Currie Cup Preview: Round nine

 

Western Province and the Golden Lions have already booked their semifinal places and will look to stay ahead of the chasing pack for home semifinals.

 

The Sharks, Free State Cheetahs, Pumas and Blue Bulls, meanwhile, all harbour hopes of securing the last two semifinal places as only seven points separate these teams on the log standings.

 

The weekend’s clashes will be decisive as the Pumas host the Blue Bulls in Nelspruit and the Sharks meet the Golden Lions in Durban on Friday and the Free State Cheetahs take on log-leaders Western Province in Bloemfontein on Saturday.

 

In the other match on Saturday, Griquas and the Eastern Province Kings will meet in a bottom-of-the-log clash.

 

 

 

The match-up between the Pumas and Blue Bulls will be thrilling as the home team boasts a narrow one-point lead over their counterparts on the log, meaning both sides will desperate to distance themselves on the log table.

 

The Nelspruit team’s attack has been superior this season with the side scoring 22 tries to only 17 by the Pretoria side, but they have been closely matched on defence with the Blue Bulls conceding 21 tries and the Pumas 20. 

 

These factors combined with the intense pressure on the teams to secure semifinal berths could result in an epic encounter.

 

Interestingly the Nelspruit team won only two of the 16 matches between the sides dating back to 1997, but both of these matches were home games for the Pumas.

 

Their last victory was a narrow 22-21 win in 2010.In the Pumas camp coach Jimmy Stonehouse made only one change to his starting team with flyhalf Justin van Staden replacing JC Roos. 

 

Coenie van Wyk will replace van Staden on the bench.

 

Blue Bulls coach Frans Ludeke made only two rotational switches to his team with hooker Callie Visagie and scrumhalf Rudy Paige replacing Piet van Zyl and Bongi Mbonambi respectively.

 

2013 Pumas won 42-44, Pretoria

2011 Blue Bulls won 47-12, Pretoria

2011 Blue Bulls won 12-16, Pretoria

2010 Blue Bulls won 38-15, Witbank

2010 Pumas won 22-21, Witbank

 

Prediction: The Pumas have suffered a recent stumble as their team starts to suffer as a small union in the latter stages of a gruelling competition. Meanwhile the Bulls have picked up the momentum. Even though the Mbombela stadium was breached last week, it will not be easy going, but expect the Bulls to win by about 7.

 

 

Pumas: 15 JW Bell, 14 Ruwellyn Isbell, 13 JW Jonker, 12 Stefan Watermeyer, 11 Rosko Specman, 10 Justin van Staden, 9 Reynier van Rooyen, 8 Renaldo Bothma, 7 Jaco Bouwer, 6 Corne Steenkamp (captain), 5 Lubabalo Mtyanda, 4 Marius Coetzer, 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Frankie Herne, 1 Corne Fourie. 

Replacements: 16 Francois du Toit, 17 DeJay Terblanche, 18 Uzair Cassiem, 19 RW Kember, 20 Dylon Frylinck, 21 Coenie van Wyk, 22 Jerome Pretorius.

 

Blue Bulls: 15 Ulrich Beyers, 14 Akona Ndungane, 13 JJ Engelbrecht, 12 Burger Odendaal, 11 Sampie Mastriet, 10 Jacques Louis Potgieter, 9 Rudy Paige, 8 Jono Ross, 7 Jacques du Plessis, 6 Deon Stegmann (captain), 5 Grant Hattingh, 4 Paul Willemse, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Callie Visagie, 1 Dean Greyling.

Replacements: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Morné Mellett, 18 Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg, 19 Wiaan Liebenberg, 20 Piet van Zyl, 21 Tian Schoeman, 22 Jesse Kriel.

 

Referee: Jaco Peyper

Assistant referees: Rasta Rasivhenge, Sieg van Staden

TMO: Shaun Veldsman

 

 

In Durban the match between the Sharks and Golden Lions is expected to be equally entertaining with both teams having their sights set on possible home semifinals.

 

A victory for the Golden Lions will allow them to remain in a comfortable position for a home semifinal, while a win for the Sharks would allow them to close in on the Johannesburg team on the log and keep alive their home semifinal hopes.

 

The home team will have to deliver a solid defensive effort, in particular, to shut out the Golden Lions who have been the best attacking team this season.

 

That said the Sharks will take comfort from the fact that they boast the best defence in the competition.

 

They will also draw confidence from the fact that they have won the last seven Currie Cup clashes between the sides in Durban.

 

The last time the Johannesburg team beat them at home was in 2007.

 

Golden Lions coach Johan Ackermann knows they will have to be accurate in their execution around the park.

