Currie Cup Round 13 - Teams and Predictions

THE BUSINESS END: Western Province shot up the Currie Cup standings and are now firmly back in semi-final territory after a solid midweek win, but they can also thank the Bulls and Cheetahs for making their route to the top four a bit easier.

A bonus-point win at Newlands, coupled with defeats for the Pumas and Griquas, meant the Capetonians went to bed in third spot on the log on Wednesday.

The Bulls’ victory in Nelspruit cemented their place at the top of the standings, while the Cheetahs’ win in Bloemfontein has kept them in the race to the playoffs.

With two rounds left, the Bulls lead comfortably on 44 log points, followed by the Sharks (35), Western Province (30), Pumas (28), Griquas (28), Cheetahs (26) and Lions (24).

The two Gauteng sides only have one league game left, though, and while the Bulls are in pole position, the Lions are out of the running this year.

*Article continues below…

We look at all the Round 13 matches!

Saturday, August 21

Pumas v Cheetahs
(Mbombela Stadium, Nelspruit – Kick-off: 11.45; 09.45 GMT)

The Lowvelders host the Cheetahs at Mbombela Stadium in the first match of the weekend.

Neither of these two sides can really afford to lose, which will add some extra spice to this catfight.

The Free Staters snuck through by a solitary point the last time these sides met, in the fourth round, and would have taken notice of the Pumas’ form.

The Cheetahs coach Hawies Fourie made a ray of changes to the side, with the most prominent being Ruan Pienaar’s switch from scrumhalf to flyhalf.

The Springboks veteran made a brief appearance in the No.10 role during Wednesday’s win over Griwaus.

Pienaar’s switch from No.9 to No.10 sparked the Cheetahs backline as he used the spaces to manipulate the Griquas defenders.

Coach Fourie will be hoping the 37-year-old can emulate Wednesday’s display as they seek n play-off spot.

“Ruan played really against Griquas in the second half and we have opted to stick with that,” Fourie told reporters.

When asked about the importance of Saturday’s fixtures, Fourie said: “This match is a semifinal for us.

“Like we mentioned the match against Griquas was a quarter-final and the semifinal is on Saturday.

“While our final is against the Bulls.

“Hopefully we will be in the play-offs and have a full squad available,”

Most recent encounter:

2011: Cheetahs won 29-23, Witbank
2014: Pumas won 28-21, Nelspruit
2014: Pumas win 31-17, Bloemfontein
2015: Pumas and Cheetahs drew 37-all, Nelspruit
2016: Cheetahs won 52-10, Nelspruit
2017: Cheetahs won 45-34, Nelspruit
2017: Cheetahs won 33-32, Bloemfontein
2018: Pumas won 42-14, Bloemfontein
2019: Cheetahs won 43-37, Nelspruit
2020: Cheetahs won 35-31, Nelspruit
2021: Cheetahs won 17-16, Bloemfontein

Prediction

@rugby365com: The Cheetahs by five points

Teams:

Pumas: 15 Devon Williams, 14 Sebastián de Klerk, 13 Erich Cronje, 12 Matt More, 11 Etienne Taljaard, 10 Eddie Fouche, 9 Ginter Smuts, 8 Willie Engelbrecht, 7 Phumzile Maqondwana, 6 Daniel Maartens, 5 Pieter van Vuuren (captain), 4 Shane Kirkwood, 3 Marné Coetzee, 2 Simon Westraadt, 1 Dewald Maritz.
Replacements: 16 Eduan Swart, 17 Ettiene Janeke, 18 Ignatius Prinsloo, 19 Kwanda Dimaza, 20 Niel Otto, 21 Chriswill September, 22 Ali Mgijima, 23 Tapiwa Mafura.

