The 2018 Super Rugby season is in full swing this weekend with the first round involving all the teams from South Africa. The Australian conference has been boosted with a number of former Western Force players joining the Melbourne Rebels ($26).
New Zealand Super rugby teams continue to be the yardstick of super rugby. The Auckland Blues ($13) won the 2018 edition of the Brisbane Global Tens, and the Crusaders added silverware to their trophy cabinet in 2017.
The Crusaders and the Hurricanes are early season favourites for the trophy at $4.75. The Lions ($6) will be looking to go one better and claim the crown in 2018. The Australian effort will be led by the Brumbies ($17) who have the luxury of avoiding the trek to South Africa until the latter stages of the competition.
The Stormers face a Jaguares side that will be boosted by the off-season recruitment of former Wallabies scrum coach Mario Ledesma. Ledesma is highly regarded in international circles and not only brings a wealth of knowledge but passion for the jersey.
Expect to see some major improvements in the set-piece area for the Jaguares. They won’t be challenging for the title, but the Jaguares will cause a few upsets this season.
The Jaguares don’t have the best record in South Africa having won two from seven and conceding 29 points on average.
The Stormers will be feeling confident in front of their home fans of getting the win.
The Lions are one of the heavyweights of the competition, falling at the final hurdle over the last two seasons. Anything less than making the decider will be deemed a failure by the Lions franchise.
The Lions have won the last three clashes with the Sharks and have topped every local derby in the last two seasons. The Lions backroom staff has changed in the offseason with Swys de Bruin taking over from Johan Ackerman.
The Sharks have struggled to get the ascendancy over their local rivals over the past couple of seasons. The Lions will be a different beast under de Bruin but expect them to have the edge over the Sharks in Johannesburg.