Sports Blog 27/07/2018: Super Rugby Preview – Semi-Finals, Saturday 28th July 2018

With the semi-finals this Saturday, who is going to reach August’s 2018 Super Rugby finale?

The make-up of the first semi, at 8.35am on Sky Sports Main Event, is hardly a surprise, as the Crusaders take on the Hurricanes at the AMI Stadium in Christchurch. Coming into the competition as defending champions, the Crusaders have nary put a foot wrong. They topped the New Zealand Conference by 12 points – losing just 2 of their 16 fixtures – before smashing South Africa’s Sharks in the quarter-finals 40-10. It’s that kind of form that’s had them instilled as favourites for a while, odds on at 4/11 with an Outright Index spread of 41.5-43.5.



Not that the Hurricanes can be overlooked, even if they did scrape through the quarters with a 32-31 squeaker against the Chiefs. Winners in 2016, they are one of 2 sides to beat the Crusaders this season, a 29-19 victory in Wellington back in March (granted, they lost the return fixture in May). They also have the joint top try scorer in Ben Lam, his tally of 15 leaving him with a Super Mega Player Try Minutes spread of 27-31. Worryingly for the Hurricanes, however, the Crusaders have George Bridge, who’s just one try behind Lam and sits at a far superior Super Mega PTM spread of 46-51.

It looks like Super Rugby’s most successful side ever are going to make it a record 13th final, with Spreadex offering a Crusaders/Hurricanes Points Supremacy spread of 9-12 alongside a Total Points spread of 47-50.

Moving over to Johannesburg, and South Africa’s Lions face Australia’s Waratahs at 2.05pm on Sky Sports Action. The Lions have been the bridesmaid for the past 2 seasons, losing 20-3 against the Hurricanes in 2016 and 25-17 against the Crusaders in 2017. Having won the South African Conference – if, admittedly, with a fairly poor record, with 9 wins and 7 losses – and beaten Argentina’s Jaguares 40-23, they stand a pretty good chance of making it a 3rd final in a row. Spreadex has them at an Outright Index spread of 29.5-31.5, with a fixed odds price of 6/1.



The Waratahs, the last non-Kiwi side to win a Super Rugby title back in 2014, aren’t much fancied going into the semis, sitting at a fixed odds price of 20/1. Yet they do have the top points scorer of the tournament so far in Bernard Foley, as well as the joint top try scorer, with Taqele Naiyaravoro at a Super Mega PTM spread of 45-50.

But still, it looks like they’re going to have to wait to reach their 4th ever final, with Spreadex offering a Lions/Waratahs Points Supremacy spread of 11-14 alongside a Total Points spread of 62-65.