Hurricanes – Chiefs

New Zealand rivals Hurricanes and Chiefs will square off on Friday in a highly anticipated Super Rugby quarterfinal, which will be hosted by the Hurricanes in Wellington. The Hurricanes earned home court advantage by avoiding a big loss last week against the same Chiefs, losing 24-28 on the road in the last round of the regular season.

The Hurricanes (11-0-5 in the regular season), Super Rugby winners in 2016 and semifinalists in 2017, finished second in the super strong New Zealand conference this season behind the Crusaders and ahead of the Chiefs, and played some great rugby throughout the season. However, they had a very difficult recent spell, and do not enter this match in great form. The Hurricanes were poor in the last stretch of the regular season, losing 4 of their last 5 games – including the previously mentioned 24-28 road defeat against today`s opponents, the Chiefs, last week.

The Chiefs (11-0-5 in the regular season) needed a 23 point win against the Hurricanes last week in the last game of the regular season in order to secure a home quarterfinal, and after racing to a 21-0 first half lead, it looked like they could pull it off. However, the Hurricanes showed their class and rallied back, dominating the second half, which they won handily. Still, the Chiefs will feel good about their chances here, as they are playing good rugby and are riding a 3 match winning streak.

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Team news & lineups:

Both teams are relatively healthy and will field extremely strong lineups. The Chiefs will get back key players Cane, Harris and Tu`inukuafe, who missed some of the previous games.

Hurricanes: 15 Nehe Milner-Skudder, 14 Julian Savea, 13 Jordie Barrett, 12 Ngani Laumape, 11 Ben Lam, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 TJ Perenara, 8 Blade Thomson, 7 Gareth Evans, 6 Brad Shields (c)/Reed Prinsep, 5 Sam Lousi, 4 Michael Fatialofa, 3 Jeff Toomaga-Allen, 2 Ricky Riccitelli, 1 Toby Smith

Chiefs: 15 Solomon Alaimalo, 14 Sean Wainui, 13 Anton Lienert-Brown, 12 Charlie Ngatai, 11 Shaun Stevenson, 10 Damian McKenzie, 9 Brad Weber, 8 Liam Messam, 7 Sam Cane, 6 Lachlan Boshier, 5 Michael Allardice, 4 Brodie Retallick, 3 Angus Ta’avao, 2 Nathan Harris, 1 Karl Tu’inukuafe

The Chiefs are touted by many to record an upset here, mainly due to apparent poor form of the Hurricanes. However, there are a few things which must not be forgotten here.

First and foremost, the Hurricanes are just a completely transformed animal in Wellington, where they won 21 of their last 22 matches, including the last 9.

In fact, all of their 4 losses in the recent bad spell came on the road, so expect the Hurricanes to look completely different at home, as they always do. They always come out with great energy in Wellington and perform in the big games here, while the Chiefs have been disappointing in the big games recently – reaching just two Super Rugby semifinals since 2013, and getting blown out in both.

As for their poor form, it`s true that the Hurricanes didn`t play that well recently, but as previously said the losses came away from home, and there wasn`t much motivation either in those last regular season games. When the going got tough last week against the Chiefs, the Hurricanes responded brilliantly to bounce back and win the second half 24-7 (!!!) on the road.

As such, not only do the Hurricanes seem back in form, but they have all the momentum over the Chiefs after pummeling them on their own court in the second half last week and securing the quarterfinal in Wellington, even if they did lose that game. Also, in the other meeting this season, Hurricanes won 25-13 at home.

Look for a great game between these two powerhouses of Southern Hemishphere rugby, with the Chiefs hoping their scrum will dominate, but with the Hurricanes knowing they are better and more dynamic in the wide game. Eventually home court advantage and the momentum from last week should help the Hurricanes secure their 4th consecutive Super Rugby semifinal. It`s also fair to say that they are the better team player for player, so my tip here will be Beuden Barrett and company to win. Prediction: Hurricanes – Chiefs 28 – 22.

Pick: Hurricanes
Odds: 1.55 @ 1xBet
Stake: 9
Possible profit: 4.95
Event date: 20 July