Cheetahs: 15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Duncan Saal, 13 David Brits, 12 Siya Masuku, 11 Malcolm Jaer, 10 Ruan Pienaar (captain), 9 Tian Meyer, 8 Mihlali Mosi, 7 Aidon Davis, 6 Junior Pokomela, 5 Victor Sekekete, 4 Rynier Bernardo, 3 Aranos Coetzee, 2 Marnus van der Merwe 1 Cameron Dawson
Replacements: 16 Louis van der Westhuizen, 17 Hencus van Wyk, 18 Conraad van Vuuren, 19 Reinier Viljoen, 20 Andisa Ntsila, 21 Chris Smit, 22 Brandon Thomson, 23 Evardi Boshoff

Referee: Aimee Barrett-Theron
Assistant Referees: Local appointments
TMO: Quinton Immelman

#⃣REACTION: It was by misfortune, rather than being a masterstroke, but Ruan Pienaar’s move to flyhalf was pivotal in the @CheetahsRugby keeping @TheCurrieCup play-off hopes alive#Rugby 🏉#CHEvGRI 🏆
🔗https://t.co/TiZwRz71PF pic.twitter.com/jR7gko19f6

— rugby365.com (@rugby365com) August 19, 2021

Lions v Sharks
(Ellis Park, Johannesburg – Kick-off: 14.10; 12.10 GMT)

Unfortunately for the Lions, their playoff hopes are over.

However, they would like to finish their season on a high against the Sharks in their final league game of the season at Elis Park on Saturday.

On the other hand, the Durbanites are sitting pretty and well on their way to secure home ground advantage in the playoffs.

The Sharks will be mindful of losing momentum as the season nears its end.

“I think we’re in a very good place and that’s not just by looking at the last two results, while our training quality has improved, our performances in games have improved” Sharks captain Phepsi Buthelezi explained.

“Going into the business end of the competition, we’re in a very good place and the guys are starting to get really excited. I also think we’re starting to peak just at the right time.”

Buthelezi is calling for a more disciplined performance from his team and doesn’t shy away from the hard facts that penalties are costing his team.

“It’s definitely a massive issue for us and something we’re constantly working towards improving,” he admitted.

“We made it difficult for ourselves against Free State, we know over the last two games this discipline issue has been a massive one and it’s a constant work-on for us.”

Commenting on their opposition for this weekend, Sharks captain said: “They [Lions] will be desperate, they’re a quality team but have been very unfortunate with results not going their way in recent weeks.

“The trend we’ve picked up in their play is that they’re kicking a lot less lately, so we’re expecting a high tempo game, lots of running rugby and plenty of tackles.

“We want to get there and execute our game plan, it’s something that’s worked for us and something we want to polish heading towards the play-offs.”

Most recent encounters

2014: Sharks won 26-23, Durban
2014: Lions won 50-20, Johannesburg
2015: Lions won 31-16, Durban
2015: Lions won 26-18, Johannesburg
2016: Lions won 28-16, Johannesburg
2017: Sharks won 47-31, Johannesburg
2017: Sharks won 24-10, Durban
2018: Sharks won 37-21, Durban
2018: Sharks won 33-24, Durban
2019: Sharks won 30-28, Johannesburg
2020: Lions won 27-12, Johannesburg

Prediction

@rugby365com: The Sharks by ten points

Lions: 15 Wandisile Simelane, 14 Stean Pienaar, 13 Burger Odendaal (captain), 12 Dan Kriel, 11 Rabz Maxwane, 10 Jordan Hendrikse, 9 Ross Cronje, 8 Travis Gordon, 7 Emmanuel Tshituka, 6 Sibusiso Sangweni, 5 Ruben Schoeman, 4 PJ Steenkamp, 3 Carlu Sadie, 2 PJ Botha, 1 Sti Sithole.
Replacements: 16 Jaco Visagie, 17 Nathan McBeth, 18 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 19 Ruhan Straeuli, 20 Lunga Ncube, 21 Mandisi Mthiyane, 22 Morne van den Berg, 23 EW Viljoen.

Sharks: 15 Anthony Volmink, 14 Yaw Penxe, 13 Jeremy Ward, 12 Marius Louw, 11 Thaakir Abrahams, 10 Lionel Cronje, 9 Grant Williams, 8 Phepsi Buthelezi (captain), 7 Henco Venter, 6 Dylan Richardson, 5 Emile van Heerden, 4 Gerbrandt Grobler, 3 Lourens Adriaanse, 2 Dan Jooste, 1 Khwezi Mona
Replacements: 16 Kerron van Vuuren, 17 Ntuthuko Mchunu, 18 Wiehahn Herbst, 19 Thembelani Bholi, 20 Jeandre Labuschagne, 21 Sanele Nohamba, 22 Boeta Chamberlain, 23 Murray Koster.

