Griquas v Western Province - teams and prediction
ROUND THREE PREVIEW: Strap yourself in. It is going to be a wild ride in Kimberley!
Round Three of the Currie Cup gets underway with Griquas hosting Western Province in a game where attack will be at a premium and defence likely to be ‘optional’ at times.
Griquas scored 11 tries in their first two matches – a 28-49 loss to the Pumas and a 48-39 win over the Boland Cavaliers. They also leaked 12 tries in those two matches, 23 touchdowns in 160-odd minutes.
WP’s stats are far more alarming – just five tries scored and 12 conceded in 23-48 (to the Bulls) and 19-40 (to the Lions) losses.
The Cape Town union, relying heavily on age-group and sevens players, will be desperate to reverse its fortunes after those two early losses.
However, Kimberley has been their downfall in recent years, with Griquas having won the last seven encounters between the two teams.
Griquas’ most recent victory came in September last year, when they triumphed 37-29 at home.
After a narrow loss to the Pumas in the opening round, Pieter Bergh’s men bounced back with a 48-39 win over a spirited Boland Cavaliers outfit this past Sunday.
Bergh’s charges will be confident heading into this clash, but he remains ‘cautiously optimistic’.
“Western Province’s biggest strength is transitions,” the Griquas coach, Bergh told reporters in a pre-match media briefing, adding: “[They like] attack from turnovers, loose ball and bad kicks.”
The coach admitted they were vulnerable in those areas this past weekend against Boland.
“We’re playing against the team that has Damon Marcus, No.1 [in the Currie Cup] for attacking stats.
“They also have Shilton van Wyk, Tristan Leyds [who played flyhalf off the bench last week and started at fullback this week].
“We know we’re playing against players who can attack and want to attack. Western Province’s game is all about transitions, loose play and counterattack.
“We know where we need to be better this week.”
Bergh, however, denied that defence is a frailty or handicap.
He believes his own ‘X-factor’ players like wing Gurshwin Wehr add more value on attack than any mistakes on defence.
“You can’t always just look at the number of tries conceded,” he said in response to his team’s déclassé 78 percent tackle success rate, 50-odd missed tackles.
“This [past] weekend there were three intercept tries,” he told @rugby365com, adding: “Against the Pumas two weeks ago there was a charged-down try and another intercept try.”
However, he feels the hard surface of the Kimberly venue suits his attack-minded team.
“It is about not giving one-on-ones to the opposition, because it’s such an easy field to step [the opposition].
“It’s a quick field, which means you need to work hard with your inside defender and the outside defender. This week we did a lot of work on our connections in defence,” he said of a face-off against a team that has steppers like Damian Markus, Sako Makata and Tristan Leyds.
“If you give a stepper one-on-one, he will beat you.
“We need to ensure that we get our kick-chase right, we connect, we work together and we’ve got that line integrity this week.
“I think that’s going to be massively important for us.
“I’m not so much worried about the number of missed tackles.”
(Pieter Bergh previews Griquas versus WP Currie Cup Round Three…..)
WP coach Labeeb Levy said they are continuing with their policy of ‘blooding youngsters’ and giving some of the players in the wider group game time.
“It is all part of a bigger plan,” he said of team that shows five changes from last week’s loss at Ellis Park.
Tristan Leyds makes his first start at fullback in a rotation with fellow Sevens star Shilton van Wyk, with Justin Geduld coming in at outside centre.
Jurie Matthee makes his first appearance of the season at flyhalf, having recovered from a concussion he picked up in the pre-season and replaces Kyle Smith.
In the loose trio De Wet Marais makes his return from injury at blindside flank and in the front row, Mhleli Khuzwayo makes his first start of the season.
Levy spoke of the ‘progress’ they made in the first two rounds, but admitted it is “always a challenge” to travel to Kimberley.
Despite propping up the foot of the table, with another winless team, the Sharks, Levy is adamant his documented goal of winning the Currie Cup is alive.
“We have to secure a couple of wins,” he said ahead of the tricky trip to the Northern Cape union.
“We are taking it seriously,” he said of a campaign with a team that looks decidedly out of its depth.
“Griquas prepared for the Currie Cup by playing in the SA Cup.
“We are finding ways to keep the group together and keep the system positive.
“We just have to keep going and not go into a negative mindset.”
With this year’s competition just a single round, another loss could be fatal to WP’s play-off prospects.
“The group knows that a win is vital,” Levy said, adding: “We are also working on improving every week and not making a win an overwhelming factor.”
Prediction
@rugby365com: Griquas by nine points
Teams
Griquas: 15 Connor Mahoney, 14 Dylan Maart, 13 Zane Bester, 12 Mnombo Zwelendaba, 11 Gurshwin Wehr, 10 George Whitehead, 9 Caleb Abrahams, 8 Gustav Erlank, 7 Carel van der Merwe, 6 Carl Els, 5 Albert Liebenberg, 4 Malembe Mpofu, 3 Cebo Dlamini (captain), 2 Janco Uys, 1 Eddie Davids.
Replacements: 16 Tiaan Lange, 17 Leon Lyons, 18 Ig Prinsloo, 19 Derik Pretorius, 20 Marco de Wit, 21 Thomas Bursey, 22 Tom Nel, 23 Cameron Hufke.
Western Province: 15 Tristan Leyds, 14 Sako Makata, 13 Justin Geduld, 12 Damian Markus, 11 Jared Africa, 10 Jurie Matthee, 9 Asad Moos, 8 Louw Nel, 7 De Wet Marais, 6 Zain Davids (captain), 5 Gary Porter, 4 Alex Groves, 3 Zachary Porthen, 2 Scarra Ntubeni, 1 Mhleli Khuzwayo.
Replacements: 16 Lukhanyo Vokozela, 17 Oliver Reid, 18 Herman Lubbe, 19 Adam de Waal, 20 Aden da Costa, 21 Ezekiel Ngobeni, 22 Luke Burger, 23 Shilton van Wyk.
Date: Friday, August 8
Venue: Griqua Stadium, Kimberley
Kick-off: 15.00 (13.00 GMT)
Referee: Cwengile Jadezweni
Assistant referees: Stephan Geldenhuys, Daniel Canhenga
TMO: Ben Crouse
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