Currie Cup, Round four - Teams and Predictions
BATTLE FOR THE THRONE: Currie Cup action resumes on Friday, with the Cheetahs and Sharks facing away matches in their quest to keep their unbeaten starts to the competition intact and overtake the Bulls at the top of the standings.
The Bulls – at the summit of the log with 10 points – are one point ahead of the second-place Cheetahs (nine) and third-place Sharks (nine).
However, with the defending champions on a bye-week, the Cheetahs or Sharks have a perfect opportunity to leapfrog to Number 1.
The Cheetahs travel to Nelspruit to face the Pumas (five points) on Saturday.
While the team from Durban head to Johannesburg to take on bottom dwellers the Lions (one point) on the same day.
On Friday, Griquas (five points) will look to build on their win over Pumas when they host Western Province (five points) in Kimberley.
The Cheetahs made a big statement with their commanding win over the Bulls at Loftus Versfeld in Round three.
The coach has one injury-enforced change which sees Daniel Kasende starting on right wing and Rosko Specman moving to left wing as Enver Brandt will be out for six to eight weeks due to a tight injury.
The Cheetahs will be led by the experience Ruan Pienaar and heads into this fixture as clear favourites.
But they will have their work cut out for them.
In last year’s fixture between the two sides played in Nelspruit, both teams managed to score three tries, but the Pumas prevailed 28-19 thanks to three successful penalty goals.
“Nelspruit has been a tough place to visit in the last few seasons,” Cheetahs captain Ruan Pienaar said, adding: “We know it is going to be challenging.
“They [Pumas] suffered a loss against the Griquas [in Round three] so they will be up for the game.
“Hopefully we have prepared well enough and will be switched on for the full 80 minutes.”
From a coaching perspective, Cheetahs head coach Hawies Fourie pinpointed the three main areas his team needs to improve following the win over the Bulls in Round three.
“Discipline is a major concern. We conceded 13 penalties against the Bulls and six of them were soft penalties,” Fourie said.
“Execution was another focus area, we made a lot of mistakes, conceded like 17 turnovers.
“And for the Pumas, we have prepared for the humidity in Nelspruit.”
*Article continues below…
Bottom of log Lions face one of their toughest challenges when unbeaten Sharks visit.
The Gauteng side have yet to record a win this season and their two defeats, including a 9-50 thrashing to the Pumas, clearly show how the team are struggling with depth.
Lions head coach Mziwakhe Nkosi’s team is mainly made up of Under-20 players.
This week Nkosi have the privilege of fielding three players fresh from United Rugby Championship duty namely prop forward JP Smith and the Tshituka brothers, Emmanuel and Vincent.
“It is certainly a welcome boost for our team,” Nkosi admitted.
“Vincent [Tshituka] is an outstanding loose forward one of the best in the country.
“He gets some game time [before joining the URC team] and we get some quality in our line-up – so it is killing two birds with one stone.”
He added: “We hope they will fit in nicely. We are quite confident that Saturday will go well and they will just add to our course.”
When asked about what he is expecting from the Lions, Sharks head coach Etienne Fynn said: ” [Lions] picked some exciting and experienced campaigners.
“The Tshituka brother [Emmanuel and Vincent] are both playing. PJ Steenkamp, JP Smith and in the backs they have a guy like Divan Rossouw.
“They also have some exciting outside backs Boldwin Hansen and Quan Horn – it is truly a good side.
Fynn added: “I think they will move the ball and I don’t expect them to stray from that.”
*Article continues below…
Meanwhile, Griquas will be eager to add the scalp of Western Province to their win in the previous round when the two sides clash in Kimberley.
Last season, Griquas achieved a rare double over WP, outplaying them by 46-25 in Kimberley and edging the men from the Western Cape by 30-28 in Cape Town.
“We expect a very strong and experienced Province team,” Griquas head coach Pieter Bergh said.
“I think it hurt the Western Province to go a season without beating Griquas and a union like WP should not lose against Griquas.
“With the squad, they have selected, they certainly want to make it personal.
“We know they don’t like coming here and we don’t want to make it easy for them.”
He added: “They have a lot of speed in the backline and guys like Sergeal Petersen will test us.
“But we obviously know what works in past and we have confidence knowing we can beat them.”
Knowing they have to face a very confident Griquas side, Western Province coach Jerome Paarwater expects a very physical and tough outing.
“They [Griquas] trive on their set-pieces and they also have a quality backline,” Paarwater said.
“They beat the Pumas and just loss to the Sharks so they are in fine form.
“Really looking forward to playing against them.”
#⃣BREAKING NEWS: The #WPRFU and #SARU revealed that the #Newlands Stadium was to be placed on the market in a sealed bidding process#Rugby 🏉#RugbyUnion🌐@WP_RUGBY 🇿🇦@THESTORMERS 🇿🇦
🔗https://t.co/xy4n9GXst5 pic.twitter.com/0dYFgMx23k— rugby365.com (@rugby365com) February 17, 2022
All the Round four teams and predictions!
