Super Rugby 2012: 4 Teams Guaranteed to Lose in Round 15

It's the last week before the international break and the battle to avoid the wooden spoon is pretty much between two teams now: the Blues and the Lions.

The Hurricanes came back from their loss to the Brumbies by shellacking the Rebels 66-24. The result keeps them mathematically in the playoff race.

Having lost to the Chiefs, the Bulls are back with the other contenders and risk slipping further this week with a tough game against the Stormers awaiting them.

I went two from four this week, for a season total of 42 from 56. How will this week look?

Rebels

The Rebels will host the Australian-leading Brumbies to start the week.

Lachlan Mitchell will miss the game, having suffered a concussion in last week's fixture against the Hurricanes.

His replacement, Stirling Mortlock, is more than capable. The Rebels will also be hit hard by the loss of Kurtley Beale.

The Brumbies now find themselves with less room for error, after losing narrowly to the Reds in Canberra. The only thing that will keep the Brumbies back is complacency, and that's something they'll have a lot of.

Blues

The Blues will host the Chiefs this weekend.

Injuries are still a concern for the Auckland-based franchise, and while there have been fewer changes made this week than in previous weeks, they still haven't been able to develop the chemistry in the same way as the other teams in the league have.

Meanwhile, the Chiefs are on the rampage. It'll be hard for them to back up a good result, but they shouldn't have to bring their top game with the way the Blues have been playing.

It's just a shame their strong form will disappear after the international window.

Lions

The Lions still haven't won since the first round.

Think about it: that's an 11-game losing streak.

While the Sharks' backline has been slightly restructured for this week, their forwards will still be strong enough to control the game.

The Sharks will hit the lead fairly early and go fairly untroubled from there.

Stormers

The top South African teams will face off as the Bulls host the Stormers in Pretoria.

Both sides are coming off a loss, and will leave nothing on the field after the game with a clear path to the top of the conference awaiting the winner.

It will be a physical game as two of the strongest forward packs in the competition battle for supremacy.

They'll be jet-lagged from their international tour, but I'm picking the Bulls for two reasons:

1. Their higher try-scoring capacity. If they can steal a couple it should seal the game.
2. Home turf. The crowd will keep them in the game, and should help get them over the line. 

Whichever side loses will probably take a bonus point as consolation, but I'm tipping the Bulls to edge it.