Currie Cup Round One - Teams and predictions 

SATURDAY & PREVIEWS: Traditional rivals and potential grudge matches are on the cards in Round One of the 2025 Currie Cup.

Saturday’s first clash sees the Lions welcome the Sharks to Ellis Park.

The Sharks defeated the Lions in the 2024 Final in dramatic fashion when former Lion Jordan Hendrikse slotted a long-range penalty after the fulltime siren went off to clinch the title for his new team.

Sharks head coach JP Pietersen, however, doesn’t believe that either side will go into this match based on what happened in the 2024 Final.

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“We are seeing this as a new campaign. We want to elevate our boys’ game from last season to this one.

“It’s a clean sheet. The Lions are probably in a similar mindset and just want to go a step further from losing the Final, which will hurt them a bit.

“From our side, it’s all about our processes, how we can perform week by week.

“As a coach, I’m looking for consistency in performance.”

Pietersen told @rugby365com that their victorious Junior Springbok players might be in contention as soon as next weekend.

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“They came back on Tuesday, so we gave them off for the rest of the week and next week they’ll start training with us.

“We’ll see how they go in training, and if they fit in nicely, they might be in contention for the clash against the Bulls.

“We’ll give them time to settle in nicely, but the most important thing now is to give them a break from the game and let them enjoy and celebrate their success.”

Lions captain Jaco Visagie shared similar sentiments regarding the 2024 Final and highlighted the importance of sticking to their structures implemented last season.

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“I wouldn’t call it a revenge match. Obviously, it hurts, but it’s in the past.

“We can’t focus on that too much.

“We just want to start well, and hopefully we can reach the Final again.”

Visagie added: “Our approach this season is similar to the systems we put in place last year, which worked for us.

“We lost two games, both to the Sharks during the pool stage and the Final.

“The other games were quite good from our side.

“I just emphasise that those structures work if we stick to them.

“So it’s important that we stick to what we do in our preparation and to believe in those structures we put in place.”

In the following clash, Western Province will take on the Bulls at the Cape Town Stadium in a traditional North-South derby.

There will be several players in light blue who will return to their former home base, including newly appointed Bulls captain Nama Xaba.

Bulls head coach Phiwe Nomlomu touched on his selection criteria and the number of former players representing the Bulls who represented Western Province previously.

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“We selected who we think is the best for this coming weekend and for what we’ll be up against.

“We do have the pleasure of having a couple of guys who have played in different provinces.

“That’s what we’ll see across the board in the Currie Cup.”

Nomlomo added: “There are a fair bit of boys in the forwards that have played for the Stormers and Western Province.

“They will know some of the guys intimately, and the conditions we’re going into are very different to how we train and where we play.

“In terms of the cohesion, we tried a lot of things to try and get this squad as cohesive as possible.

“We went away on a good [training] camp, and the guys trained well as we tried different combinations.

“We’re looking forward to the game. It’s the first one, so the players will be nervous, and there will be a few mistakes, but we won’t be short of attitude and we’ll give it our best shot.”

Nomlomo spoke about his expectations from Western Province and the make-up of their player personnel.

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“For starters, we’re expecting a fair bit of a crowd to he honest,” Nomlomo said.

“They’ll be well supported and be full of grit and have a good mixture of Under-21, club and Varsity Cup players.

“They’ll bring good energy, which we’ll have to be well prepared for.

“They’ll want to have a lot of transitions because it’s a new group.

“They’ll be excited by their attack and try and play away from the set-piece.

“To find their cohesion defensively might be a bit tough for them, but as the season goes on, they’ll get better.”

New Western Province head coach Labeeb Levy said that they’re expecting the Bulls to stick to their DNA, but not necessarily their traditional style of play.

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“We’re expecting a set-piece challenge from the Bulls because of their experience and their player selection.

“They’ll come with a strong scrum and line-out. Also, if I look at their coaching staff, they’re not the most conservative group.

“Phiwe [Nomlomo], I know very well, we’re good coaching mates, and he won’t go the traditional [Bulls] way of playing.

“Breakdown pressure will also be an area purely based on their [player] resources, and they’ll also try and bring some flair into the game.

“I’m hoping we can do the same to force some errors and see if we can capitalise some turnovers of our own.”

On Sunday, Boland Cavaliers head coach Hawies Fourie face his old team, the Cheetahs, at the Boland Stadium in Wellington.

The Cavaliers make their return to the Currie Cup since their last involvement in 2016.

Fourie said that earning promotion to the tournament helped build bigger squad depth which gives him a healthy selection headache.

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“We are fortunate that we could contract a few more players after earning promotion to the Currie Cup.

“They slotted in nicely, and selection can be difficult with all of the new players and the guys that played well in the SA Cup.

