Below is a preview of this week's Round 8 matches in the Super 12 tournament.
Friday 9 April
Blues v Bulls in Albany - 7.35pm
Live on FOX SPORTS TWO 5.30pm AEST
Sports Tab - Blues $1.15. Bulls $4.85
Brumbies v Highlanders in Canberra - 7.40pm
Live on FOX SPORTS TWO 7.30pm AEST
Sports Tab - Brumbies $1.13. Highlanders $5.25
Saturday 10 April
Reds v Stormers in Brisbane - 7.40pm
Live on FOX SPORTS TWO 7.30pm AEST
Sports Tab - Reds $1.67. Stormers $2.10
Sharks v Crusaders in Durban - 3.00pm
Live on FOX SPORTS TWO 11.00pm AEST
Sports Tab - Sharks $2.35. Crusaders $1.53
Cats v Chiefs in Johannesburg - 5.05pm
Live on FOX SPORTS TWO 1.00am AEST (Sunday)
Sports Tab - Cats $2.50. Chiefs $1.48
THE LINE-UPS
ACT Brumbies v Highlanders
Brumbies: 1. Bill Young, 2. Jeremy Paul, 3. Nic Henderson, 4. Radike Samo, 5. Mark Chisholm, 6. Owen Finegan, 7. George Smith, 8. Scott Fava, 9. Matt Henjak, 10. Stephen Larkham, 11. Mark Gerrard 12. Matt Giteau, 13. Stirling Mortlock (c), 14. Clyde Rathbone, 15. Joe Roff. RESERVES: 16. David Palavi, 17. Guy Shepherdson, 18. Jone Tawake, 19. Tamaiti Horua, 20. George Gregan, 21. Mark Bartholomeusz, 22. Joel Wilson.
Highlanders: 1. Carl Hoeft, 2. Anton Oliver, 3. Carl Hayman, 4. Daniel Quate, 5. Tom Donnelly, 6. Craig Newby, 7. Josh Blackie, 8. Sam Harding, 9. Jimmy Cowan, 10. Tony Brown, 11. Hayden Pedersen, 12. Ryan Nicholas, 13. Seilala Mapusua, 14. Aisea Tuilevu, 15. Nick Evans. RESERVES: 16. Jason Rutledge, 17. Clarke Dermody, 18. Filipo Levi, 19. Grant Webb, 20. Ben Hurst, 21. Neil Brown, 22. Glen Horton
Who are the Highlanders? Based - Dunedin in the Otago Province.Unions that form the team - Otago, North Otago and Southland.Home Venues - Carisbrook Stadium (Dunedin) and Rugby Park Stadium (Invercargill)
Players to watch out for
Anton Oliver: Has played over 80 matches for the franchise and brings much experience to the front row. He played a record 65 games in a row for the Highlanders before missing one in 2002. All Blacks captain in 2001, he was unable to fight his way back into the All Blacks' squad for the Rugby World Cup last year. Made his first-class debut for Marlborough at age 17 and marked the occasion by scoring a try.
Aisea Tuilevu: The Fijian is a strong runner and has a nose for the try line having scored 14 tries in his 25 games before this year's competition. He has played for Fiji's U21 and Sevens side.
Tony Brown: Another former All Black flyhalf to miss out on the chance to impress selectors for the 2003 Rugby World Cup after an injury plagued season. The Highlanders' leading point scorer has 22 test caps to his name and is the only All Black to have scored 30 points in a test match on three separate occasions. He represented the New Zealand Colts in 1996, the New Zealand Maori from 1996 to 1998, and New Zealand A from 1998 to 2000.
QLD Reds v Stormers
Reds: TBC
Stormers: 15 Gaffie du Toit, 14 Breyton Paulse, 13 Marius Joubert, 12 De Wet Barry, 11, Pieter Rossouw, 10, Chris Rossouw, 9 Bolla Conradie, 8 Adri Badenhorst, 7 Schalk Burger, 6 Corné Krige (c), 5 Willem Stoltz, 4 Quinton Davids, 3 Pat Barnard, 2 Pieter Dixon, 1 Daan Human. Reserves: 16 David Brits, 17 Eddie Andrews, 18 Rob Linde, 19 Hendrik Gerber, 20 Neil de Kock, 21 Gavin Hume, 22 Tonderai Chavhanga.
Who are the Stormers? Based - Cape Town.Unions that form the team - Western Province, Boland and South Western Districts.Home Venues - Newlands (Cape Town)
Players to watch out for
Marius Joubert - Springbok and Western Province centre Marius Joubert recovered from a shoulder injury midway through the 2003 Super 12 season, but again injured himself on 12 July 2003 playing for South Africa against Australia at Newlands. Two operations later, he has been working hard at rehabilitating himself and getting ready to re-launch his career. Forms an outstanding centre combination with De Wet Barry
Pieter Rossouw: Pieter Rossouw is one of the most experienced Super 12 campaigners in the country, made his debut in 1995. Rossouw has 70 Super 12 caps, of which 57 have been under the Stormers brand. Has scored 34 tries, 29 in the Stormers jersey. This year will bring on 10 years of top provincial rugby. Rossouw has taken on the role of captain on several occasions in the absence of Corné Krige.
De Wet Barry: De Wet Barry had the match of his life representing the Springboks against Australia at Newlands in 2003. Being included in the squad came as a big surprise to most, but Barry's performance was world class as he put in some huge tackles on the opposition. Going on to represent South Africa at the World Cup in 2003, De Wet is one of South Africa's most experienced centres and with the departure of Rob Fleck to the UK, he will play an important role in the Stormers Super 12 campaign.
AUSTRALIAN TEAM NEWS
NSW Waratahs
The HSBC Waratahs have at last received some positive injury news after an arthroscopy performed on centre Ben Jacobs this morning ruled out serious damage to his ankle.
Jacobs injured his ankle against the Chiefs in Hamilton two games ago.
"The procedure revealed a minor rupture of the syndesmosis so now we are able to proceed with aggressive treatment in the hope that Ben will be ready to play in 4-6 weeks," said Waratahs physician, Dr Sharron Flahive.
ACT Brumbies
After three years as Head Coach of the CA Brumbies, the ACT Rugby Union has announced it will not offer David Nucifora a further extension of his contract.
ACT Rugby CEO Rob Clarke says this difficult decision was made in the best interests of the organisation.
"I know that to many people this may seem like a strange decision, but we as a board considered what we need to take us forward and we've decided not to offer David Nucifora a further extension of his contract," said Clarke.
QLD Reds
The Bank of Queensland Reds team to play the Stormers in Saturday's Tooheys New Super 12 clash at Ballymore will be named after the Captain's Run tomorrow.