Currie Cup, Round One - Teams and Predictions

PREVIEW: The 2026 Currie Cup season kicks off with the Pumas hosting the Sharks, followed by the Stormers XXIII against defending champions Griquas on Friday, July 17.

The Sharks will field an experienced halfback combination of Tim Swiel and former Pumas scrumhalf Ross Braude, but have an overall inexperienced side except for a couple of stalwarts.

The Pumas, on the other hand, boast an experienced and settled line-up led by former Stormers half-centurion Willie Engelbrecht, with several names in their team who won the 2026 SA Cup.

The Stormers XXIII consists of a solid blend of youth and experience, with players such as BlitzBoks Gino Cupido and Mfundo Ndlovu on the wings and the old heads in Gerbrandt Grobler and Oli Kebble in the pack.

Veteran hooker Scarra Ntubeni will also do duty from the replacements bench.

New Stormers Currie Cup coach Tom Dawson-Squibb explained his team selection and admitted that the blend of players to face Griquas wasn’t a pre-planned move.

“You’re selecting from a group that is from a hand that you are dealt.

“It so happens that we have experienced players at different levels and the youngsters.

“I don’t think it was an intentional decision to make it a blend of young and older players.

“Personally, I love it. You get the exuberance of youth and the exuberance of a more experienced player.

“It makes for a really mixed dynamic and helps both sides.”

Dawson-Squibb claimed the underdog tag, stating it as an “interesting position” with Griquas having won their last eight matches in the competition against the Capetonians.

“It’s an interesting position to sit in a Stormers or Western Province jersey as the underdog.

“Griquas are the defending champions and SA Cup finalists.

“I listened to [Griquas coach] Pieter Bergh talking in the week about the amount of depth and cohesion they’ve built.

“They should be proud of what they’ve done. Everyone in the country admires what they achieved.

“We’re quite happy to be the underdogs against them. We know what they’re about. We know they’ll be massively physical and maul a lot.

“But we worked hard in our four weeks together, and we’re excited for what we can show them.”

Griquas coach Pieter Bergh said the conditions played a role in his team selection.

“The moment we saw the fixtures, and we saw we were playing Western Province [Stormers] away at night in our first round, we started planning for that, and a lot of the team selection is based on the conditions we expect.

“Obviously, on playing against the Stormers – mostly on Friday night in Cape Town, in the middle of winter, it’s a bit of a horses for courses for us this week.”

Bergh added that he will bank on his team’s experience to get them over the line.

“I think we almost average 50 caps per player in our team, you know, we’ve got a we’ve got quite an experienced group.

“I always say that counts, but it only counts if the guys play well. I’ve seen a lot of guys at any level with experience. It doesn’t really count for anything if that player doesn’t play well.

“We’ve got a squad where we’ve got a lot of experience, and hopefully they can handle the pressure situations well and make the right decisions and lead from the front.”

On Sunday, Faf de Klerk will make his Cheetahs debut against his former team, the Lions, in Bloemfontein before Boland Kavaliers take on the Bulls in Wellington.

The Cheetahs also boast a settled line-up and will head into this clash as favourites, having had recent game time in the Toyota Challenge.

Cheetahs head coach Frans Steyn and captain Neels Volschenck shared their thoughts ahead of the Round One encounter.

“I’m positive about the season. We had a couple of injuries, but most of the players are back,” Steyn said.

“Everyone is fit and training, and there’s a good vibe in the camp.”

“The Lions are a quality outfit and are well coached.

“We can only control what is in our hands: preparing and executing our plans well.

“I think all the teams in this year’s Currie Cup are well-coached and have good players who will do well this year.”

Captain Neels Volschenk added: “It doesn’t matter which team the Lions select; they are talented players with good coaches.

“It is a good opportunity to measure yourself against the Lions in the opening game of the season.

“We’ll have to play good rugby to have a positive result.”

*See all the teams and predictions below!

Friday, July 17

Pumas v Sharks (Mbombela Stadium, Mbombela – Kick-off: 17.00 SAST; 15.00 GMT)

Prediction:

Rugby365: Pumas by 12 points

Teams:

Pumas: 15 Jaycee Nel, 14 Lundi Msenge, 13 Sango Xamlashe, 12 Wian van Niekerk, 11 Tino Swanepoel, 10 Nevaldo Fleurs, 9 Thomas Bursey, 8 Willie Engelbrecht (captain), 7 Ruwald van der Merwe, 6 Ntsika Fisanti, 5 Tiaan de Klerk, 4 JJ Scheepers, 3 Sampie Swiegers, 2 Jordan McLoughlin, 1.Kudzwai Dube
Replacements: 16 Chyle van Zyl, 17 Etienne Janeke, 18 Junior Banda, 19 Stephan Krugel, 20 Marvelous Mashimbyi, 21 Russwill Fredericks, 22 Danrich Visagie, 23 Alfonso Isaacs

Sharks: 15 Chijindu Okonta, 14 Christie Grobbelaar, 13 Marnus Potgieter, 12 Janco Purchase, 11 Lyle Matthews, 10 Tim Swiel, 9 Ross Braude, 8 Thomas Dyer (captain), 7 Jannes Potgieter, 6 Willem van den Hever, 5 Deon Slabbert, 4 Johan Momsen, 3 Simphiwe Ngobese, 2 Kerron van Vuuren, 1 Cameron Dawson.
Replacements: 16 Jacques Marais, 17 Jaco du Toit, 18 Lee-Marvin Mazibuko, 19 Sipho Nonyalela, 20 Hanu Pieterse, 21 Ceano Everson, 22 Chris Horak, 23 Matthew Fortuin.

