S5, SRC Grand Final: Spartans vs. Crabs - Completed

Hyping this up for tomorrow. Would be good to have some other views on how this could play out before I post up the match preview.

 

Preview

The bookmakers tell us this will be a close one, but what do you think? Let's go through man-by-man and assess the two teams' prospects.

Front Row: Storer - Izett - Eggman vs. du Toit - Gbagbo - Burger

Plenty of past and current talent here. Eggman the incumbent for the Test team with Burger having been one of the best new prospects for Season 4. He may not have repeated that form this season, but he should dominate Ben Storer. Storer has found his way into the Spartans first XV due to the atrocious form of the usually reliable Joshua Ritchie. The hookers both have quality - Izett with more in the bank than the short-fused Gbagbo. Overall - Advantage Crabs.

Second Row: Davis - Torres vs. Teja - Dong

The Spartans should dominate this battle, and in the injury forced absence of Bruce Force, this should make life easier still at the line-out for the Spartans. Davis is a class apart in the 2nd row these days, but the usually reliable Torres has had a poor season. Teja finds himself thrown in at the deep end to take on Davis, but with the classy Dong at #5, this is probably 1:1 in the player to player match-up. Overall - advantage Spartans.

Back Row: Chung - Deane - Laing vs. Hurricane - Brumby - Howe

An area of exceptional depth for both teams. The Spartans ooze test capped class here - Deane and Laing - and to a lesser extent Chung, have grand records to fall back on whilst their opposite numbers don't have anywhere near those kind of records. However, what the Crabs have on their side here is form and the signals are that a new order may be looking to march into the Test back row. The absence of Geraint Martyn is easily covered and there's still space on the Crabs' bench for Pretzel Spark. The Spartans have quality depth of their own in the form of Jono Chewie and Charlie Downes though. Overall - we'll call this a tie.

Pivots: Cribb - Alessi vs. Classified - Ryabovol

A tricky one to judge here in some ways. Cribb blows Classified out of the water, but many a team have underestimated Classified's distribution skills and have come unstuck. Alessi also has undeniable quality, but Ryabovol - when not injured - is another quality option. Alessi gives the Spartans flexibility to change their centres around should Gunner Shriram fail there. Overall - Cribb makes the difference here - advantage Spartans.

Centres: Smith - Shriram vs. Faldo - Heads

Two massively underrated centres in play here. Smith struggles to gain time for the New Zealanders, but he would easily be a fixture for them if the Kiwis didn't have Heads and Weaver to select. Faldo is similarly underrated - solid, reliable - something which cannot so easily be said of Gunner Shriram playing in the centres. It's a risk which the Spartans selectors have taken due to the poor form of regular centre Paddy Orr. Advantage Crabs.

Wingers: Schaw - Dorn vs. Wayne - Speirs

A big advantage to the Spartans here. Schaw is a proven destructive force. It's lucky for the Crabs that they have a winger with solid defensive capabilities in Daniel Speirs, because the Spartans will look to exploit that wing all day if given the chance. On the other wing, Matt Dorn is a solid player who should be able to better Dan Wayne in any foot race that they have to compete for. Advantage Spartans

Full Back Blunder vs. Furball

Furball was almost a joke in season 4; spending far too much time on the training field testing out his kicking game than his in-play skills. How things change though, and he's almost a different player this year. Destructive with ball in hand, and a very solid place kicking option. Perhaps a spot weaker on defence than opposite number Bobby Blunder. Blunder has been the top full back in Seasonal Rugby for quite some time, and he has continued to provide for the Spartans this season. He has an exceptional try scoring record, is wonderful with the boot in play and has the stamina of a shire horse. Tough to call, but I'm picking the long term class of Blunder by a small amount. Advantage Spartans.

Overall, the comparison suggests the Spartans should take this. They certainly have history on their side, but the Crabs have been rapidly improving over the course of two seasons, so this'll be a close one. The front row advantage should pay off for the Crabs in wet weather, but the ability to rip a good defensive unit apart will pay off for the Spartans in the dry.

Prediction: Spartans 21 - Crabs 18

 

Kick off in 1 and a quarter hours.

 

Sim's really come a long way in the last few years

 

JDH looking the goods here for us

 

First points after 25 minutes. Clearly the teams as up for it as the crowd