Preview: Currie Cup, Round Four
The Bulls travel to Kimberley this weekend where they are up against a Griquas side still looking for their first win.
The tournament's other unbeaten side, the Golden Lions, are also away from home – as they travel to Nelspruit to face the Pumas in another game fraught with danger for the tournament' pace-setters.
After suffering their first loss in three matches against the Blue Bulls last Saturday in Pretoria, Western Province on Friday face a stern challenge in Bloemfontein against the Free State Cheetahs.
In the remaining fixture the Eastern Province Kings will be hoping to continue with their recent improvement when they host the Sharks in Port Elizabeth.
We look at all the Round Four games!
Friday, August 28
Pumas v Golden Lions
(Mbombela Stadium, Nelspruit – Kick-off: 19.00; 17.00 GMT)
Pumas coach MJ Mentz believes the selection of lock Rudi Mathee and prop Corné Fourie could give his team the necessary muscle up front.
Against a Lions team they are familiar with – having played for them in Super Rugby – the two will bring some stability to the Pumas for their home game.
"Corne showed in the last two games what impact he can make off the bench," Mentz said.
"He will give us the stability that we require in the scrums.
"We missed the strength of Rudi Mathee, especially how he dominates in the contact situations."
Mentz believes it is more important for his team to focus on their own game, rather than be concerned about what the Lions' strengths and weaknesses are.
"The Lions are very strong in the scrums and look to dominate in every set piece," Mentz said, adding: "They earn a lot of penalties wit their scrum.
"We will look to put them under pressure in he set pieces."
The Lions, already without 15 Super Rugby players, this week also lost captain Jaco Kriel.
Coach Johan Ackermann made another four personnel changes to the starting forward group, which defeated the Sharks 31-16 last weekend.
In the front row, Jacques van Rooyen will start at loosehead prop, with Ruan Dreyer shifting to tighthead. Martin Muller will start at lock, while Fabian Booysen returns to No.8 as a result of the injury to Ruaan Lerm. As a result of the injury to Kriel, Stephan de Wit was included as a flank option.
In the backline Sampie Mastriet starts at wing, shifting Ruan Combrinck out to fullback.
Recent results:
2015: Golden Lions won 44-27, Johannesburg
2014: Golden Lions won 29-15, Johannesburg
2011: Golden Lions won 34-20, Nelspruit
2011: Golden Lions won 31-27, Johannesburg
Prediction: The Lions look vulnerable right now – without their regular captain and a team littered with inexperienced players. The Pumas may just sneak a win – by about eight points.
Teams:
Pumas: 15 John-Wessel Bell, 14 Bernado Botha, 13 Jerome Pretorius, 12 Stefan Watermeyer (captain), 11 Rosco Spekman, 10 Juan-Claude Roos, 9 Francois de Klerk, 8 Jason-Colin Fraser, 7 Uzair Cassiem, 6 Marnus Schoeman, 5 Marius Coetzee, 4 Rudi Mathee, 3 Khwezi Mona, 2 Jacques Momberg, 1 Corné Fourie.
Replacements: 16 Frank Herne, 17 De-Jay Terblanche, 18 Giant Mtyanda, 19 Jaco Bouwer, 20 Reynier van Rooyen, 21 Justin van Staden, 22 Hoffmann Maritz.
Golden Lions: 15 Ruan Combrinck, 14 Sampie Mastriet, 13 Nicolaas Hanekom, 12 Howard Mnisi, 11 Courtnall Skosan, 10 Marnitz Boshoff, 9 Ross Cronje (captain), 8 Fabian Booysen, 7 Stephan de Wit, 6 Albertus Smith, 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Martin Muller, 3 Ruan Dreyer, 2 Robbie Coetzee, 1 Jacques van Rooyen.
Replacements: 16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Julian Redelinghuys, 18 Luvuyiso Lusaseni, 19 Jano Venter, 20 Jaco van der Walt, 21 Alwyn Hollenbach, 22 Anthony Volmink.
Referee: Lesego Legoete
Assistant referees: AJ Jacobs, Jaco Kotze
Free State Cheetahs v Western Province
(Free State Rugby Stadium, Bloemfontein – Kick-off: 19.10; 17.10 GMT)
The Cheetahs have a real chance of adding more misery to a Western Province team still reeling from last week's hiding at the hands of the Blue Bulls.
Two weeks ago Province managed a narrow win over the Cheetahs at a wet Newlands and that gave the Bloemfontein outfit the belief that they can knock one of the tournament's favourites over.
Cheetahs coach Franco Smith admitted it will be another brutal arm-wrestle in Bloemfontein.
