Can chasing pack catch Griquas and Pumas?

ROUND SIX PREVIEW: A few teams will be looking to stay in touch with the SA Cup pacesetters this weekend.

Griquas and the Pumas will be out to continue their dominance in the tournament. However, a hiccup by either team could make things interesting at the top of the table.

The chasing pack consisting of the Griffons, Cheetahs, Boland and Falcons, will all strive to step up their efforts in ensuring a place amongst top four spots to secure qualification for the Currie Cup.

Only one match is scheduled for Friday, when the defending champions host Eastern Province in Kimberley.

Griquas are in rampant form and heavy favourites to extend their remarkable winning streak which have seen them win all matches so far since the start of the competition last year.

Saturday’s full programme of four games will see the Border Bulldogs hosting Boland in East London; the Leopards facing the Pumas in Potchefstroom; the Cheetahs welcoming the SWD Eagles to Bloemfontein; and the Falcons entertaining the Griffons in what promises to be an enthralling encounter in Kempton Park.

With only a third of the league phase remaining, a fierce race is developing below the unbeaten Griquas and Pumas for the remaining two qualifying spots for the Currie Cup.

Last year’s inaugural champions, Griquas, and beaten finalists, Pumas, lead the chase with 25 league points each from their five bonus-point wins.

The next bunch of teams will find it challenging to dislodge them from the top two spots. As things stand, the chasing pack consist of the Griffons in third place with 18 points, just one point ahead of the Cheetahs.

In turn, the Free Staters are two points clear of Bolan and the Falcons, both on 15 points, while EP have 12 points.

The story continues below…

EP will travel to Kimberley realising the importance of their clash against Griquas on Friday, as defeat will be a big blow to their top four aspirations.

Pieter Bergh’s defending champions dispatched Boland in their previous home outing last week, and even with squad rotation, they should have too much firepower for the Elephants.

The defending champions are in rampant form and heavy favourites to extend their remarkable winning streak dating back to the start of the competition last year.

The Northern Cape outfit have amassed a staggering 346 points in their previous five matches, averaging 69.2 points per game, while their tight defence has conceded only 94 points, or an average of 19.2 points per game.

Their powerful pack and efficient backline have combined to deliver high try-scoring results.

It’s no wonder Griquas have the three leading try-scorers to date in Dylan Maart and Gurshwin Wehr, each with nine tries, as well as prolific hooker Gustav du Rand with eight.

They also lead the tournament with 52 tries, 26 of which were converted by ace kicker George Whitehead.

Elsewhere, the Boland will seek an immediate reaction on Saturday against Border at Police Park in East London following their close-fought away loss to Griquas in the previous round.

The Bulldogs are anchored at the bottom of the league table with no wins in five attempts and suffered a heavy defeat to the high-flying Pumas last weekend in Nelspruit.

The Leopards, with former Springbok and England assistant coach Matt Proudfoot at the helm, face a rampant Airlink Pumas outfit in Potchefstroom.

Jimmy Stonehouse’s men are almost matching Griquas in the try-scoring stakes, with 51 tries in five games, with Danrich Visagie (22) and Clinton Swart (19) sharing the successful conversion kicks for the Mpumalanga outfit.

In Bloemfontein, a confident Cheetahs – nowadays coached by their Director of Rugby and former Springbok Rugby World Cup winner Frans Steyn – welcome the SWD Eagles to the Free State Stadium.

The Free Staters’ hard-fought derby win over neighbours the Griffons has propelled them back into semifinal contention, and they know that any slip-up will be damaging to their qualification hopes.

Meanwhile, third-placed Griffons travel to the East Rand to take on the Falcons at the Barnard Stadium in Kempton Park. The men from Welkom will no doubt be eager to put their Free State derby loss behind them as they seek to consolidate their third spot on the league table.

JP Immelman’s Falcons have also won three games – the same number as their Northern Free State opponents – but are separated by three league points in the standings. Defeat will also be a big blow to the East Randers’ top-four aspirations.

