Preview: Currie Cup, Round Nine
The Golden Lions are the only team guarenteed of a semifinal spot, so they will be looking to secure a home semifinal when they face defending champions Western Province at Ellis Park on Friday.
Western Province and the Blue Bulls are both on 29 log points, with the Bulls just holding on to the second home semifinal spot by virtue of their five points difference.
Both teams will be looking for a bonus point win this week as they chase a home semifinal spot.
The Free State Cheetahs travel to Nelspruit to face a difficult Pumas team.
The Pumas need a victory to stand any realistic chance of a semifinal berth, but the Cheetahs will be hoping to put to bed any chance the Pumas have of eclipsing them in the race to qualify.
The Sharks also still stand a chance of making the cut for the semifinals if they manage to secure a bonus point victory over Griquas in Kimberley on Saturday.
We look at all the Round Nine action!
Friday, October 2
Golden Lions v Western Province
(Ellis Park, Johannesburg – Kick-off: 18.00; 16.00 GMT)
Lions coach Johan Ackermann will be wary of complacency when his team faces Western Province in Johannesburg.
Both teams have been in scintillating form this season and this promises to be a very good game.
The Lions have already qualified for the semifinals, but they will want to maintain their unbeaten record when they face the team that beat them in last season's Currie Cup Final.
Ackerman told Rugby365: "They [Province]are defending champions so it won't be an easy game, but we don't treat this as a knock-out game – we treat it like any other game."
The Lions bring in a few youngsters into this match and the coach will hope that they can gain some experience playing against quality opposition.
"Dillon Smith gets a chance in the front row, which is great because he did well the first chance he got against the Sharks," said Ackermann.
"Ruan Janse van Rensburg played a few games from the bench so we will give him a chance in the starting XV.
"Martin Muller is out so that opens the door for a guy like Lourens Erasmus, so he get to play another big match."
Province have included Springbok centre Juan de Jongh in the starting lineup.
The Province captain has been out since week two.
His return will be a huge boost for the defending champions.
Province will once again look to young Robert du Preez to keep them on the front foot with his sniping breaks and reliable goal-kicking.
Recent results:
2014: WP won 19-16, Cape Town (Currie Cup Final)
2014: Lions won 35-33, Johannesburg
2014: WP won 27-14, Cape Town
2013: WP won 33-16, Cape Town (Currie Cup semifinal)
2013: WP won 36-23, Cape Town
Prediction: This will be a really tight game to call. Western Province will be the hungrier team with a home semifinal to play for, so they should win a very tight game.
Teams:
Golden Lions: 15 Andries Coetzee, 14 Courtnall Skosan, 13 Rohan Janse van Rensburg, 12 Howard Mnisi, 11 Anthony Volmink, 10 Marnitz Boshoff, 9 Ross Cronje, 8 Warren Whiteley, 7 Stephan de Witt, 6 Jaco Kriel (captain), 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Lourens Erasmus, 3 Julian Redelinghuys, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Dylan Smith.
Replacements: 16 Mark Pretorius, 17 Ruan Dreyer, 18 Fabian Booysen, 19 Albertus Smith, 20 Jaco van der Walt, 21 Nicolaas Hanekom, 22 Sampie Mastriet.
Western Province: 15 Cheslin Kolbe/Dillyn Leyds, 14 Dillyn Leyds/Kobus van Wyk, 13 Johnny Kotze, 12 Juan de Jongh (captain), 11 Seabelo Senatla, 10 Robert du Preez, 9 Nic Groom, 8 Nizaam Carr, 7 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 6 Chris Cloete, 5 Ruan Botha, 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Steven Kitshoff.
Replacements: 16 Michael Willemse, 17 Oli Kebble, 18 Chris van Zyl, 19 Jurie van Vuuren, 20 Godlen Masimla, 21 Kurt Coleman, 22 Huw Jones.
Referee: Marius van der Westhuizen
Assistant referees: Jason Jaftha, Lourens van der Merwe
TMO: Johan Greeff
Blue Bulls v Eastern Province Kings
(Loftus Versveld, Pretoria – Kick-off: 19.10; 17.10 GMT)
Eastern Province Kings face a Blue Bulls team eager to secure a home semifinal spot.
