Wallaby World Cup utility back Adam Ashley-Cooper tips the South African Northern Bulls to raise the Super 14 trophy today.
The Brumbies fullback-cum-wing-cum-center offered his views to reporters yesterday as the climax of the southern hemisphere Rugby Union championship pits the Bulls against the New Zealand Waikato Chiefs.
A capacity 52,000 crowd will watch the floodlit match at Loftus Versfeld in the Highveld city of Pretoria and few rugby experts are betting against the Bulls winning the competition for the second time in three years.
PHOTO: AFP
“I expect the Bulls to win the final mainly because of home ground advantage and the altitude and body clock issues the Chiefs have to encounter as well,” Ashley-Cooper said. “It is a very intimidating atmosphere at Loftus. It’s the intensity of the crowd, rugby is like a religion and they are very vocal and yell as much as they can, but they have a genuine respect for the other team.”
“If there is one team that thrives with the crowd behind them, it is the Bulls. Nothing can beat the atmosphere at Loftus Versfeld,” said the star, who has experienced the pain of losing there.
“We found that it takes until the second week on the Highveld to find your feet after you arrive there,” the 2007 World Cup player said.
However, Ashley-Cooper is not prepared to write off the Chiefs, who lost by only six points at Loftus last month when the teams clashed in the group phase of the competition.
“It’s a terrific challenge for the Chiefs, but if there is one New Zealand side that can master it, then it is them. The Bulls win over Canterbury Crusaders impressed the heck out of me with the rugby they played,” he said.
Ashley-Cooper was among many rugby fans left awe-struck by the South Africans as they overcame a sluggish start to transform a 13-point deficit into a 27-20 half-time advantage and closed out the Crusaders during the second half.
Center Wynand Olivier missed the 36-23 destruction of defending champions Crusaders because of a hip injury and returns to his inside-center position with Marius Delport dropping down to the replacements bench.
The Chiefs, who are appearing in the final for the first time, also have a change at center with Richard Kahui returning in place of Dwayne Sweeney, who moves to the left wing slot vacated by injured Sitiveni Sivivatu.
The final offers many cameos including a fly-half clash between Morne Steyn and Stephen Donald, the top two scorers in the competition this season with 172 and 134 points respectively.
Should the teams finish level at full-time and after 20 minutes extra time, the trophy will be shared which seems a real anti-climax after 94 matches spanning four months.
But Ashley-Cooper does not favor a European system of kicks-at-goal to separate teams, preferring to copy the Rugby League code and introduce a golden-point sudden death.
“Kicks are like a penalty shoot-out in football and I’m not a fan of deciding a big match by artificial means. It should be decided on fitness and skill and not on kicks between the posts,” he said.
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