 

"We will have to be accurate in the set pieces, they put the opposition under pressure, especially in the line-outs," the coach said.

 

"In Marco Wentzel they have a line-out specialist and they will also come hard at us at the breakdown, because they know that once we have momentum we do very well.

 

"We will have to be accurate with ball-in-hand, as possession will be a crucial factor, they also have dangerous strikers in Sibusiso Sithole and Paul Jordaan, which means our defence will have to be spot on."

 

Ackermann has made a handful of changes to his team for their clash against the Sharks with prop Schalk van der Merwe, hooker Robbie Coetzee and No.8 Willie Britz being drafted into the pack.

 

Among the backs star flyhalf Marnitz Boshoff and centre Nicolaas Hanekom have also been named in the run-on team.

 

The Sharks coaches, meanwhile, know that the Lions strength lies in their famous scrum.

 

“The Lions have a strong scrum, they’ve enjoyed great continuity from Super Rugby and they like to play an exciting brand of rugby and keep the ball in hand.

 

"We will need to sort our scrum out, defensively we will need to be strong and we’ll look for a few chinks in their armour that we’ll try to exploit.

 

“They have really set the Currie Cup alight since the first round. So we know we've got a huge challenge on our hands and we are looking forward to it.”

 

The Sharks have drafted the most experienced Currie Cup player of all time Jacques Botes, lock Stephan Lewies and prop Thomas du Toit into the starting team, while Matt Stevens and Fred Zeilinga have recovered from injuries and will start on the bench.

 

2011 Sharks won 53-9, Durban

2012 Sharks won 30-14, Durban

2012 Golden Lions won 28-22, Johannesburg

2013 Sharks won 33-25, Durban

2013 Sharks won 25-31, Johannesburg

 

Predication: The Lions have been in form all season with only a minor slip up or two, however it is their impressive attacking display that really seems to give them the edge. The Sharks have ebbed and flowed putting on some solid performances against weaker teams. This weekend, in Durban should make it harder for the Lions but they have found no problem winning away from home. Expect the Lions to come out with a 10 point victory.

 

 

Sharks: 15 SP Marais, 14 Sibusiso Sithole, 13 Paul Jordaan, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Lionel Cronje, 9 Cameron Wright, 8 Lubabalo Mtembu (captain), 7 Etienne Oosthuizen, 6 Jacques Botes, 5 Marco Wentzel, 4 Stephan Lewies, 3 Lourens Adriaanse, 2 Kyle Cooper/Monde Hadebe, 1 Thomas du Toit.

Replacements: 16 Monde Hadebe/Franco Marais, 17 Dale Chadwick, 18 Matt Stevens, 19 JC Astle, 20 Khaya Majola, 21 Conrad Hoffmann, 22 Fred Zeilinga.

 

Golden Lions: 15 Andries Coetzee, 14 Ruan Combrinck, 13 Lionel Mapoe (captain), 12 Nicolaas Hanekom, 11 Courtnall Skosan, 10 Marnitz Boshoff, 9 Ross Cronje, 8 Willie Britz, 7 Warwick Tecklenburg, 6 Jaco Kriel, 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Martin Muller, 3 Ruan Dreyer, 2 Robbie Coetzee, 1 Schalk van der Merwe.

Replacments: 16 Armand van der Merwe, 17 Julian Redelinghuys, 18 Jacques van Rooyen, 19 Derick Minnie, 20 Albertus Smith, 21 Mark Richards, 22 Howard Mnisi.

 

Referee: Lesego Legoete

Assistant referees: Oregopotse Rametsi, Stefan Breytenbach

TMO: Jason Jaftha

 

 

 

Western Province will have their sights on retaining the top position on the log when they meet the Free State Cheetahs in Bloemfontein.

 

But they may have to work hard for a victory as the home team is aware that a defeat could dash their semifinal aspirations.

 

With the Cape side in second place on the list of the most tries scored this season and the least tries conceded respectively they will enter the clash as favourites. 

 

They will also enter the match with confidence following back-to-back victories against the Pumas and Griquas.

 

Form aside, the Cape side have won the last four match-ups between the sides in the competition dating back to 2012 – two of which were in Bloemfontein – and they will look to continue this dominance.

 

In Bloemfontein Free State Cheetahs coach Rory Duncan was forced to make two changes to his side following injuries to wing Rayno Benjamin and No.8 Jean Cook, which has made way for JP du Plessis and Neil Claassen respectively.

 

The only other change was at lock where Werner Lourens replaces Henco Venter.

 

His Western Province counterpart Allister Coetzee made five changes to his starting team which sees Dillyn Leyds replacing the injured Cheslin Kolbe at fullback, while Pat Howard comes in for Springbok Sevens wing Justin Geduld.