This Friday's game will be played in much more pleasant conditions than the pouring rain they encountered at Newlands a fortnight ago.
"There are a lot of things that will be different," Smit said about this week's encounter.
"The ball will be dry, under-foot it will be more solid. So that will definitely make a difference for both teams," Smith added.
Province coach John Dobson admitted that the Cheetahs are "smelling blood" and warned his charges to expect an even tougher outing.
"They were an ankle-tap away from victory at Newlands," Dobson said.
"Now we are wounded and they are the team with momentum. They had some amazing passages of play against Griquas [last week]," the WP coach added.
Smith said he was happy with his side's defence in last week's win over Griquas in Kimberley and has asked for more of the same against WP.
"Last week we defended quite well against Griquas in similar conditions, so the main emphasis for us on defence will be to repeat that performance. We must not give them space and not allow them to play too much."
Recent results:
2015: Western Province won 9-6, Cape Town
2014: Western Province won 34-29, Bloemfontein
2013: Western Province won 15-14, Cape Town
2013: Western Province won 29-27, Bloemfontein
Prediction: The Free State Cheetahs do indeed have a chance of knocking over Western Province, but we expect the visitors to bounce back and win by 10 to 15 points.
Teams:
Free State Cheetahs: 15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Sergeal Petersen, 13 Francois Venter, 12 Ryno Benjamin, 11 Raymond Rhule, 10 Fred Zeilinga, 9 Shaun Venter, 8 Niell Jordaan, 7 Henco Venter, 6 Gerhard Olivier, 5 Francois Uys (captain), 4 Armandt Koster, 3 Luan de Bruin, 2 Jacques du Toit, 1 Burrie Uys.
Replacements: 16 Elandre Huggett, 17 Caylib Oosthuizen, 18 Reniel Hugo, 19 Freddy Ngoza, 20 Ruan van Rensburg, 21 Tertius Kruger, 22 Sias Ebersohn.
Western Province: 15 Cheslin Kolbe, 14 Kobus van Wyk, 13 Johnny Kotze, 12 Jaco Taute, 11 Seabelo Senatla, 10 Demetri Catrakilis, 9 Godlen Masimla, 8 Nizaam Carr (captain), 7 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 6 Rynhardt Elstadt, 5 Ruan Botha, 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Mbongeni Mbonambi, 1 Alistair Vermaak.
Replacements: 16 Scarra Ntubeni, 17 JP Smith, 18 Jan de Klerk, 19 Chris Cloete, 20 Louis Schreuder, 21 Kurt Coleman, 22 Dillyn Leyds.
Referee: Stuart Berry
Assistant referees: Sindile Ngcese, Pieter Maritz
TMO: Willie Vos
Saturday, August 29
Griquas v Blue Bulls
(Griquas Park, Kimberley – Kick-off: 15.00; 13.00 GMT)
The Blue Bulls will look to continue their impressive unbeaten run in South Africa's premier domestic competition.
However, they will have to do so without discarded Springbok Francois Hougaard, who is attending his sister's wedding.
"Any team will miss Hougie, but Ivan [van Zyl] has all the attributes I am looking for from a team perspective," Bulls coach Nollis Marais said.
"He is quick, understands space and knows how we want to play," according to Marais.
Griquas coach Hawies Fourie made a number of interesting selections, mainly in the hope of stopping the second-half slides that have cost his winless team so dearly this season.
Springbok veteran Hilton Lobberts and Sevens Bok Ruhan Nel are amongst those who will play off the bench this week.
"We have struggled in he last 20 minutes in games," Fourie said, adding: "That is why we made some tactical selections – in the hope that those players can make an impact off the bench."
Bulls captain Pieter Labuschagne urged his teammates not to ignore the need to improve every week.
"We are playing a very dangerous team, who has beaten us in Kimberley before, so they will have the belief that they can do it again," Labuschagne said.
"That said, we are also a squad that approach every game with the necessary respect to the opponents and determination to do our own efforts and the support of our fans justice.
"We are building momentum nicely, but must be careful not to fall in a hole in Kimberley."
Recent results:
2015: Blue Bulls won 36-12, Pretoria
2014: Blue Bulls won 46-12, Pretoria
2013: Blue Bulls won 15-9, Pretoria
2013: Blue Bulls won 52-10, Kimberley
Prediction: The Blue Bulls should have little trouble in disposing of a Griquas team looking badly out of shape – the margin could be as many as 20 points.