See below for the Saturday and Sunday teams and predictions…

Saturday, July 26

Lions v Sharks

(Ellis Park, Johannesburg – Kick-off: 15.00; 13.00 GMT)

Prediction:

@rugby365com: Lions by 12 points

Teams:

Lions: 15 Gianni Lombard, 14 Angelo Davids, 13 Manuel Rass, 12 Rynhardt Jonker, 11 Rabs Maxwane, 10 Lubabalo Dobela, 9 Nico Steyn, 8 WJ Steenkamp, 7 Izan Esterhuizen, 6 Jarod Cairns, 5 Darrien Landsberg, 4 Raynard Roets, 3 RF Schoeman, 2 Jaco Visagie, 1 Morgan Naude
Replacements: 16 Morne Brandon, 17 SJ Kotze, 18 Heiko Pohlmann, 19 Dylan Sjoblom, 20 Renzo du Plessis, 21 Layton Horn, 22 Kade Wolhuter, 23 Kelly Mpeku

Sharks: 15 Hakeem Kunene, 14 Phiko Sobahle, 13 Litelihle Bester, 12 Janco Purchase, 11 Khuthi Rasivaga, 10 Jean Smith, 9 Bradley Davids, 8 Nick Hatton (captain), 7 Jannes Potgieter, 6 Sphephelo Mbonambi, 5 Deon Slabbert, 4 Gideon Koegelenberg, 3 Mawande Mdanda, 2 Bryce Calvert, 1 Phatu Ganyane
Replacements: 16 Willem van Wyk, 17 Dian Bleuer, 18 Lee-Marvin Mazibuko, 19 Kuhle Mthimkhulu, 20 Tomas Dyer, 21 Tiaan Fourie, 22 Drico Marx, 23 Chijindu Okonta

Referee: Dylen November (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Hernus Coetzee (South Africa), Phumzile Mbewu (South Africa)
TMO: Cwengile Jadezweni (South Africa)

Western Province v Bulls

(Cape Town Stadium, Green Point – Kick-off: 17.10; 15.10 GMT)

Prediction: 

@rugby365com: Bulls by three points

Teams: 

Western Province: 15 Shilton van Wyk, 14 Courtnall Skosan, 13 Luke Burger, 12 Damian Markus, 11 Quewin Nortje, 10 Kyle Smith, 9 Asad Moos, 8 De Wet Marais, 7 Louw Nel, 6 Zain Davids (captain), 5 Gary Porter, 4 Alex Groves, 3 Cabous Eloff, 2 Scarra Ntubeni, 1 Sti Sithole.
Replacements: 16 Lukhanyo Vokozela, 17 Mhleli Khuzwayo, 18 Arno Gustafson, 19 Carlo van Greunen, 20 Erhard Lambrecht, 21 Ezekiel Ngobeni, 22 Sako Makata, 23 Tristan Leyds.

Bulls: 15 Henry Immelman, 14 Katlego Letebele, 13 Stedman Gans, 12 Chris Barend Smit, 11 Stravino Jacobs, 10 Boeta Chamberlain, 9 Zak Burger, 8 Jeandré Rudolph, 7 Junior Pokomela, 6 Nama Xaba (captain), 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Sintu Manjezi, 3 Francois Klopper, 2 Joe van Zyl, 1 Dylan Smith.
Replacements: 16 Shaun Schurmann, 17 Lizo Gqoboka, 18 Jean Erasmus, 19 Jaco Grobbelaar, 20 Dylan de Leeuw, 21 Steven Nel, 22 PA van Niekerk, 23 Marco Ferreira

Referee: Sean Muller (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Hanru van Rooyen (South Africa), Charlwin Daries (South Africa)
TMO: Egon Seconds (South Africa)

Sunday, July 27

Boland Cavaliers v Cheetahs

(Boland Stadium, Wellington – Kick-off: 15.00; 13.00 GMT)

Prediction: 

@rugby365com: Cheetahs by eight points

Teams: 

Boland Cavaliers: 15 James Tedder, 14 Marcqiewn Titus, 13 David Brits, 12 Lunathi Nxele, 11 Donavan Don, 10 Ashlon Davids (vice-captain), 9 Chriswill September, 8 Sibusiso Sangweni, 7 Khwezi Mafu, 6 Gift Dlamini, 5 Marlyn Williams (captain), 4 Michael Benadie, 3 Dayan van der Westhuizen, 2 Sidney Tobias, 1 Wayrin Losper
Replacements: 16 HP van Schoor, 17 Lamla Nunu, 18 Laurence Victor, 19 Ameer Hendricks, 20 Thurlow Marsh, 21 Godlen Masimla, 22 Juan Mostert, 23 Xavier Mitchell

Cheetahs: 15 Cohen Jasper, 14 Ntokozo Makhaza, 13 Marco Janse van Vuuren, 12 Ali Mgijima, 11 Banie Britz, 10 Ethan Wentzel, 9 Rewan Kruger, 8 Neels Volschenk, 7 Pierre-Raymond Uys, 6 Gideon van der Merwe, 5 Victor Sekekete (captain), 4 Pieter Jansen van Vuuren, 3 Frankie Dos Reis, 2 Marco Janse van Rensburg, 1 Hencus van Wyk
Replacements: 16 Vernon Paulo, 17 Cameron Dawson, 18 Ben Pitout, 19 Sisonke Vumazonke, 20 Daniel Maartens, 21 Jandre Nel, 22 Carel-Jan Coetzee, 23 Clayton Blommetjies.

Referee: Stephan Geldenhuys (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Hanru van Rooyen (South Africa), Juan de Bod (South Africa)
TMO: Egon Seconds (South Africa)