 

Manuel Carizza and Rynhardt Elstadt form a new-look lock pairing in the absence of the injured Ruan Botha and Jean Kleyn.

 

The other change was at scrumhalf where Nic Groom takes over from Louis Schreuder.

 

2011 Free State Cheetahs won 20-34, Cape Town

2011 Western Province won 36-15, Cape Town

2012 Western Province won 22-29, Bloemfontein

2013 Western Province won 15-14, Cape Town

2013 Western Province won 27-29, Bloemfontein

 

Prediction: Western Province have done it all this season, they have won the tough games on the road (Pumas) they have put plenty of tries past their opposition and they have looked rock solid in obtaining their semifinal spot. For the Cheetahs it has been a stuttering road to here and it seems that this final hurdle may be a little to big. Expect Province to win by at lead three tries.

 

 

Western Province: 15 Dillyn Leyds, 14 Kobus van Wyk, 13 Juan de Jongh (captain), 12 Jaco Taute, 11 Pat Howard, 10 Demetri Catrakilis, 9 Nic Groom, 8 Nizaam Carr, 7 Michael Rhodes, 6 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 5 Manuel Carizza, 4 Rynhardt Elstadt, 3 Pat Cilliers, 2 Siyabonga Ntubeni, 1 Alistair Vermaak.

Replacements: 16 Neil Rautenbach, 17 Brok Harris, 18 Oli Kebble, 19 Jurie van Vuuren, 20 Louis Schreuder, 21 Kurt Coleman, 22 Michael van der Spuy,

 

Referee: Marius Jonker

Assistant referees: Lourens van der Merwe, Rodney Bonaparte

TMO: Johan Greeff

 

 

In Kimberley Griquas and the EP Kings will both have a point to prove as the Kings remain winless in the series, while the home team’s defeat against the Golden Lions dealt a massive blow to their semifinal hopes.

 

Interestingly the EP Kings have scored four more tries than Griquas this season, but their defence has let them down as they have conceded more than five tries on average per match. 

 

The teams have met only four times since 2007 and the Port Elizabeth team won only one of these matches.

 

Griquas coach Hawies Fourie made a few changes to his team with Jaco Nepgen moving from flank to lock as cover for the injured Hilton Lobberts, while flank Marnus Schoeman was drafted into the loose trio.

 

The only change in the backline was the inclusion of wing Danie Dames in place of Ederies Arendse, who drops to the bench.

 

EP Kings coach Carlos Spencer also made a few changes to his starting line-up, which includes lock Cameron Lindsay taking over from the injured Daron Nell in the engine room, while Tim Agaba is promoted from the bench to No.8.

 

This resulted in a positional switch for Paul Schoeman to flank.

 

Prediction: Carlos Spencer and his men are running out of time to register that first win they so desperately crave, but perhaps against a side that is not doing too well either in the competition they can realise that dream. Griquas will be smarting after that massive defeat by the Lions but will also want to prove their worth. Expect the  Kings to still be winless at the end as the Griquas win by a small margin.

 

 

Griquas: 15 Gouws Prinsloo, 14 Danie Dames, 13 Johnathan Francke, 12 Wayne Stevens (captain), 11 Petrus Vermeulen, 10 Dean Grant, 9 Tian Meyer, 8 Ruaan Lerm, 7 Carel Greeff, 6 Marnus Schoeman, 5 Jaco Nepgen, 4 Hugo Kloppers, 3 Nicolaas van Dyk, 2 Martin Bezuidenhout, 1 Janro van Niekerk.

Replacements: 16 Ryno Barnes, 17 Simon Westraadt, 18 Jonathan Adendorf, 19 RJ Liebenberg, 20 Dustin Jinka, 21 Ederies Arendse, 22 Jacquin Jansen.

 

Eastern Province Kings: 15 Siviwe Soyizwapi, 14 Ronnie Cooke, 13 Tim Whitehead, 12 Shane Gates, 11 Ntabeni Dukisa, 10 Gary van Aswegen, 9 Tobie Botes, 8 Tim Agaba, 7 Devin Oosthuizen, 6 Paul Schoeman, 5 Steven Cummins, 4 Cameron Lindsay, 3 CJ van der Linde, 2 Martin Ferreira, 1 Charles Marais.

Replacements: 16 Albe de Swardt, 17 Charl du Plessis, 18 Darron Nell, 19 Steven Sykes, 20 Thembelani Bholi, 21 Kevin Luiters, 22 George Whitehead, 23 Scott van Breda.

 

Referee: Stuart Berry

Assistant referees: Ben Crouse, Jaco Kotze