The second part of our Super 14 preview kicks off with a very exciting encounter between the Chiefs and Reds in Brisbane on Saturday.

The Chiefs, who are coming of a scintillating 63-34 win over the Blues, will be wary of the Reds who have gone from being entertainers in the early rounds of the competition to being real contenders.

The Sharks will be looking to inflict the Brumbies' second loss on their South African trip when they meet in Durban, while the Lions will be targeting some much-needed momentum before embarking on their overseas when they face the Hurricanes in Johannesburg.

iafrica.com previews the action...

Reds v Chiefs
(Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane - 19.05, 09.05 GMT)

The Chiefs are brimming with confidence after their superb display against the Blues last weekend. However, as history suggests, continuing where they left off last week is not an easy thing to do.

The Chiefs have won just twice previously in Brisbane, but one of those was achieved on their most recent visit in 2007 when the Waikato-based side edged home 21-19.

The Chiefs, who lost at their only previous appearance in Australia earlier in the competition against the Waratahs, hold fourth spot on point?s differentials after bolstering their margins significantly during last Saturday?s nine-try demolition of the Blues.

They will face a Reds team that will be rested after a bye and confident after beating the Sharks in their last outing. But despite the Reds being at home, the hard-running Chiefs will be favourites on current form.

Chiefs coach Ian Foster is happy with his team's latest form and he is looking forward to this weekend's challenge.

"We have strung some consistent results together in the last few weeks," Foster said.

"We know we have only achieved that by focusing on each week as it comes - the approach is no different this week."

The Reds will be boosted by the return of skipper James Horwill, who is set to play his first match since last year?s Tri-Nations and Bledisloe Cup decider at Suncorp, having been on the sidelines since due to a foot ligament injury.

While the bye came at an opportune time on the injury front for the Reds, it could potentially have disrupted the momentum the 25-13 win over the previously unbeaten Sharks had injected into their stores of self belief.

Such has been the improvement in the state of play at the Reds, it appeared only a matter of time before they took out one of the heavyweights, and the upset duly came with a determined 25-13 home win over the Sharks two weeks ago.

Recent results:

2008: Reds 20-32 Chiefs Hamilton
2007: Reds 19-21 Chiefs Brisbane
2006: Reds 17-35 Chiefs Hamilton
2005: Reds 20-6 Chiefs Hamilton

Prediction: The Chiefs have looked very promising in the pre-season but failed to live up to the hype in the opening rounds. However, last week's win may just have ignited their season and they should continue their surge to win by at least 12 points.

Teams:

Reds: 15 Mark McLinden, 14 Blair Connor, 13 Digby Ioane, 12 Berrick Barnes, 11 Peter Hynes, 10 Quade Cooper, 9 Ben Lucas, 8 Leroy Houston, 7 Daniel Braid, 6 Hugh McMeniman, 5 James Horwill (captain), 4 Van Humphries, 3 Laurie Weeks, 2 Sean Hardman, 1 Ben Daley.
Replacements: 16 Saia Faingaa, 17 Jack Kennedy, 18 Scott Higginbotham, 19 Poutasi Luafutu, 20 Brendan McKibbin, 21 Anthony Faingaa, 22 Rod Davies.

Chiefs: 15 Mils Muliaina (captain), 14 Lelia Masaga, 13 Richard Kahui, 12 Callum Bruce, 11 Sitiveni Sivivatu, 10 Stephen Donald, 9 Brendon Leonard, 8 Sione Lauaki, 7 Tanerau Latimer, 6 Liam Messam, 5 Kevin O?Neill, 4 Craig Clarke, 3 Ben May, 2 Hikawera Elliot, 1 Sona Taumalolo.
Replacements: 16 Aled de Malmanche, 17 James McGougan, 18 Toby Lynn, 19 Serge Lilo, 20 Toby Morland, 21 Mike Delany, 22 Dwayne Sweeney.

Referee: Ian Smith (Australia)
Touch judges: Nathan Pearce (Australia), Simon Moore (Australia)
Television match official: Geoff Acton (Australia)

Sharks v Brumbies
(Absa Stadium, Durban - 17.00, 15.00 GMT)

The Sharks will be looking to sustain their momentum despite travelling back from Australia for this encounter.

The Brumbies on the other hand, has been in the country for two weeks and they will be desperate to get their first win on their South African tour.

The memory of the against the odds 21-10 boilover two years ago should provide the Brumbies with confidence as their South African venture moves to Durban to Durban this week after losing against the Lions last in their first outing in South Africa.

Brumbies coach Andy Friend says his side will need to improve on their performance from last weekend to beat the Sharks.

"We created plenty of opportunities against the Lions, our problem was in our execution and converting those opportunities into points," he said.

"We appreciate that we can't make that mistake against the Sharks. They're a class outfit from one through to 22 and they're a side who has built a great deal of success on ensuring they do the simple things very well.

"They'll be fired up after a successful trip through Australia and South Africa and they'll be looking forward to impressing their home fans in their first match back on Saturday."