Referee: Juan de Bod
Assistant referees: Hanru van Rooyen, Jonathan Lottering
TMO: Egon Seconds

Stormers XXIII v Griquas

(DHL Stadium, Cape Town – Kick-off: 19.05 SAST; 17.05 GMT)

Prediction:

Rugby365: Griquas by eight points

Teams:

Stormers XXIII: 15 Dylan Miller, 14 Gino Cupido, 13 Josh Boulle, 12 Cornel Smit, 11 Mfundo Ndhlovu, 10 Jean-Luc du Plessis (captain), 9 Stefan Ungerer, 8 Wandile Mlaba, 7 Divan Fuller, 6 Keke Morabe, 5 Gerbrandt Grobler, 4 Tom Barnard, 3 Herman Lubbe, 2 Vernon Paulo, 1 Oli Kebble.
Replacements: 16 Scarra Ntubeni, 17 Mhleli Khuzwayo, 18 Hencus van Wyk, 19 Dylan de Leeuw, 20 Enos Ndiao, 21 Xola Nyali, 22 Tiaan Fourie, 23 Dominic Malgas

Griquas: 15 Gurswin Wehr, 14 Dylan Maart, 13 Mnombo Zwelendaba, 12 Sako Makata, 11 Stefan Coetzee, 10 George Whitehead, 9 Bobby Alexander, 8 Dillon Smith, 7 Marco de Witt, 6 Carl Els, 5 Albert Liebenberg (captain), 4 Malembe Mpofu, 3 IG Prinsloo, 2 Janco Uys, 1 Leon Lyons
Replacements: 16 Tiaan Lange, 17 Eddie Davids, 18 Ntobeko Shezi, 19 Derik Pretorius, 20 Lourens Oosthuizen, 21 Caleb Abrahams, 22 Damian Markus, 23 Cameron Hufke

Referee: Stephan Geldenhuys
Assistant referees: Zoe Naude, Lulutho Matomela
TMO: Archie Moko

Sunday, July 19

Cheetahs v Lions

(Toyota Stadium, Bloemfontein – Kick-off: 13.00 SAST; 11.00 GMT)

Prediction:

Rugby365:  Cheetahs by 12 points

Teams:

Cheetahs: 15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Cohen Jasper, 13 Munier Hartzenberg, 12 Zander du Plessis, 11 Michael Annies, 10 Jaco van der Walt, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Neels Volschenk (captain), 7 Juan Venter, 6 Ramon Uys, 5 Victor Sekekete, 4 Carl Wegner, 3 Aranos Coetzee, 2 Marko Janse van Rensburg, 1 Tielman Niewoudt.
Replacements: 16 Juan Smal, 17 Dux Manyama, 18 Frankie Dos Reis, 19 Simon Muller, 20 Daniel Maartens, 21 Rewan Kruger, 22 Ethan Wentzel, 23 Prince Nkabinde.

Lions: 15 Latica Nela, 14 Kegan Smith, 13 Likhona Finca, 12 Rynhardt Jonker, 11 Rabz Maxwane, 10 Sam Francis, 9 Zian Cilliers, 8 Morné Venter, 7 Jarod Cairns, 6 Renzo du Plessis, 5 Ruan Delport (captain), 4 Dylan Shöblom, 3 Conrad van Vuuren, 2 Armand Combrink, 1 Morgan Naude
Replacements: 16 Mahle Sithole, 17 Cecil Parsons, 18 Ruan Swart, 19 Tiaan Wessels, 20 Thando Biyela, 21 Layton Horn, 22 Matthew Coetzee, 23 Exauce Kevani

Referee: Dylen November
Assistant referees: AJ Jacobs, Jonathan Lottering
TMO: Egon Seconds

Boland v Bulls

(Boland Stadium, Wellington – Kick-off: 15.05 SAST; 13.05 GMT)

Prediction:

Rugby365:  Boland by six points

Teams:

Boland: 15 James Tedder, 14 Xavier Mitchell, 13 Lunathi Nxele, 12 Jurick Lewis, 11 Jayden Bantom, 10 Chris Smit, 9 Louis Schreuder, 8 Thurlow Marsh (captain), 7 Khwezi Mafu, 6 Sauliegh Arendse, 5 Marlyn Williams, 4 Jeandré Leonard, 3 Dayan van der Westhuizen, 2 Joshua Eras, 1 Mthokozisi Gumede
Replacements: 16 Llewellyn Classen, 17 Dewald Maritz, 18 Laurence Victor, 19 Johnré Stopforth, 20 Gift Dlamini, 21 Chriswill September, 22 Ashlon Davids, 23 Domenic Smit

Bulls: 15 Devon Williams, 14 Hakeem Kunene, 13 Demitre Erasmus, 12 PA van Niekerk, 11 Riyaad Bam, 10 Keagan Johannes, 9 Brooklyn Newman, 8 JJ Theron, 7 Abongile Nonkotwana, 6 Nama Xaba (captain), 5 Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg, 4 Sintu Manjezi, 3 Mawande Mdanda, 2 Jaundre Schoeman, 1 Dylan Smith
Replacements: 16 Shaun Schürmann, 17 Damian Baker, 18 Dian Coetzee, 19 Cephas van Biljon, 20 Chinedu Amadi, 21 Viaan Mentoor, 22 Christiaan Viok, 23 JJ Motlhodi

Referee: Griffin Colby
Assistant referees: Juan de Bod, Zoe Naude
TMO: Quinton Immelman