With Griffons playmaker Andrew Kota in prolific form – his 57 points to date places him joint first on the scoring chart – the Falcons defence will have to work hard to keep him from pulling too many strings or conceding penalties within kicking range.

See below for match information!

Friday, April 11:

Griquas v Eastern Province
(Griqua Park, Kimberley – Kick-off: 15.00; 13.00 GMT)

Teams:

Griquas: 15 Cameron Hufke, 14 Dylan Maart, 13 Zane Bester, 12 Tertius Kruger, 11 Gurwin Wehr, 10 George Whitehead (captain), 9 Bobby Alexaner, 8 Gustav Erlank, 7 Marco de Witt, 6 Thabo Ndimande, 5 Albert Liebenberg, 4 Dylan Sjoblom, 3 Corne Weilbach, 2 Janco Uys, 1 Eddie Davids.
Replacements: 16 Gustav du Rand, 17 Leon Lyons, 18 Cebo Dlamini, 19 Athenkosi Khethani, 20 Carl Els, 21 Xavier Swartbooi, 22 Tylor Sefoor, 23 Sako Makata.

Eastern Province: 15 Jayden Bantom, 14 Rodney Damons, 13 Sherwin Slater, 12 Troy Delport, 11 Davian Swanepoel, 10 Chris Humphries, 9 Shirwin Cupido, 8 Athi Manetsa, 7 Laken Gray, 6 CJ Velleman, 5 Stefan Willemse (captain), 4 JJ Scheepers, 3 Zukisa Sali, 2 Deon Plaatjies, 1 Siyakubonga Nzuzo.
Replacements: 16 Masikane Mazwi, 17 Arno Gustafson, 18 Duncan du Buisson, 19 Hannes Huisamen, 20 Diego Williams, 21 Wayne Ngubane, 22 Chadwyn November, 23 Liqhawe Mokuena/Enrique Franks.

Referee: Griffin Colby

Saturday, April 12:

Border Bulldogs v Boland
(Police Park, East London – Kick-off: 15.00; 13.00 GMT)

Teams:

Border: TBC

Boland: 15 James Tedder, 14 Riaan Louw, 13 Lunathi Nxele (captain), 12 Jurick Lewis, 11 Xavier Mitchell, 10 Ashlon Davids, 9 Bentley Geldenhuys, 8 Sibusiso Sangweni , 7 Ludio Williams, 6 Gift Dlamini (vice captain), 5 Micheal Benadie, 4 Khwezi Mafu, 3 Dayan van der Westhuizen, 2 Sidney Tobias, 1 Wayrin Losper.
Replacements: 16 HP van Schoor, 17 Lamla Nunu, 18 Dian Heunis, 19 Peter-John Smit, 20 Thurlow Marsh , 21 Aphelele Madaka, 22 Renaldo Young, 23 Domenic Smit.

Referee: Jonathan Lottering

Leopards v Pumas
(Olën Park, Potchefstroom – Kick-off: 15.00; 13.00 GMT)

Teams:

Leopards: 15 Lwandile Mapuko, 14 Sino Tshontyi, 13 Brandon Keevy, 12 Bryan Breda, 11 Ronaldo Fortuin, 10 Charles Williams, 9 Sylvester Hassien, 8 Didi Sekati, 7 Uzile Tele, 6 Arminn Posthumus, 5 Chris van Heerden, 4 Lood Prins, 3 Ig Prinsloo (captain), 2 Liyema Mgwigwi, 1 Jason Jansen.
Replacements: 16 Mian van Rooyen, 17 Tatenda Chayayi, 18 Werner Geldenhuys, 19 Gcino Mdletshe, 20 Eben Verster, 21 Chadd Adams, 22 Chad Oppelt, 23 Clyde Lewis.