The Kings have been very unpredictable this season but will find it tough against a Bulls team that was arguably the best team in the competition for the first five weeks.
The Kings will be looking for a strong performance from flyhalf Elgar Watts.
Bulls coach Nollis Marais will be looking to gain some momentum as the league phase of the competion enters it's penultimate round.
"We need to secure a play-off spot – a solid performance against the Kings will secure that," said Marais.
"We have played some good rugby this season, but we also had our lapses, so the big challenge will be to perform again as a unit.
"The Kings are dangerous and play for 80 minutes as they have shown last weekend, so we are going to need all 22 players to deliver on the night."
Blue Bulls captain, Pieter Labuschagne, is well aware of the fact that it could be their last game at home.
"We need two very good performances to host the semifinal, so if we slip up, this will be our last home game," he said.
We owe our supporters more than that. We trained well and with purpose, so we should be very competitive on Friday."
Recent Results:
2014: Bulls won 28-13, Port Elizabeth
2014: Bulls won 30-25, Pretoria
Prediction: The Kings will have to play out of their skins just to push the Bulls close. The Bulls will win this game comprehensively.
Teams:
Blue Bulls: 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Travis Ismaiel, 13 Dries Swanepoel, 12 Burger Odendaal, 11 Jamba Ulengo, 10 Tian Schoeman, 9 Francois Hougaard, 8 Arno Botha, 7 Pieter Labuschagne (captain), 6 Deon Stegmann, 5 Rudolph Snyman, 4 Jacques du Plessis, 3 Marcel van der Merwe, 2 Bandise Maku, 1 Pierre Schoeman.
Replacements: 16 Corniel Els, 17 Werner Kruger, 18 Marvin Orie, 19 Ruan Steenkamp, 20 Ivan van Zyl, 21 Louis Fouché, 22 William Small Smith.
Eastern Province Kings: 15 Scott van Breda, 14 Sylvian Mahuza, 13 JP du Plessis, 12 Tim Whitehead (captain), 11 Luther Obi, 10 Elgar Watts, 9 Enrico Acker, 8 Jacques Engelbrecht, 7 Stefan Willemse, 6 Thembelani Bholi, 5 Cornell Hess, 4 Steven Sykes, 3 Tom Botha, 2 Martin Ferreira, 1Lizo Gqoboka.
Replacements: 16 Edgar Marutlulle, 17 Schalk Ferreira, 18 Simon Kerrod, 19 Paul Schoeman, 20 Tim Agaba, 21 Dwayne Kelly, 22 Karlo Aspeling.
Referee: Lesego Legoete
Assistant referees: AJ Jacobs, Francois Pretorius
Saturday, October 3
Pumas v Free State Cheetahs
(Mombela Stadium, Nelspruit – Kick-off: 13.15; 11.15 GMT)
The Free State Cheetahs roll in to Nelspruit, after they lost heavily against the Golden Lions in Bloemfontein last week.
The Cheetahs have lost momentum in the absence of flyhalf, and pivot, Fred Zeilinga.
Sias Eberson has failed to impress in his first start last week against the Lions, and he will have to give a much more composed performance if they are to tame a fiesty Pumas team.
Pumas will look to shake up the race for a semifinal spot and put themselves in contention for a place in the knock-out phase.
They welcome back their captain Stephan Watermeyer after he recovered from a hamstring injury.
Pumas caoch MJ Mentz said: "We are very glad Stephan back – we missed his captaincy last week – especially in the second half."
He expects the weather to play a big role in assisting his team's chances of winning.
"The heat is going to play a role in the last 20 minutes, especially since the Cheetahs play a similar game to us."
Recent Results:
2014: Pumas won 31-17,Bloemfontein
2014: Pumas won 28-21 Nelspruit
Prediction: The Pumas are a much better team than they have shown in their results this season. The Pumas will unsettle the Cheetahs attacking style and capitalise on their mistakes. Pumas will win a very close match.
