Currie Cup's Week One headliners
READER’S VIEW: The opening round of South Africa’s premier domestic competition had it all – intrigue, controversy and most of all an upset.
The upset relates to the Blue Bulls beating Western Province at Newlands, denying the Cape Town team a win in what may well be the last big north-south derby at Newlands.
The intrigue and controversy were found in Kimberley – a Griquas team that dominated for 40 minutes, held a 17-3 lead and then in a few agonising minutes after half-time conceded a penalty try as a result of a retreating scrum
Then nature intervened and a thunderstorm ended the match – resulting in the Lions winning 20-17 in a match in which they looked badly out of sorts.
Regular reader Nortie sat down and named his ‘Team of the Week’ from the Round One.
The Sharks, following their 45-10 demolition of the Pumas, have seven players in Nortie’s staring XV.
They are followed by the Bulls (five) and WP (three).
The replacement bench has three players from the Lions, two from WP and one each from the Bulls and Griquas.
Sbu Nkosi is the #CarlingCurrieCup Pressure Player of the Week after scoring an incredible try straight off the bench. 🦈
How good was that by the Cell C Sharks flyer? 😲#ReachForGold #TheChampionWithin@blacklabelsa pic.twitter.com/yEmTkHaSa5
— Carling Currie Cup (@TheCurrieCup) November 30, 2020
Nortie’s Team of the Week
15 Manie Libbok (Sharks)
14 Sbu Nkosi (Sharks)
13 Jeremy Ward (Sharks)
12 Cornal Hendricks (Bulls)
11 Kurt-Lee Arendse (Bulls)
10 Curwin Bosch (Sharks)
9 Sanele Nohamba (Sharks)
8 Juarno Augustus (WP)
7 Arno Botha (Bulls)
6 Dylan Richardson (Sharks)
5 JD Schickerling (WP)
4 Walt Steenkamp (Bulls)
3 Trevor Nyakane (Bulls)
2 Kerron van Vuuren (Sharks)
1 Steven Kitshoff (WP)
Replacements:
16 Bongi Mbonambi (WP)
17 Sti Sithole (Lions)
18 Frans Malherbe (WP)
19 Vincent Tshithuka (Lions)
20 Zak Burger (Griquas)
21 Elton Jantjies (Lions)
22 Stedman Gans (Bulls)
All the Round One highlights!
Western Province 20-22 Blue Bulls
Griquas 17-20 Lions
Sharks 45-10 Pumas