Friday, February 18
Griquas v Western Province
(Griqua Park, Kimberley – Kick-off: 19.00; 17.00)
Prediction
@rugby365com: Griquas by five points
Griquas: 15 Rynhardt Jonker, 14 Munier Hartzenberg, 13 Jonathan Francke, 12 Alex-Zander du Plessis, 11 Luther Obi, 10 Theo Boshoff, 9 Stefan Ungerer, 8 Sibabalo Qoma, 7 Michael Amiras, 6 Niel Otto (captain), 5 Derik Pretorius, 4 Mzwanele Zito, 3 Janu Botha, 2 Janco Uys, 1 Eddie Davids.
Replacements: 16 Gustav du Rand, 17 Kudzwai Dube, 18 Andries Schutte, 19 Johan Retief, 20 Hanru Sirgel, 21 Raegan Oranje, 22 Andre Swarts, 23 Sango Xamlashe.
Western Province: 15 Kade Wolhuter, 14 Sergeal Petersen, 13 Mnombo Zwelendaba, 12 Cornel Smit, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Timothy Swiel, 9 Godlen Masimla, 8 Keke Morabe, 7 Marcel Theunissen, 6 Nama Xaba (captain), 5 David Meihuizen, 4 Ben-Jason Dixon, 3 Neethling Fouche, 2 Andre-Hugo Venter, 1 Ali Vermaak.
Replacements: 16 Chad Solomon, 17 Leon Lyons, 18 Lee-Marvin Mazibuko, 19 Connor Evans, 20 Junior Pokomela, 21 Thomas Bursey, 22 Sacha Mngomezulu, 23 Ethan James.
Kick-off: 19.00 (17.00 GMT)
Referee: Jaco Peyper
Assistant referees: Griffin Colby, Local
TMO: Marius van der Westhuizen
Saturday, February 19
Pumas v Cheetahs
(Mbombela Stadium, Nelspruit – 14.30; 12.30 GMT)
Prediction
@rugby365com: Cheetahs by 10 points
Teams:
Pumas:15 Devon Williams, 14 Sihle Njezula, 13 Alwayno Visagie, 12 Aliqhayiya Mgijima, 11 Jade Stighling, 10 Eddie Fouche, 9 Lucky Dlepu, 8 Willie Engelbrecht (captain), 7 Phumzile Maqondwana, 6 Daniel Maartens, 5 Shane Kirkwood, 4 Malembe Mpofu, 3 Simon Raw, 2 Eduan Swart, 1 Ruan Kramer.
Replacements:16 Llewellyn Classen, 17 Dewald Maritz, 18 Prinsloo, 19 Brandon Valentyn, 20 Kwanda Dimaza, 21 Anele Lungisa, 22 Tinus de Beer, 23 Sebastian de Klerk.
Cheetahs: 15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Daniel Kasende, 13 David Brits, 12 Frans Steyn, 11 Rosko Specman, 10 Siya Masuku, 9 Ruan Pienaar (Captain), 8 Mihlali Mosi, 7 Andisa Ntsila, 6 Gideon van der Merwe, 5 Victor Sekekete, 4 Aidon Davis, 3 Marne Coetzee, 2 Louis van der Westhuizen, 1 Schalk Ferreira
Replacements: 16 Marnus van der Merwe, 17 Alulutho Tshakweni, 18 Conraad van Vuuren, 19 Sergio Moreira, 20 Jeandre Rudolph, 21 Rewan Kruger, 22 Reinhardt Fortuin, 23 Cohen Jasper.
Referee: Morne Ferreira
Assistant Referees: Cwengile Jadezweni, Local
TMO: Egon Seconds
Lions v Sharks
(Ellis Park, Johannesburg – Kick-off: 17.00; 15.00 GMT)
Prediction
@rugby365com: Sharks by 12 points
Teams:
Lions: 15 Quan Horn, 14 Boldwin Hansen, 13 James Mollentze, 12 Matt More, 11 Divan Rossouw, 10 Vaughen Isaacs, 9 Jurich Claasens, 8 Emmanuel Tshituka, 7 Vincent Tshituka, 6 Sibusiso Sangweni, 5 Simon Dinisio, 4 PJ Steenkamp, 3 Asenathi Ntlabakanye (captain), 2 Dameon Venter, 1 JP Smith.
Replacements: 16 Morne Brandon, 17 Banele Mthenjane, 18 Chergin Fillies, 19 Lunga Ncube 20 MJ Pelser, 21 Ginter Smuts, 22 Fred Zeilinga, 23 Tyler Bocks.
Sharks: 15 Yaw Penxe, 14 Werner Kok, 13 Jeremy Ward, 12 Murray Koster, 11 Marnus Potgieter, 10 Boeta Chamberlain, 9 Cameron Wright, 8 Celimpilo Gumede, 7 Thembelani Bholi, 6 James Venter (Captain), 5 Reniel Hugo, 4 Le Roux Roets, 3 Khutha Mchunu, 2 Fez Mbatha, 1 Khwezi Mona.
Replacements: 16 Dan Jooste, 17 Dian Bleuler, 18 Wiehahn Herbst, 19 Emile van Heerden, 20 OJ Noa, 21 Sanele Nohamba, 22 Inny Radebe, 23 Bradley Davids
Referee: AJ Jacobs
Assistant Referees: Rasta Rasivhenge, Local
TMO: Marius Jonker
@leezil07
@rugby365com
