Preview: Currie Cup, Round Eight
Round eight of the Currie Cup starts the return legs of the competition and provides fans with the most intriguing weekend yet as the Lions travel to Pretoria for the Gauteng derby and the Sharks head for Cape Town.
Round eight of the Currie Cup starts the return legs of the competition and provides fans with the most intriguing weekend yet as the Lions travel to Pretoria for the Gauteng derby and the Sharks head for Cape Town.
Things could not be tighter at the top of the table with three teams tied at the summit on 23 points. Competition leaders (on points difference) the Blue Bulls have a game in hand however.
They host the pick of the weekend's fixtures as the this year's form teams face off at Loftus Versfeld. Two awesome sets of loose forwards will give the crowd more than their money's worth.
Lions fly-half Earl Rose became the first man to pass the 100-point mark this season and he'll have to bring his kicking boots if the lads from Jo'burg are to match the Blue Bulls in the territory stakes. His opposite number, Morné Steyn, is next on the list in the race to become the 2008 Currie Cup's top points scorer. It'll be a cracker.
The action kicks-off at the other end of the table though, as the Falcons visit Boland on a mission to make amends for throwing away a nineteen-point lead on the opening day of the competition.
The Griquas have a new fly-half for their derby against the defending champions in Bloemfontein.
Western Province on the other hand are a little short in that department and have a first-timer facing the daunting prospect of a 9-10-12 Sharks axis going by the names of Pienaar, Michalak and Steyn. Tears may flow at Newlands.
The Sharks have fire-power all over the park, including the competition's top try-scorer, flanker Jacques Botes, who has dotted down six times already.
Can you think of a better warm up to the Springboks – Pumas Test? Surely not !
Fixtures:
Friday August 8
Boland Kavaliers v Falcons
Free State Cheetahs v Griquas
Blue Bulls v Lions
Western Province v The Sharks
Table after Round 7 (Blue Bulls and Griquas have a game in hand)
1 Blue Bulls 23
2 Cheetahs 23
3 Sharks 23
4 Lions 21
5 Western Province 17
6 Falcons 11
7 Griquas 9
8 Kavaliers 8
Previews:
Boland Kavaliers v Falcons
Boland Stadium, Wellington
The last time these teams met, a last-gasp intercept try from Conrad Burke gave the Kavaliers a 48-42 away win in Brakpan. The Falcons had led 36-17 at the break and played some fabulous rugby, but were victims of their own adventure in the second half, running the ball from anywhere but far too loosely.
Kavaliers wing John Daniels was the star for the visitors scoring a hat-trick, that day back in June but is not in the Boland line-up that will host the Falcons.
Boland coach Deon Davids made four changes to the side that narrowly lost to the Cheetahs last weekend. .
Centre Piet van Zyl returns from injury and also resumes the captaincy. He comes in at the expense of Cornell Hendricks who had a good debut against the Cheetahs.
Marnus Hugo returns to scrum-half with Neil Papier moving back to the bench. On the side of the scrum Whalied Heyns takes over the number seven jersey from Frankie Horne, who has a broken finger.
At lock Namibian international Nico Esterhuyze replaces Frikkie Spies, who sits out with a upper back injury.
Meanwhile, the Falcons team has had a major overhaul with no fewer than ten changes to the team which conceded 50 points against the Blue Bulls – six among the backs, four in the pack and five more on the bench.
The only new face in the squad is that of TUT lock Johan de Bruin, who has been included in a forward dominated bench with Ruhan van Jaarsveld, who locked the scrum against the Bulls.
Fly-half Riaan “True Blue” Smit has been ruled out for the rest of the season with a shoulder injury. Len Olivier moves from full-back as Smit's replacement while Johan Jackson changes from outside centre to full-back.
Ernie Kruger, one of the stars of the early season comes back on the right wing. He is one of the main strikers in the side. Rouan Cloete also returns from injury to takes his rightful place at outside centre; captain Hanno Coetzee returns at inside centre to add stability to the midfield.
Dewald Pretorius moves back to the wing after replacing Coetzee at inside centre against the Bulls.
In the pack Reg Muller has been preferred to Emile Verster on the side of the scrum to add speed to the loosies. Marius Coetzer comes back at lock to oust Van Jaarsveld.
Former SA U21 hooker Jody Jeneker gets his first start in the front row and former hooker Frik Venter starts at loosehead.
Boland Kavaliers: 15 Justin Peach, 14 Danwel Demas, 13 Piet van Zyl (c), 12 Lionel Cornelius, 11 Alvin Hugo, 10 Isma-eel Dollie, 9 Marnus Hugo, 8 Dries van Schalkwyk, 7 Whalied Heyns, 6 Zolani Mofu, 5 Bradley Mockford, 4 Nico Esterhuyze, 3 WP Nel, 2 Clemen Lewis, 1 Jean Botha.
Replacements: 16 Pieter Wium, 17 Janro van Niekerk, 18 Cecil Kemp, 19 Angelo Brinkhuys, 20 Neil Papier, 21 Kobus Meintjes, 22 Elgar Watts.
Falcons: 15 Johan Jackson, 14 Ernie Kruger, 13 Rouan Cloete, 12 Hanno Coetzee, 11 Dewald Pretorius, 10 Len Olivier, 9 Gerrie Odendaal, 8 Sean Plaatjies, 7 Reg Muller, 6 Warren Perkins, 5 Marius Coetzer, 4 Wouter Moore, 3 Nico Pretorius, 2 Jody Jeneker, 1 Frik Venter.
Replacements: 16 Gavin Whittingham, 17 Rassie van Vuuren, 18 Rayno Barnes, 19 Ruhan van Jaarsveld, 20 Johan de Bruin, 21 Poerie van Rooyen, 22 Jeff Perkins.
Kick-off: 16:00 (14:00 GMT)
Referee: Deon van Blommestein
Touch judges: Jerome America, Linston Manuels
Assessor: Keith Hendricks
Free State Cheetahs v Griquas
Vodacom Park, Bloemfontein
The Cheetahs got their Currie Cup defence off to a winning start seven weeks ago with a close 20-16 win over the Griquas in Kimberley. They will expect to win by more in round two of the derby against their Super 14 partners at the Bloemfontein fortress that is Vodacom Park.
Coach Naka Drotské has welcomed flanker Hendro Scholtz back from injury to captain the Cheetahs.
Scholtz's return forces just one change to the team that lined up against the Boland Kavaliers last week, as Schalk van der Merwe makes way for Kabamba Floors to start on the blindside.
Van der Merwe, who was instrumental in the Free Staters victory in Kimberly, is joined on the bench by replacement hooker Riaan Kruger, who steps in to fill the gap left by Jaco du Toit's departure to France.
“It's always going to be tough playing a neighbour derby, and we're expecting a hard game,” said Drotske.
“You've got to give them respect because they beat Western Province, so we're expecting a big game.”
Although the champions have gained momentum since the start of the season, they flirted