Only eight teams remain as the quarter-finals get underway this weekend.
The pre-tournament favourites, Tasman, head away to take on Bay of Plenty. The Hawke’s Bay hosts Taranaki, who have been looking extremely dangerous.
The number one team, Canterbury, will host Counties and Otago will welcome Waikato to the deep south.
Let’s get into our best plays for the weekend!
Taranaki would have been one of the punters’ favourites to win the comp before we got underway two months ago. They’ve looked dangerous all season, but a couple of losses, they dropped into 5th spot and now they must travel to the Bay and take on the Magpies.
Hawke’s Bay should have loads of confidence after dismantling the Turbos, but when these sides met a month ago in Taranaki, the Magpies fell to a 38-24 defeat.
They’ll be looking to avenge that game, but I’m siding with the Bulls.
I think there is too much talent and class in their squad, and now that it’s finals time, they’ll be locked in and ready to do the double over Hawke’s Bay.
Plain and simple here, Canterbury should win, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the margin is by 20+
The reason being, Counties leaked 41 points last week against the Mako in their 49-41 win.
If they’re allowing Tasman to run in 40+ points, Canterbury will be able to do something similar. The only difference is I’d have a heap more confidence in Canterbury to not concede 40+ points.
Counties have been dishing out some huge scorelines and beating over some of the lesser quality teams, but this Canterbury side is different gravy.
They’ll have good territory, got possession, and I’d expect them to get their maul rolling with George Bell at the back of it, crossing over the line to score. That’s been the case in recent history for the young hooker.
The tournament favourites, Tasman, have a tough ask, having to take on the Steamers, and they’ll have to sort out whatever went wrong with their defence if they want to be in the running this weekend.
I know it would have been addressed, but they’ll still have to rely on their attacking power. We’ll see plenty of points, we know both sides are capable, but it is finals footy after all and I think it will remain tight no matter how many points are scored.
- Tasman +6.5
- Over 54.5 Total Points
- Kyren Taumoefolau Anytime Try Scorer
When you get in the betcha app, be sure to take advantage of the Same Game Multi Cover tool, so if the multi misses by one leg, you’ll get your stake back as bonus cash up to $50.
- Waikato +6.5
- Tasman +6.5
- Taranaki to Win
- Canterbury 13+
When you get in the betcha app, be sure to take advantage of the Multi Rescue tool, so if the multi misses by one leg, you’ll get your stake back as bonus cash up to $50.