Weekend review
In Football Cambridge make the trip down the M25 to Crawley on Saturday hoping that one of their former players does not come back and bite them on the arse. They will be looking to stretch their unbeaten run to 5 games thus demonstrating their new found resilience. For me the only way they can do this is win. This will be the third away game in a row against low league opposition and to come away with a point just does not seem enough to me. It is good to be unbeaten, but better to be unbeaten and win games. I hope we stick with the 4-4-2 formation and attack, and also if we get the early goal again we look to build a lead instead of defend one. There are likely to be more changes as Rob Newman looks for his key personnel for next year. I just hope its change for the better, anything less than a 2-1 win will not make me happy.
In Rugby Union - Wellington Hurricanes continue there good early season form with a good win over the Sharks in Wellington. It was another victory built on the back of gooddefensee and a great work rate. They really have knuckled down and ground out results in the last couple of weeks. If they can now maintain their discipline then they have a great chance of making the semi-finals. The take on the Super 14 yard stick of the Crusaders next weekend and it should have been billed as a clash of the two unbeaten New Zealand teams. I hope they don't come to rue their twenty minutes of madness against the Cheetahs.
Northampton Saints will welcome back their International players this weekend as they take on Newcastle in what is a very winnable game. With their challenge cup quarter final coming up next weekend a win here will allow them to go into that with some good momentum. This game will also be a landmark game for one of the Saints favourite players as it is the 100th appearance by Bruce Reihana. The probable team on Sunday will be
15 BRUCE REIHANA (co-capt)
14 SEAN LAMONT
13 Jon Clarke
12 DAVID QUINLAN
11 BEN COHEN
10 CARLOS SPENCER
9 MARK ROBINSON
1 TOM SMITH
2 STEVE THOMPSON (co-capt)
3 Pat Barnard
4 Damien Browne
5 DAVID GERARD
6 PAUL TUPAI
7 SAM HARDING
8 Mark Easter
It's clear that the internationals will need to be back and back strong, it has been a while since Ben Cohen scored and he needs to keep up his improved club form and wade in with a try or two. Paul Grayson will be looking for as many points as possible in the last five league games so that the Saints put themselves in with a chance of sneaking into Europe. If this is their ambition then this is a must win game. Saints to scrape home by 1-12 points
In Rugby League - Warrington take on Wakefield on Sunday afternoon. Coach Paul Cullen was very candid in his website interview here this week. This is a refreshing interview and I wonder if Cullen really gave the reporter the short shrift that some of his answers imply. Basically he is convinced that last week their was a lack of respect and honesty from his players and that allowed the lowly Catalans in to steal the victory. He says that this has been addressed during the week and playing a side like Wakefield on Sunday we will know if the players have responded. Wakefield are very much a team like the Catalans. If the respect is not there then there will be yet another poor defeat that he will have to explain away, and any more of those and he will be joining the job club. I am confident the Wolves will bounce back and win by 13+ points
Another bad day at the office is likely for the NZS Warriors. They play the Wests Tigers in an "away game" in Christchurch. Wests are the defending premiers and although fancied by many not to do well this year they may just have too much ammunition for the Warriors. It is difficult to see where the confidence in the Warriors will come from. As this is a Saturday night game my hope is that it will be on Sky, but given the poor form of both sides maybe not. It is interesting over at http://www.rleague.com/ there is a massive contrast in the prediction score of their two resident analysts Chris Riediger has the Warriors winning by 8 points and James Stewart has the Tigers winning by 24. I think myself I sit in the middle somewhere hoping that the Warriors win but really believing that West Tiger will win by 10 points. Lets hope IÂm wrong and that the Warriors can kick-start their lack lustre season
In Rugby Union - Wellington Hurricanes continue there good early season form with a good win over the Sharks in Wellington. It was another victory built on the back of gooddefensee and a great work rate. They really have knuckled down and ground out results in the last couple of weeks. If they can now maintain their discipline then they have a great chance of making the semi-finals. The take on the Super 14 yard stick of the Crusaders next weekend and it should have been billed as a clash of the two unbeaten New Zealand teams. I hope they don't come to rue their twenty minutes of madness against the Cheetahs.
Northampton Saints will welcome back their International players this weekend as they take on Newcastle in what is a very winnable game. With their challenge cup quarter final coming up next weekend a win here will allow them to go into that with some good momentum. This game will also be a landmark game for one of the Saints favourite players as it is the 100th appearance by Bruce Reihana. The probable team on Sunday will be
15 BRUCE REIHANA (co-capt)
14 SEAN LAMONT
13 Jon Clarke
12 DAVID QUINLAN
11 BEN COHEN
10 CARLOS SPENCER
9 MARK ROBINSON
1 TOM SMITH
2 STEVE THOMPSON (co-capt)
3 Pat Barnard
4 Damien Browne
5 DAVID GERARD
6 PAUL TUPAI
7 SAM HARDING
8 Mark Easter
It's clear that the internationals will need to be back and back strong, it has been a while since Ben Cohen scored and he needs to keep up his improved club form and wade in with a try or two. Paul Grayson will be looking for as many points as possible in the last five league games so that the Saints put themselves in with a chance of sneaking into Europe. If this is their ambition then this is a must win game. Saints to scrape home by 1-12 points
In Rugby League - Warrington take on Wakefield on Sunday afternoon. Coach Paul Cullen was very candid in his website interview here this week. This is a refreshing interview and I wonder if Cullen really gave the reporter the short shrift that some of his answers imply. Basically he is convinced that last week their was a lack of respect and honesty from his players and that allowed the lowly Catalans in to steal the victory. He says that this has been addressed during the week and playing a side like Wakefield on Sunday we will know if the players have responded. Wakefield are very much a team like the Catalans. If the respect is not there then there will be yet another poor defeat that he will have to explain away, and any more of those and he will be joining the job club. I am confident the Wolves will bounce back and win by 13+ points
Another bad day at the office is likely for the NZS Warriors. They play the Wests Tigers in an "away game" in Christchurch. Wests are the defending premiers and although fancied by many not to do well this year they may just have too much ammunition for the Warriors. It is difficult to see where the confidence in the Warriors will come from. As this is a Saturday night game my hope is that it will be on Sky, but given the poor form of both sides maybe not. It is interesting over at http://www.rleague.com/ there is a massive contrast in the prediction score of their two resident analysts Chris Riediger has the Warriors winning by 8 points and James Stewart has the Tigers winning by 24. I think myself I sit in the middle somewhere hoping that the Warriors win but really believing that West Tiger will win by 10 points. Lets hope IÂm wrong and that the Warriors can kick-start their lack lustre season
posted by Sports Potato at 6:19 PM
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