Currie Cup, Semifinals - Teams and Predictions

PREVIEW: The business end is here as the top four in the Currie Cup will battle it out for a spot in the 2026 Final for the oldest domestic trophy in the sporting code.

Both semifinals take place on Sunday, September 6, with the action kicking off between the defending champions Griquas and the 2025 losing finalists, the Lions.

For the Lions, a win would be the ultimate revenge after narrowly losing last year’s Final to the peacock blues at 10Bet Ellis Park in the most dramatic fashion.

Griquas assistant coach Franco van der Merwe spoke about the team’s mindset heading into this knockout clash and how they approached this season overall.

“We treat this as a Final. We even treated last weekend as a Final. So I think that gave us a bit of momentum in terms of our approach and mindset, and the importance of the game.

“Especially being in Kimberley, there might be a bit more pressure. People are coming out to support.

“Your fans are watching, and we’re excited actually to host it.

“But the focus is on us. We do focus on the Lions, but the main priority is on

Van der Merwe spoke about the pressure element being the favourites this time around.

“Yes, pressure, like I always say, is a privilege, and it determines if you can handle it. So we’re prepping ourselves to handle that in different situations.

“If it’s at set-piece, in defence, or even on attack, we’re looking forward to applying that.

“The Lions will come with a lot of plans. They’re a good side, even the side that played the All Blacks; it’s an all-around good union, so we’re excited to play against them.

Elaborating on the game itself, especially the set-piece battle, the former Lions lock was confident that Griquas would be better in that department than they were during the league phase against the Lions.

“Yeah, I think it was just one of those games that things really did go our way. But you know, we had a very good review on that.

“They were actually a lot of times in very good positions and in very good space, knowing they actually beat us a couple of times.

“So yeah, we’re expecting a lot of plans; you could see in the last couple of games, especially in the Stormers game, they made a big step up.

“You know, with a few players joining their pack. It’s not going to be the same set piece. It’s going to be a massive battle, and I think we are really looking forward to that.

“But look, it would be great if we can put them under pressure at set-piece. But they will definitely come with a lot of plans in that department.”

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The second semifinal takes place at the Toyota Stadium in Bloemfontein, where Frans Steyn’s Cheetahs host Jimmy Stonehouse’s Pumas.

The Pumas defeated the Cheetahs in the last round-robin clash, which would give the visitors a mental edge over the hosts.

Cheetahs head coach Frans Steyn identified the areas where his side will need to be better against the same opposition for the second week in a row to book their spot in the Final.

“Just our physicality and being in each moment. It’s good… It’s a semifinal so you can’t think ahead to the next game,” Steyn said.

“We just need to front up physically – that’s the biggest thing, and our urgency on defence as well; they will come for us.

“We’ve played some brilliant rugby throughout this campaign, and we’re not overlooking that.

“If we pitch up, it will be a good match. I’m not saying it will be easy or that we’re going to win – I mean, it’s a semifinal, but it will be a proper clash on Sunday.”

Steyn also highlighted the threat posed by Pumas flyhalf Clinton Swart and how they plan to nullify him.

“Yeah, he’s a difficult customer. He kicks well, and once he gets some confidence then you’re in for a long day, because then he’ll put his shoulder in and come hard at you.

“But hey, there are four lines, and everyone has two arms and feet, so we’ll just have to tackle.”

Captain Neels Volschenk spoke about what it means to play a home semifinal for himself and the team.

“It’s special to play a Currie Cup semifinal at home; obviously the stakes are still the same, but it’s always special.

“We have a young group and a lot of the guys are from Bloemfontein, so to host it at Toyota Stadium is definitely special.

Volschenk warned against looking too far ahead at a possible home Final, should the Lions cause an upset in Kimberley.

“For us as a group, we’re just focusing on our match and what we can control. That’s the message from our side – to control what we can and what is in our hands.

“The rest of it will take care of itself. If that’s the case [getting a home Final], that’s great, but if not, then we’ll play wherever.

“But we need to ensure that we give ourselves the best possible opportunity to be in the Final.

“Wherever that may be, we’ll move on to the next week’s responsibilities, and then we’ll sort it out.”

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Pumas head coach Jimmy Stonehouse was in good spirits ahead of the knockout clash and vowed that his team would give everything to reach the grand finale.

