16 July 2020, by: Carl Lewis

Super Rugby Aotearoa Round 6 Preview and Predictions

The Hurricanes host the Blues at Sky Stadium in Wellington in Round 6 of Super Rugby Aotearoa on Saturday. On Sunday, the Chiefs welcome the Highlanders to the FMG Stadium.

We preview each match of Round 6 Super Rugby Aotearoa.

Saturday 18 June

09:05 – Hurricanes v Blues

The Hurricanes have won two and lost two of their four Super Rugby matches so they’ve had a modest start to the campaign. In their first two matches, the ‘Canes were handed two consecutive losses. First, they went down 30-20 away to the Blues before losing 39-25 to the Crusaders. Since then the Canes have beaten the Chiefs 25-18 away and then saw off the Highlanders 17-11 at home in a match played in awful weather conditions.

The Blues have had an impressive start to the Super Rugby Aotearoa, three from four matches. They began the tournament with a very encouraging 30-20 win over the Hurricanes at Eden Park. They backed up the positive sentiment surrounding them with a 24-12 win at the Chiefs and then an attritional 27-24 victory at home to the Highlanders. In their last match, the Blues lost to the favourites Crusaders 26-15 in a match that was much tighter than the score suggests.

Their last head to head saw the Blues winning 30-20 at Eden Park in the opening Super Rugby Aotearoa round. The Blues have impressed this entire season (2020) while the Hurricanes have shown inconsistency. 

Prediction: Blues by 6.

Best Bet: 

Sunday 19 July 

05:35 – Chiefs v Highlanders

The Chiefs are still winless in Super Rugby Aotearoa, they lost their opening match of away to the Highlanders 28-27 and followed it up with 24-12 loss at the Blues. In their third match, the Chiefs went down 18-13 away to the Crusaders in what was arguably their best performance. In their last match, the Chiefs lost 25-18 to the Hurricanes at home.

The Highlanders have registered one win in their opening four matches of Super Rugby Aotearoa. That victory came on the opening weekend against the Chiefs thanks to a last-minute drop goal. Thereafter, the Highlanders have lost 27-24 away to the Blues, got whacked 40-20 by the Crusaders at home and in their last match they went down 17-11 to the Canes. 

The two met earlier in the competition in a match which saw the Chiefs lose 28-27 in Dunedin. Neither side are playing well and are confident with try-scoring a definite problem. This could well be a battle decided by the accuracy of the goalkickers, much like their opening match was.

Prediction: Chiefs by 5.

Best Bet: