Bank on Bulls to beat Crusaders

With the Super Rugby season having reached a climax last weekend, this weekend’s Rugby 5 pool features two local junior clashes and three Rugby League encounters.

In Match 1 the Blue Bulls u-19, who head the table, face the battling Leoprads u-19. While the Bulls boast three wins from five matches, the Leopards have only recorded a solitary victory. The Blue Bulls are overwhelming favourites to win this clash.

Match 2 features the Free State u-19 squad who square up against the Sharks u-19 team.

The Free State boys are up to fifth with two wins and two defeats from their four matches. The Sharks are second on the log with the same number of log points as leaders the Blue Bulls. Significantly however, the Sharks have played one match fewer.

In Match 3 the West Wales Raiders host the York City Knights.

The Raiders’ abysmal season continues. Last weekend they slumped to their 20th straight defeat of the campaign. Almost bizarrely, they again conceded 86 points to Hunslet, who racked up the same number in an earlier clash this season. The York City Knights’ win last weekend over the North Wales Crusaders was their ninth in a row.

The North Wales Crusaders face the Bradford Bulls in Match 4. The Crusaders have buckled to the Bradford Bulls and the York City Knights recently and have won just one of their last six matches. Although they beat Whitehaven earlier this year, they are unlikely to upset log leading Bulls.

Oldham Roughyeds, who face Whitehaven in Match 5 of the pool, are up to fourth following their win over the Hemel Stags. Two defeats from their last four matches do suggest that they have some vulnerabilities, but Whitehaven isn’t exactly in burgeoning form either. Whitehaven tumbled to seventh on the log following their defeat to the Bradford Bulls.

Oldham are expected to have the beating of Whitehaven.