Super 14 Supershots

Psychic planning?
Does someone at Super 14 planning HQ know something the rest of us don't? Take a look at this week's final round robin games. Crusaders home to the Brumbies and Waratahs hosting the Hurricanes 24 hours later. Anyone fancy taking a bet that they'll be the semifinal matchups, and at those same venues, a week later?

New guard
Resist the temptation to mutter Richie Who, but did Tanerau Latimer'ssizzling two-try display for the Crusaders catch anyone else's eye?

Square eyes have it
Employers keen to find out who the diehard Super 14 fans are on their staff, check out the state of their eyes this morning. The real rugger nutters will be those with square eyes. Consider this: from 7.30pm on Saturday night, until about 6.45am yesterday those really keen types could have watched, back to back, five games, starting in Hamilton and ending in Johannesburg.

Hooker one, hooker two
One for the trainspotters: Waratahs hooker Adam Freier scored his team's second try in the loss to the Chiefs. In the second half, his replacement Tatafu Polota-Nau also squeezed over for a touchdown. How often have two hookers scored a try in the same game for the same team this season?

Purring now
What's going on at the Cats? The team who reached 20 points once in their first 10 games now turns on 30-point bonanzas. There was a 34-all draw with the Force a week ago and yesterday a 34-33 win over the Blues. And what does this tell us about the Blues?

Force was with them
The Force would have been sweating in the final minute in Kimberley yesterday. They were 16-14 ahead when the Cheetahs won a penalty in a kickable position with the useful Willem de Waal on hand. What do they do? Kick for touch, set up a maul and botch it up. Talk about dodging a bullet. Talk about dopey leadership.

The Butch is back
And welcome back to our old friend Butch James, he of the controversial no-arms tackling style, who made his first start for the Sharks this year after yet another lengthy injury layoff in the win over the Stormers.

On the Matt
It's a tough job refereeing Super 14. Just ask Australian Matt Goddard who needed a spot of TLC after taking a tumble in the Cats-Blues match.