Currie Cup, Round Five - Teams and Predictions

PREVIEW: An away victory for Boland in Mbombela against the Pumas on Friday will all but secure a semifinal spot for Hawies Fourie’s side.

The Pumas kick off this weekend’s fifth-round action of the Currie Cup when they host the high-flying Boland in Nelspruit.

Friday evening’s second fixture sees the two bottom placed sides, the Sharks XV and Western Province, battle it out in Durban to see who can register their first win of the campaign.

The clash between the Pumas and Boland at the Mbombela Stadium has all the hallmarks of a cracking game.

The hosts have won two of their league fixtures date, against the Bulls in Pretoria (41-7) and Griquas in Kimberley (49-28), while suffering losses against the Lions in Nelspruit (in their last outing, 25-36) and the Cheetahs in Bloem (28-42).

The Cavaliers, on the other hand, are having a superb return to the Premier Division and currently sit second on the table on 16 league points, which are the same tally as first-placed Cheetahs. The Bolanders have only lost one encounter so far in the campaign, a 39-48 reverse against Griquas.

Although the Pumas won two of their matches compared to Boland’s three, Jimmy Stonehouse’s outfit have scored a total of 21 tries to date – no doubt boosted by their recent romp over the Bulls – compared to the Kavaliers’ 19.

Interestingly, the two teams have conceded the same number of points, namely 113, in their four league games thus far, while the Pumas have scored 150 points and Boland 133 over this period.

Pumas points machine Danrich Visagie is leading the overall competition points tally on 50 points and the kicker is deadly with the boot from anywhere in their opponent’s half, as evident by his competition-leading five penalty goals and 15 conversions.

Bottom of the log dwellers, the Sharks and WP’s current form do not make good reading. They have each scored only one bonus point from their four games so far in 2025 and are at the bottom of the log.

The two coastal rivals have found the going extremely tough in terms of scoring, with the Sharks scoring only 27 points and conceding 143, and WP in turn collecting 83 points and leaking 166.

Boland coach Hawies Fourie has made five changes from the one that beat the Bulls last weekend.

Fullback James Tedder returns after missing out against the side from Pretoria because of a back injury. Donovan Don, the leading try scorer in the Currie Cup with seven tries in four matches, misses out due to injury and is replaced by Marcqwien Titus on the right wing.

Sanlam Boland Kavaliers complete their “home leg” unbeaten.
🏰 Fortress Wellington.#WhereChampionsRise | #PremierRugbyRealPassion pic.twitter.com/Fp3sm5ddcV

— The Carling Currie Cup (@TheCurrieCup) August 18, 2025

Up front, Fourie has opted for a brand-new front row. Regular starters Wayrin Losper and Dayan van der Westhuizen are back in the front row, with Mthokozisi Gumede and Laurence Victor on the bench. HP van Schoor starts at hooker with Llewellyn Claasen providing cover from the bench. Sidney Tobias has been rested.

Khwezi Mafu is back in the starting line-up after a sterling performance off the bench against the Bulls. He swaps roles with Ludio Williams. Mafu teams up with Sibusiso Sangweni and captain Thurlow Marsh to form the rest of the loose trio.

Stonehouse only made two changes to the side that will host Boland. Andrew Kota is back and starting in the fullback berth while Jeandre Leonard starts at lock.

The Pumas’ flyhalf Danrich Visagie is the top points scorer in the competition (50) followed in second place by the Bulls’ Boeta Chamberlain and Griquas’ George Whitehead (39).

Sharks coach JP Pietersen insisted that they were confident in continuing with their plan of blooding the youngsters in the Currie Cup, even though it hasn’t yielded any positive results.

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“I’m immensely proud of the boys for showing effort and fight [against the Griquas],” Pietersen said. “To be up at half time and to lead the game. It just showed the fight and growth in the group, that we are moving in the right direction.

“Unfortunately, it just takes time to polish out errors. It happens in rugby. The more you play, the more cohesion you get, the more understanding you get. It was a good fight from the boys.”

He targeted the set-piece as the “big work-on” ahead of the bottom-of-the-table clash.

“But there were some really good players that stand out and we can be extremely proud of them. They did the Sharks jersey very proud,” the Sharks coach added.

Pietersen reiterated the union’s stance of using this Currie Cup campaign to prepare for the upcoming United Rugby Championship and that, in spite of some heavy losses this season, the players are aware of the bigger picture.

“We understand on a mental side of the youngsters to look after them, it’s not good to continue losing games, but there’s always been good chats. Plum’s been talking to them regularly about how they’re performing, how they’re in the mix [for a shot at URC rugby].