Pumas: 15 Tino Swanepoel, 14 Stefan Coetzee, 13 Sango Xamlashe (captain), 12 Carlton Banies, 11 Darren Adonis, 10 Darich Visagie, 9 Ross Braude, 8 Marvellous Mashimbyi, 7 Willie Engelbrecht, 6 Ntsika Fisanti, 5 Tiaan de Klerk, 4 Heinz Bertram, 3 Sampie Swiegers, 2 Eduan Swart, 1 Etienne Janeke.
Replacements: 16 Darnell Osuagwu,17 Dewald Maritz, 18 Jeandre Leonard, 19 Andre Fouche, 20 Ruwald van der Merwe, 21 Russwill Fredericks, 22 Lundi Msenge, 23 Dalvon Blood.

Referee: Stephan Geldenhuys

Cheetahs v SWD Eagles
(Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein – Kick-off: 15.00; 13.00 GMT)

Teams:

Cheetahs: 15 Cohen Jasper, 14 Prince Nkabinde, 13 Marco Jansen van Vuren, 12 Ali Mgijima, 11 Michael Annies, 10 Clayton Blommetjies, 9 Rewan Kruger, 8 Neels Volschenk, 7 Sisonke Vumazonke, 6 Andisa Ntsila, 5 Carl Wegner, 4 Pieter Jansen van Vuuren, 3 Aranos Coetzee, 2 Louis van der Westhuizen (captain), 1 Cameron Dawson
Replacements: 16 Marko Janse van Rensburg, 17 Banele Mthenjane, 18 Robert Hunt, 19 Victor Sekekete, 20 Pierre Raymond Uys, 21 Raegan Oranje, 22 Jandre Nel, 23 Banie Britz

SWD Eagles: 15 Roshwin Abrahams, 14 Kirwan Cupido, 13 JP Duvenage (vice captain), 12 Edwin Sass, 11 Rosco Syster, 10 Marlo Weich, 9 Sachin Toring, 8 Micheal Cloete, 7 Dian Basson, 6 Damon Royle, 5 Mncedisi Dlwengu (captain), 4 Azola Mati, 3 Hlomla Zodani, 2 Marco Fuhri, 1, Tandolwetu Matolengwe.
Replacements: 16 Stephan Leonard, 17 Cole Haggard, 18 Cecil Rittels, 19 Ethan Stuurman, 20 Wayne Khan, 21 Arden-Lee Meyer, 22 Quaid Langeveldt, 23 Keanu Langeveldt, 24 Christo Swanepoel.

Referee: Eon van Zyl

Falcons v Griffons
(Barnard Stadium, Kempton Park – Kick-off: 15.00; 13.00 GMT)

Teams:

Falcons: 15 Mbembe Payi, 14 Valentino Wellman, 13 Musa Tshabalala, 12 Zelinga Strydom, 11 Ezrick Alexander, 10 Sergio Stalmeester, 9 Wernich Aucamp, 8 Abulele Ndabambi, 7 Godfrey Muzanargwo, 6 Kelvin Kanenungo, 5 Andrew Volschenk (co-captain), 4 Eddie Evans (co-captain), 3 Blaine Golden, 2 Pierre Rabie, 1 Kayden Kiewit.
Replacements: 16 Joshua Eras, 17 Lindokhuhle Seteni, 18 Cohen Kiewit, 19 Philip Apea-Adu, 20 Zingisa April, 21 Tiaan Jonker, 22 Liam Kloosman, 23 Adrian Joubert

Griffons: 15 Kyle Cyster, 14 Christiaan Nel, 13 Keanu Vers, 12 Chris Hollis, 11 Qamani Kota, 10 Duan Pretorius, 9 Richman Gora, 8 Ulrich Stander, 7 Thomas Ongera, 6 Mingo Piti, 5 Matt Gray, 4 Lungi Mbiko, 3 Buhle Nojekwa, 2 Willem vd Hever, 1 Mthokozisi Gumede
Replacements: 16 Simon Westraadt, 17 Xolani Jacobs, 18 Junior Banda, 19 Curtly Thomas, 20. Calla Pienaar, 21 Rian Olivier, 22 Aphiwe Stemela, 23 Quan Eymann, 24 Chadley Wenn, 25 Jared Kruger, 26 Cheslin Arendse

Referee: Christopher Allison