare feat of three victories on the trot. The Argentinians will have a spring in their step and home-ground advantage may count for less this weekend. In the second match Scotland take on Wales. The Scots’ Six Nations campaign has been derailed by injury. They were defeated by France in Paris in their last match, but will draw comfort from winning 29-13 the last time they played Wales at Murrayfield. Wales beat England convincingly in their last clash and will start clear favourites in this one. Wales are unbeaten and will throw even the kitchen sink at the Scots as a victory will set them up for a rare Grand Slam. At the start of the Six Nations tournament England and Ireland looked the only candidates to achieve this, but after their first three matches in the series the Welsh must now also be seen as serious World Cup contenders – if they can maintain this consistency. Match 3 sees the Bulls host the Sharks. These teams experienced contrasting fortunes last weekend. The Bulls convincingly beat the Lions away from home, while the Sharks were defeated by the Stormers in Durban. The Bulls’ marauding forwards and bullet-proof game plan got the job done at Ellis Park and they will look for a similar performance at Loftus. This will be close but the hosts start marginal favourites. In what is probably a banker bet, England host Italy in Match 4. England will still be licking their wounds after their defeat in Cardiff. Their turnaround plan suffered a huge blow, but they should bounce back in this one. Considering that they have recorded two bonus point victories in their campaign, they will be looking at Wales to slip up in order to snatch the Six Nations title. Looking at the future, and especially the upcoming Rugby World Cup, Eddie Jones is likely to make wholesale changes this weekend. If anything, the blokes coming in will make a huge impact and England should win at a canter. Note the word should, because in the game played with an oval ball, anything can happen. The clash between Ireland and France is a fitting final for the pool. Ireland has lost just once to France in their last six matches. They lost to England in their opener but victory over Italy and Scotland has kept their Six Nations hopes alive, although only just.