“It’s exciting for the players to know that the result is in their own hands. If we pull it through, we’ll be in a Currie Cup Final.

“There aren’t many players who can reach a Final.

“Who knows? Maybe the Lions do us a favour, and we can host the Currie Cup Final.

“The guys know what’s on the line; we have several players leaving the union, so they would like to make some history in their own way. The guys know what’s expected from them.

“We’re also taking a look at Sunday’s predicted weather; it might be raining in Bloemfontein, so it could be a good matchup between the forwards.

“We’re excited and looking forward to the challenge. We can’t wait to see what the players can produce”

“It’s a new week, a new game; what happened last week is irrelevant.

“We’re hoping to repeat 2022 and repeat history once more.”

*See all the teams and predictions below!

Sunday, September 6

Griquas v Lions

(Suzuki Stadium, Kimberley – Kick-off: 13.00 SAST; 11.00 GMT)

Prediction:

Rugby365: Griquas by 10 points

Teams:

Griquas: 15 Stefan Coetzee, 14 Dylan Maart, 13 Zane Bester, 12 Mnombo Zwelendaba, 11 Sako Makata, 10 George Whitehead, 9 Bobby Alexander, 8 Carl Els, 7 Marco de Witt, 6 Lourens Oosthuizen, 5 Albert Liebenberg (captain), 4 Malembe Mpofu, 3 IG Prinsloo, 2 Tiaan Lange, 1 Leon Lyons
Replacements: 16 Janco Uys, 17 Eddie Davids, 18 Ntobeko Shezi, 19 Derik Pretorius, 20 Carel van der Merwe, 21 Jack Hart, 22 Liam Koen, 23 Connor Mahoney

Lions: 15 Gilermo Mentoe, 14 Keagan Smith, 13 Ethan Adams, 12 Rynhardt Jonker, 11 Latica Nela, 10 Matt Coetzee, 9 Haashim Pead, 8 Jarod Cairns, 7 Renzo du Plessis, 6 Thando Biyela, 5 Ruan Delport (captain), 4 Siba Qoma, 3 Ruan Swart, 2 Armand Combrinck, 1 Juan Schoeman.
Replacements: 16 Mahle Sithole, 17 Siya Dube, 18 Conraad van Vuuren, 19 Dylan Sjoblom, 20 JD Hattingh, 21 Asad Moos, 22 Exauce Kevani, 23 Luke Cannon.

Referee: Griffin Colby
Assistant referees: Stephan Geldenhuys, Dylen November
TMO: Marius van der Westhuizen

Cheetahs v Pumas

(Toyota Stadium, Bloemfontein – Kick-off: 15.30 SAST; 13.30 GMT)

Prediction:

Rugby365: Cheetahs by 12 points

Teams:

Cheetahs: 15 Cohan Jasper, 14 Michael Annies, 13 Carel-Jan Coetzee, 12 Zander du Plessis, 11 Prince Nkabinde, 10 Jaco van der Walt, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Neels Volschenk (captain), 7 Simon Miller, 6 Ramon Uys, 5 Victor Sekekete, 4 Carl Wegner, 3 Frankie Dos Reis, 2 Marko Janse van Rensburg, 1 Tebogo Nkosi.
Replacements: 16 Stefan Venter, 17 Matome Manyama, 18 John-Kelly Okonkwo, 19 Arno van der Merwe, 20 Sisonke Vumazonke, 21 Daniel Maartens, 22 Litha Nkula, 23 Marco Jansen van Vuren.

Pumas: 15 Jaycee Nel, 14 Darren Adonis, 13 Sango Xamlashe (vice-captain), 12 Wian van Niekerk, 11 Banie Britz, 10 Clinton Swart, 9 Thomas Bursey, 8 Willie Engelbrecht, 7 Andre Goedhals, 6 Thabo Ndimande, 5 Tiaan de Klerk, 4 JJ Scheepers, 3 Sampie Swiegers, 2 Chyle van Zyl, 1 Zukisa Sali
Replacements: 16 Gustav du Rand, 17 Etienne Janeke, 18 Junior Banda, 19 Stephan Krugel, 20 Ruwald van der Merwe, 21 Ntsika Fisanti, 22 Tino Swanepoel, 23 Russwill Fredericks

Referee: Christopher Allison
Assistant referees: Hanru van Rooyen, Jonathan Lottering
TMO: Marius Jonker