Referee: Rasta Rasivhenge
Assistant Referees: Local appointments
TMO: Egon Seconds

#⃣WATCH as @LionsRugbyCo coach Ivan van Rooyen addressed the rumours that his position is at risk, ahead of the start of the move north to the @URCOfficial #Rugby 🏉@TheCurrieCup 🏆#RugbyUnion🌎
🔗https://t.co/WPk7eMgpuL pic.twitter.com/YXNvya1M8P

— rugby365.com (@rugby365com) August 19, 2021

Sunday, August 22

Griquas v Western Province
(Griqua Park, Kimberley – Kick-off: 13.30; 11.30 GMT)

Sunday’s fixture at Griqua Park is the final match of the fixture.

A victory for either Griqaus of Province will give their playoff hopes a massive boost.

In the fourth round, the men from the Northern Cape caused a massive upset with a two-point win in Cape Town, and if they can repeat that, Griquas will be in a strong position to finish in the top-four.

Speaking to reported ahead of the match against Griquas, the Western Province coach admitted in the last couple of trips to Kimberley have been challenging.

“Heading to Kimberley is always a big game,” Dobson said.

“For the last couple of years, we have been on the wrong end of results. So it will defiantly be a tough game.

“It is probably the most confident and informed Griquas side we have seen in a long time, so they will be a real challenge for us,”

He added: “Nonetheless we are up for the task,”

Sharing his coach’s sentiments, captain Ernst van Rhyn said: “The Griquas have a good team.

“They have been building their squad for a couple of years so they have some guys with experience,

“However. we have been good on the road and there is more than enough motivation for us to want to get a good result,”

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Most recent encounters

2013: WP won 19-13, Cape Town
2014: WP won 36-12, Cape Town
2015: WP won 43-19, Kimberley
2015: WP won 33-15, Cape Town
2016: WP won 52-31, Kimberley
2017: Griquas 44-34, Kimberley
2017: WP won 55-27, Cape Town
2019: WP won 38-12, Cape Town
2019: Griquas 27-23, Kimberley
2020: WP won 34-17, Cape Town
2021: Griquas won 30-28, Cape Town

Prediction

@rugby365com: The WP by three points

Teams: 

Griquas: 15 Ashlon Davids, 14 James Verity-Amm, 13 Chris Hollis, 12 Johnathan Francke, 11 Eduan Keyter, 10 George Whitehead, 9 Stefan Ungerer, 8 Ruan Steenkamp (captain), 7 Hanru Sirgel, 6 Gideon van der Merwe, 5 Stefan Willemse, 4 Adré Smith, 3 Erich de Jager, 2 Alandré van Rooyen, 1 Nqobisizwe Mxoli.
Replacements – from: 16 Janco Uys, 17 Andrew Beerwinkel, 18 Janu Botha, 19 Cameron Lindsey, 20 Johan Momsen, 21 Raegan Oranje, 22 Tinus de Beer, 23 Ederies Arendse, 24 Andrew Kuhn, 25 Luyolo Dapula, 26 Zander du Plessis.

Western Province: 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Sergeal Petersen, 13 Ruhan Nel, 12 Juan de Jongh, 11 Edwill van der Merwe, 10 Tim Swiel, 9 Godlen Masimla, 8 Hacjivah Dayimani, 7 Johan du Toit, 6 Nama Xaba, 5 David Meihuizen, 4 Ernst van Rhyn (captain), 3 Sazi Sandi, 2 Andre-Hugo Venter, 1 Kwenzo Blose.
Replacements – from: 16 JJ Kotze, 17 Dian Bleuler, 18 Neethling Fouche, 19 Simon Miller, 20 Marcel Theunissen, 21 Deon Fourie, 22 Paul de Wet, 23 Cornel Smit, 24 Dan du Plessis, 25 Tristan Leyds.

Referee: Stuart Berry
Assistant Referees: Local appointments
TMO: Griffin Colby