Teams:
Pumas: 15 John-Wessel Bell, 14 Jerome Pretoius, 13 Hoffmann Maritz, 12 Stefan Watermeyer (captain), 11 Rosko Specman, 10 Justin van Staden, 9 Francois de Klerk, 8 Jason-Colin Fraser, 7 Uzair Cassiem, 6 Jaco Bouwer, 5 Marius Coetzer, 4 Lubabalo Mtyanda, 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Frank Herne, 1 Corné Fourie
Replacements: 16 Francois du Toit, 17 De-Jay Terblanche, 18 Rudi Mathee, 19 Marnus Schoeman, 20 Reynier van Rooyen, 21 Hennie Skorbinski, 22 Bernardo Botha
Free State Cheetahs: 15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Sergeal Petersen, 13 Francois Venter, 12 Ryno Benjamin, 11 Raymond Rhule, 10 Sias Ebersohn, 9 Shaun Venter, 8 De Wet Kruger, 7 Teboho Mohoje, 6 Gerhard Olivier, 5 Francois Uys (captain), 4 Reniel Hugo, 3 Luan De Bruin, 2 Neil Rautenbach, 1 Teunis Nieuwoudt .
Replacements: 16 Chase Morison, 17 Burrie Gildenhuys Uys, 18 Willem Serfontein, 19 Freddy Ngoza, 20 Ruan Van Rensburg, 21 Niel Marais, 22 Adriaan van der Berg Coertzen.
Referee: Jaco van Heerden
Assistant referees: Marius van der Westhuizen, Pieter Maritz
TMO: Willie Vos
Griquas v Sharks
(GWK Park, Kimberely – Kick-off: 15.00; 13.00 GMT)
Griquas are right at the bottom of the Currie Cup log.
They are the only team that cannot mathematically qualify for the semifinals.
The fact that they have nothing to lose makes them a very dangerous opposition for the Sharks.
Ruhan Nel returns to the Griquas team from Sevens Academy duty and he slots in at left wing.
Ntabeni Dukisa covered for Nel in his absence, so he moves back to fullback.
The Sharks will look to rob the Cheetahs of a semifinal spot as they are just four points behind the men fron Bloemfontein.
Sharks Director of Rugby, Gary Gold, has only made one change to the team that lost 13-17 at home to the Blue Bulls last weekend.
Lock Marco Wentzel returns to the starting line-up as captain.
He played off the bench last week when No.8 Philip van der Walt led the side.
Wentzel’s return sees Ettienne Oosthuizen move to flank, with Christiaan de Bruin named on the bench in an otherwise unchanged line-up.
Recent Results:
2014: Griquas won 21-18, Durban
2014: Sharks won 31-24, Kimberley
2013: Sharks won 25-24, Kimberley
2013: Griquas won 32-30, Durban
2012: Sharks won 42-3, Durban
Prediction: Sharks should have enough to win against Griquas.
Teams:
Griquas: 15 Ntabeni Dukisa, 14 Danie Dames, 13 Michael van der Spuy, 12 Clinton Swart, 11 Ruhan Nel, 10 Francois Brummer, 9 Tian Meyer (captain), 8 Carel Greeff, 7 Jono Janse van Rensburg, 6 RJ Liebenberg, 5 Hugo Kloppers, 4 Jonathan Adendorf, 3 Stephan Kotze, 2 Martin Bezuidenhout, 1 Steph Roberts.
Replacements: 16 Abraham le Roux, 17 Danie Mienie, 18 Leon Karemaker, 19 Wendal Wehr, 20 Dylon Frylinck, 21 Gouws Prinsloo, 22 Sandile Ngcobo.
Sharks: 15 Odwa Ndungane, 14 Wandile Mjekevu, 13 Paul Jordaan, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Sibusiso Sithole, 10 Joe Pietersen, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Philip van der Walt, 7 Etienne Oosthuizen, 6 Francois Kleinhans, 5 Marco Wentzel (captain), 4 Dave McDuling, 3 Gerhard Engelbrecht, 2 Franco Marais, 1 Thomas du Toit.
Replacements: 16 Kyle Cooper, 17 Mzamo Majola, 18 Christiaan de Bruin, 19 Jean Deysel, 20 Michael Claassens, 21 Heimar Williams, 22 Garth April.
Referee: Rasta Rasivhenge
Assistant referees: Quinton Immelman, Pieter Janse van Vuuren
Source: Rugby365.com and @SaRugby
