S5, R4: Crabs vs. Hurricanes - Completed

%crabs

Samuel Vimes
Okoudou Gbagbo
Herr Burger
Bruce Force
Double Dong
Zinzan Brumby
Jake Howe
Geraint Martyn
Cobra Classified
Ivan Ryabovol
Daniel Speirs
John Heads
Sticky Phlegm
Chris Raftery
Ginger Furball

Substitutes

16. Os Du Toit
17. Hal Teja
18. Pretzel Spark
19. JD Hurricane
20. Bill Kirk
21. Chuck Faldo
22. Hache Emm


%srhurricanes

Thad Bochat
Jonty Rhodes
Cattwat Smith
Jason Denton
Tom Clough
Paul Oz
League Lover
Leumas Himann
Jake Harding
Chad Dyer
Damien Taylor
Ed Ames
Gareth Weaver
Chris Warrington
Alistair Son

Substitutes

16. Jake Wilkinson
17. Tool Man
18. Amiya Shreyas
19. Bosh Burger
20. Simon Nova
21. Zohaib Ikram
22. Maroon Faithful

 

Preview

The Crabs are welcomed back home to James' Place after a tough assignment last week at The Hot Gates. The visiting Hurricanes team has been decimated by injury. This means a full team debut for young prop forward Thad Bochat and a start for Jesse Harding at half back. Harding has been making waves in the Reserve Rugby Championship this season, and had a storming performance in his last run out for the Typhoons.

The Hurricanes back line still has a lot of danger in there - the experienced and deadly Ed Ames and top class 2nd five eight Gareth Weaver. However, with Al Son being woefully out of form this season, there are still concerns for the Hurricanes. The least said about their forward pack, the better. Bochat is a concern, but so are the undercooked Tom Clough, Chris Smith and Paul Oz. The backs should be more concerned about seeing any ball in this game with the makeshift look of their forward pack.

On the flip side, the Crabs don't have such a jazzy looking back line with reliable stalwarts such as Daniel Speirs and John Heads rather than thrill machines like Weaver. However, Cobra Classified has been in surprisingly good form this year - which is looking like a breakout for him - and this should mean that if the forwards impose themselves as expected, the backs should see plenty of ball.

Up front, Os du Toit has been dropped to the reserves and replaced by Samuel Vimes in what looks to be a form based call. Gbagbo as always will be a menace at the breakdown, but has he been able to iron out the kinks in his line out delivery? Either way, soon to be England capped Bruce Force will make the most of any line out ball that comes his way. The sooking Geraint Martyn has somehow found his way into the First XV - mainly due to the shortcomings in Pretzel Spark's season so far rather than Martyn's policy of calling out the selectors on his Twitter stream (#scally, #scrumpingforcars, #ibrokeintothelocalprimark).

Prediction: Crabs to run in 4+ in a dominant 20 point win.

 

Suhweet

Lovin the sound of that 20+ point win, the only issue being giving Heads an excuse to remain in the side

 

Hope we can at least compete with the Crabs and not get smashed too badly.

 

Go Crabbies

 

You might be one of the best if we were talking Reserve Grade bullies, but even that isn't proven. Overrated IMO.

 

Dexter Astele has been a stand out for NZ. It's amazing what can happen when you have a great team behind you.

 

Solid pack.