John Plumtree?s men, who ended their tour by disposing of the Western Force 22-10 last Friday, will be pleased to be back in familiar surrounds after equalling the best ever return ? of three wins ? achieved by a South African side on an overseas tour.

"We have been traveling for a long time and we are really looking forward to playing at home," Plumtree told this website during the build up to Saturday's clash

"We've just got to win. [But] obviously we want to play a lo better than we have during the past few rounds. We need to be a bit more accurate in everything we do."

Recent results:

2008: Sharks 21-27 Brumbies Canberra
2007: Sharks 10-21 Brumbies Durban
2006: Sharks 30-35 Brumbies Canberra
2005: Sharks 36-24 Brumbies Durban

Prediction: Apart from stumbling against the Reds in Brisbane, the Sharks had a great road trip and despite travelling back to Durban to face the Brumbies they do have momentum going into this clash. The Sharks will have too much firepower for the visitors to win by at least 11 points.

Teams:

Sharks: 15 Stefan Terblanche, 14 Odwa Ndungane, 13 Adrian Jacobs, 12 Riaan Swanepoel, 11 JP Pietersen, 10 Francois Steyn, 9 Rory Kockott, 8 Ryan Kankowski, 7 Keegan Daniel, 6 Jacques Botes, 5 Johann Muller (c), 4 Steven Sykes, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements: 16 John Smit, 17 Deon Carstens, 18 Albert van den Berg, 19 Skholiwe Ndlovu, 20 Charl McLeod, 21 Monty Dumond, 22 Luzuko Vulindlu.

Brumbies: Mark Gerrard, Adam Ashley-Cooper, Stirling Mortlock, Tyrone Smith, Clyde Rathbone, Christian Lealiifano, Joshua Holmes, Julian Salvi, George Smith (c), Mitchell Chapman, Mark Chisholm, Ben Hand, Guy Shepherdson, Stephen Moore, Ben Alexander.
Replacements: Huia Edmonds, Salesi Maafu, Shawn Mackay, Peter Kimlin, Patrick Phibbs, Gene Fairbanks, Alfi Mafi, Matt Toomua (one to be omitted).

Referee: Bryce Lawrence (New Zealand)
Touch judges: Marius Jonker (South Africa), Garratt Williamson (New Zealand)
Television match official: Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)

Lions v Hurricanes
(Coca-Cola Park, Johannesburg - 19.10, 17.10 GMT)

The Hurricanes might have been shocked at home by the Bulls prior to their departure, but they arrive in South Africa armed with an impressive recent record from matches in the Republic.

Since Colin Cooper took over as coach of the ?Canes in 2003, the team has won nine of 14 in South Africa.

The Lions are a different proposition on home soil though, as they proved to the Brumbies last weekend while ending a difficult week on a morale-boosting note after a courageous 25-17 win.

That performance spoke volumes for the esteem in which the players hold their coach Eugene 'Loffie' Eloff, whose position had been placed under threat by Lions officials.

Saturday?s success against the Brumbies has already allowed the Lions to match the two wins they gathered during the course of last year?s competition. The Johannesburg-based side has only advanced beyond two wins in six of the previous 13 competitions.

The Lions will be hoping to get some much-needed momentum from the Hurricanes clash as they embark on their Australasian leg of the Super 14 after Saturday's clash.

Another win, would further solidify the team and could set the tone ahead of the demanding four weeks ahead which will see the notoriously indifferent travellers visit Hamilton, Auckland, Brisbane and Perth.

Eloff admits his team will have to be better in certain areas such as their decision making, taking of opportunities and finishing.

"If we win we will be leaving for the tour with good momentum and a good position on the log," Eloff said.

Recent results:

2008: Lions 12-38 Hurricanes Wellington
2007: Lions 30-7 Hurricanes Johannesburg
2006: Lions 16-29 Hurricanes Wellington
2005: Lions 32-45 Hurricanes Johannesburg

Prediction: While the Lions are confident after their victory over the Brumbies last weekend the Hurricanes will be desperate to get their season back on track and they should come out on top by at least eight points.

Teams:

Lions: 15 Louis Ludik, 14 Ashwin Willemse, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 Doppies la Grange, 11Henno Mentz, 10 Andre Pretorius, 9 Jano Vermaak, 8 Ernst Joubert, 7 Todd Clever, 6 Cobus Grobbelaar (captain), 5 Anton van Zyl, 4 Jannes Labuschagne, 3 Lawrence Sephaka, 2 Willie Wepener, 1 Heinke van der Merwe
Replacements: 16 Hans van Dyk, 17 Gert Muller, 18 Gerhard Mostert, 19 Willem Alberts, 20 Chris Jonck, 21 Earl Rose, 22 Shandre Frolick

Hurricanes: TBC

Referee: Jonathan Kaplan
Touch judges: Phillip Bosch (South Africa), Willie Roos (South Africa)
Television match official: Johann Meuwesen (South Africa