“So, it’s a good positive chat coming from Plum talking to the players. But the main chat is to blood and get players ready for URC.”

There are six changes to the Western Province line-up for the coastal clash with De Villiers starting at flank, with the only other change to the forward pack seeing the experienced Cabous Eloff come in at loosehead prop.

There is a new halfback pairing, with scrumhalf Ezekiel Ngobeni making his first start and linking up with flyhalf Kyle Smith. The other two changes to the backline see Luke Burger and Jared Africa start on the wings.

Head coach Labeeb Levy said after falling just short in Bloemfontein last week, his side is focused on delivering a full 80-minute performance in Durban.

“We have seen some improvements in standards as we get more cohesion as a unit, but it has been frustrating not to get the results that we have been aiming for.

“There are a few rotations this week again and we are expecting a player of Paul de Villiers’ quality to make an impact on both sides of the ball.

“It will be another big challenge on Friday night, but this team is up for it and motivated to deliver,” he said.

Friday, August 22

Pumas vs Boland
(Mbombela Stadium, Nelspruit, Kick-off: 17.00; 15.00 GMT)

Prediction:

@rugby365: Pumas by 7 points

Teams

Pumas: 15 Andrew Kota, 14 Stefan Coetzee, 13 Sango Xamlashe, 12 Wian van Niekerk, 11 Darren Adonis, 10 Danrich Visagie, 9 Ross Braude, 8 Willie Engelbrecht (captain), 7 Ruwald van der Merwe, 6 Ntsika Fisanti, 5 Tiaan de Klerk, 4 Jeandre Leonard, 3 Sampie Swiegers, 2 Eduan Swart, 1 Etienne Janke
Replacements: 16 Jan-Henning Campher, 17 Zuki Sali, 18 Dewald Maritz, 19 Hanno Theunissen, 20 Andre Fouche, 21 Russwill Fredericks, 22 Tiaan Pretorius, 23 Dalvon Blood

Boland: 15 James Tedder, 14 Marcqwien Titus, 13 David Brits, 12 Lunathi Nxele, 11 Xavier Mitchell, 10 Ashlon Davids, 9 Louis Schreuder, 8 Thurlow Marsh (captain), 7 Sibusiso Sangweni, 6 Khwezi Mafu, 5 Jurie van Vuuren, 4 Michael Benadie, 3 Dayan van der Westhuizen, 2 HP van Schoor, 1 Wayrin Losper
Replacements: 16 Llewellyn Classen, 17 Mthokozisi Gumede, 18 Laurence Victor 19 Ameer Hendricks, 20 Ludio Williams, 21 Chriswill September, 22 Juan Mostert, 23 Erik Lambrecht

Referee: Cwengile Jadezweni (South Africa)
Assistant Referees: Christopher Allison (South Africa), Hernus Coetzee (South Africa)
TMO: AJ Jacobs (South Africa)

Sharks XV vs Western Province
(Kings Park, Durban; Kick-off: 19.10; 17:10 GMT)

Prediction:

@rugby365: WP by four points

Teams:

Sharks: 15 Hakeem Kunene, 14 Phiko Sobahle, 13 Diego Appollis, 12 Marnus Potgieter, 11 Jaco Williams, 10 Jean Smith, 9 Ceano Everson, 8 Nick Hatton (captain), 7 Bathobele Hlekani, 6 Tino Mavesere, 5 Deon Slabbert, 4 Coetzee Le Roux, 3 Lee-Marvin Mazibuko, 2 Liam van Wyk, 1 Phatu Ganyane
Replacements: 16 Willem van den Hever, 17 Phiwayinkosi Kubheka, 18 Mawande Mdanda, 19 Corne Rahl, 20 Jannes Potgieter, 21 Bradley Davids, 22 Drico Marx, 23 Albie Bester

Western Province:15 Tristan Leyds, 14 Jared Africa, 13 Gino Cupido, 12 Damian Markus, 11 Luke Burger, 10 Kyle Smith, 9 Ezekiel Ngobeni, 8 Louw Nel, 7 Riley Norton, 6 Paul de Villiers, 5 Gary Porter (captain), 4 Alex Groves, 3 Zachary Porthen, 2 Scarra Ntubeni, 1 Cabous Eloff
Replacements: 16 Luca Bakkes, 17 Oliver Reid, 18 Herman Lubbe, 19 Enos Ndiao, 20 De Wet Marais, 21 Asad Moos, 22 Ronald Brown, 23 Brendan Venter.

Referee: Robbie Jenkinson (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Hanru v Rooyen (South Africa), Caleb Hibbert (South Africa)
TMO: Egon Seconds (South Africa)