Teams:
Griquas: 15 Riaan Viljoen, 14 Sandile Ngcobo, 13 Michael Van Der Spuy, 12 Clinton Swart, 11 Ntabeni Dukisa, 10 Francois Brummer, 9 Tian Meyer (captain), 8 RJ Liebenberg, 7 Jonathan Adendorf, 6 Johan Wessels, 5 Hugo Kloppers, 4 Jaco Nepgen, 3 Ewald Van Der Westhuizen, 2 AJ Le Roux, 1 Steph Roberts
Replacements: 16 Martin Bezuidenhout, 17 Luxolo Koza, 18 Hilton Lobberts, 19 Carel Greeff, 20 Rudi Van Rooyen, 21 Jonathan Francke, 22 Ruhan Nel
Blue Bulls: 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Travis Ismaiel, 13 Dries Swanepoel, 12 Burger Odendaal, 11 Jamba Ulengo, 10 Tian Schoeman, 9 Ivan van Zyl, 8 Arno Botha, 7 Jannes Kirsten, 6 Pieter Labuschagne (captain), 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Jacques du Plessis, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Bandise Maku, 1 Dean Greyling.
Replacements: 16 Corniel Els, 17 Dayan van der Westhuizen, 18 Rudolph Snyman, 19 Nick de Jager, 20 André Warner, 21 Louis Fouché, 22 Dan Kriel.
Referee: Marius van der Westhuizen
Assistant referees: Lourens van der Merwe, Jaco Kotze
TMO: JJ Wagner
Eastern Province Kings v Sharks
(Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth – Kick-off: 17.00; 15.00 GMT)
The Sharks have struggled to settle down in he absence of a host of senior players – mostly on Springbok call-ups and departures abroad.
However, they will be looking for a confidence-boosting victory over the winless EP Kings.
Assistant coach Sean Everitt said the Sharks will need a clinical, passionate performance if they are to avoid another defeat.
Their only win this season was against the Kings a fortnight ago.
"We didn't execute our plan against them well enough in the first round, so while it's important to have a plan, it's how you arrive on the day: the energy you display and your accuracy in execution that really counts," Everitt said.
"The Kings have improved as the tournament has gone on.
"They had a shaky start against the Lions, but played well against us and were probably a bit unlucky to lose to the Pumas last weekend, so they are no easy prey down in Port Elizabeth.
"We need to improve on what we've done over the last three weeks and we have to take the lessons learned out of the game against EP in Durban two weeks ago."
Kings coach Brent Janse van Rensburg acknowledged they faced a tough challenge against the Sharks.
"We have had opportunities to finish things off in our previous two matches, which we didn't take, and it is not going to get any easier," the Kings coach said.
"But we know we have to get the basics right and try to be more accurate in our approach.
"Every week we go out there and make sure we give our best effort, and that is what we will be doing on Saturday.
"We will focus on our processes and if we make sure we go out there and give our best, everything else will look after itself."
Previous results:
2015: Sharks won 33-25, Durban
2014: Sharks won 53-24, Durban
Prediction: It will be close, but the Sharks should be able to collect their second win of the season – by five points.
Teams:
Eastern Province Kings: 15 Scott van Breda, 14 Siyanda Grey, 13 Ronnie Cooke, 12 JP du Plessis, 11 Luther Obi, 10 Karlo Aspeling, 9 Enrico Acker, 8 Tim Agaba, 7 Thembelani Bholi, 6 Luke Watson (captain), 5 Cornell Hess, 4 Steven Sykes, 3 Tom Botha, 2 Martin Ferreira, 1 Lizo Gqoboka
Replacements: 16 Schalk Ferreira, 17 Edgar Marutlulle, 18 Simon Kerrod, 19 Stefan Willemse, 20 Paul Schoeman, 21 Dwayne Kelly, 22 Hansie Graaff.
Sharks: 15 Joe Pietersen, 14 Odwa Ndungane, 13 Paul Jordaan, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Sibusiso Sithole, 10 Lionel Cronje, 9 Michael Claassens, 8 Philip van der Walt, 7 Daniel du Preez, 6 Francois Kleinhans, 5 Marco Wentzel (captain), 4 Etienne Oosthuizen, 3 Gerhard Engelbrecht, 2 Monde Hadebe, 1 Dale Chadwick.
Replacements: 16 Kyle Cooper, 17 Thomas du Toit, 18 JC Astle, 19 Jean-Luc du Preez, 20 Stefan Ungerer, 21 Wandile Mjekevu, 22 Garth April
Referee: Jaco van Heerden
Assistant referees: Jaco Pretorius, Jacques Nieuwenhuis
Compiled by Jan de Koning
@King365ed
@rugby365com
