The 2017 Super Rugby season is about to begin and we take a look at the year ahead in the competition. The Australian sides are coming off one of their worst seasons in Super Rugby and it is largely due to the teams facing the New Zealand sides on a more regular basis. Continue reading as we take a look at the best 2017 Super Rugby futures betting and offer our Preview and Betting Tips.
2016 Super Rugby Ladder and Season Betting
It would be an absolute fluke to predict the exact ladder for the end of the 2017 Super Rugby season. However, we are going to give it a crack to give you a bit of a picture of how strong we believe each team is and which teams we think will be on the top or bottom of the table.
2017 Super Rugby Ladder Prediction
1 Hurricanes
2 Stormers
3 Waratahs
4 Lions
5 Highalnders
6 Chiefs
7 Crusaders
8 Sharks
9 Brumbies
10 Bulls
11 Reds
12 Blues
13 Cheetahs
14 Jaguares
15 Rebels
16 Force
17 Sunwolves
18 Kings
The ladder above is how we predict the season will go without considering injuries and suspensions. The Australian sides aren’t going to perform much better this season, especially with the Brumbies losing a lot of experience and the Force, Rebels and Reds not getting much stronger.
The New Zealand sides dominated last season and we are predicting a similar outcome in this one. The Hurricanes have finished on the top of the ladder for the last two seasons and on the back of Beauden Barrett leading the side around the park, we are predicting them to make it three in a row.
TIP: Hurricanes to win the minor premiership – $5.50 with Sportsbet
New Zealand Conference
As stated above, we believe the Hurricanes will take out the minor premiership. This will have them as champions of the New Zealand conference too. It will be a tough battle for the top of the conference as neither side will want to miss out on the advantage of playing the semi finals on home soil. The top four Kiwi sides are all a chance of finishing on the top but we believe the Hurricanes are the team to beat and will be full of confidence heading into the season. Beuden Barrett had a stellar season last year and he was able to take the vacant All Blacks fly half position on the international stage. We expect him to kick on and excel.
TIP: Hurricanes to win NZ Conference – $3.00 with Sportsbet
Australian Conference
The Australian Conference shouldn’t be as close this season with the Waratahs being by far the strongest side on paper. If they are to avoid the injuries they suffered to key players at different stages throughout the season last year they should run away with it and book a semifinal spot. The Tahs have the best backline out of the Australian sides. Israel Folau is a handful and after a disappointing season he will want to take his game to the next level this year. The Brumbies got a lot weaker as they lost David Pocock and captain Stephen Moore and the Reds, Force and Rebels still rebuilding, we predict the Tahs to take this one out comfortably.
TIP: Waratahs to win Australian Conference – $2.10 with CrownBet
South African Conference
The South African conference is an interesting one. The South African sides definitely aren’t much stronger than the Australian ones but they benefit from facing weaker opposition. The Jaguares and Sunwolves are into their second season in the Super Rugby while it is the third for the Kings. We are predicting the two teams to win their respective South African conferences to be the same as last season with the Lions to be the more dominant and dangerous of the two teams.
TIP: Stormers to win SA Conference 1 – $1.87 with Sportsbet
TIP: Lions to win SA Conference 2 – $1.67 with Sportsbet
2017 Super Rugby Grand Final winner
Can the Hurricanes go back-to-back? We don’t think so. We are predicting the side to have the advantage of playing on home soil throughout the finals by finishing as minor premiers but the side will have a target on its back. Playing every match throughout the regular season at high level is very difficult and we believe it will take its toll in the offseason. One of the other New Zealand sides will pip them in the finals and we believe it will be the Chiefs. The 2013 champions have been rebuilding over the past few seasons and with Aaron Cruden announcing this will be his last season with the club before heading to France we believe the side will lift and send him out a champion. The side had a horrible year last season with injuries but was still able to challenge for the title, that is saying something. If they can stay healthy then the championship is up for grabs.
TIP: Chiefs to win the Grand Final – $6.00 with CrownBet
Take note: Any of the tips in this article are simply the author’s opinion, so bet at your own risk and always gamble responsibly. Also be sure to check out the Before You Bet Twitter Page for all our thoughts in the lead up to bets! Happy punting!
