Preview: Currie Cup, Round Five
The table-topping Griquas face the first of three tough weeks in Currie Cup as Western Province head North to Kimberley on Friday.
The table-topping Griquas face the first of three tough weeks in Currie Cup as Western Province head North to Kimberley on Friday. The Free State Cheetahs will be under massive pressure when they host the Blue Bulls while Juan Martin Hernandez makes his debut for the Sharks.
Closet Griquas fans are appearing out of cracks all over South Africa as Dawie Theron and his team breath new life into a sometimes overly-predictable tournament. What a breath of fresh air it has been to see a team other than one of the 'big five' lead the way.
Unbeaten in four rounds, the Griquas' schedule is about to get very hard as they must host Western Province and then the Blue Bulls before travelling to the Shark Tank.
The most successful team in the Currie in the last five years, the Free State Cheetahs are having a nightmare of a season so far and will be fielding a new captain when the Blue Bulls arrive in Bloemfontein. The visitors have a few big names back in blue for the clash with their old foes and will be champing at the bit twist the knife.
Elsewhere, injury-struck Boland host the Lions in wet Wellington while the Leopards are up against it when 'El Mago' and the Sharks head to Rustenburg.
Fixtures:
Friday, August 7
Griquas v Western Province
Boland Kavaliers v Lions
Leopards v Sharks
Free State Cheetahs v Blue Bulls
Standings:
1 Griquas 19
2 Blue Bulls 14 3 Western Province 13
4 Sharks 135 Lions 11
6 Boland Kavaliers 4 7 Free State Cheetahs 1
8 Leopards 0
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Previews:
Griquas v Western Province
GWK Park, Kimberley
Western Province will be going all out to secure their first victory away from home when they travel to Kimberley on Friday.
While WP's pack has been in impressive form so far, there is one stat that won't escape the attention of their coach Allister Coetzee when they run out on one the hardest surfaces in the country: the Griquas have scored twice as many tries as their Cape Town rivals prompting Coetzee to tag his side as the underdogs.
Not that the Griquas have been playing overly expansive rugby either. Their no frills approach has born fruit – kicking, defending and feeding off turnovers to tally up 22 tries.
Half-backs Naas Olivier and Sarel Pretorius have made life hell for the opposition but it remains to be seen if they have an answer to Willem De Waal's territorial kicks.
Griquas coach Dawie Theron has hardly tampered with the squad that defeated the Lions 23-19 in Johannesburg last Friday. The only change is on the bench where front rower Andries Kruger bumps Simon Westraadt out of the matchday 22.
“At this stage, we are waiting to see what kind of game Western Province will be playing and who they will be using in the backline,” said Theron.
“We are facing a running or a kicking game and we hope to be prepared for both on Friday afternoon. We have some tough games at home during the next few weeks, so it's important that we don't lose any momentum at this stage in the competition.”
As for the visitors, Coetzee has made three changes to his team. At scrum-half Dewaldt Duvenage is back in place of Conrad Hoffman, who started against the Leopards last weekend.
In the pack, loosehead prop JD Moller moves to the bench to make way for the return of Wickus Blaauw, who was rested, and Chris Jack takes the place of Hilton Lobberts in the second row.
Lock Adriaan Fondse has recovered from his injury sustained in the Super 14 and makes a welcome return to the side, starting off the bench.
Griquas: 15 Riaan Viljoen, 14 Dewald Pretorius/ Egon Seconds, 13 Jaco Bekker, 12 Barry Geel, 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Naas Olivier, 9 Sarel Pretorius, 8 Jonathan Mokuena (c), 7 Davon Raubenheimer, 6 Rohan Kitshoff, 5 Jacques Lombard, 4 Brendon Snyman, 3 Ruaan du Preez, 2 Ryno Barnes, 1 Albertus Buckle.
Replacments: 16 Andries Kruger, 17 Steph Roberts, 18 Heinrich Stride, 19 Sean Plaatjie/ Nolan Clark, 20 Dougie Helmuth, 21 Hanno Coetzee, 22 Gavin Passens.
Western Province: 15 Joe Pietersen,14 Tonderai Chavhanga, 13 Juan De Jongh, 12 Peter Grant, 11 Gio Aplon, 10 Willem De Waal, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage, 8 Luke Watson (c), 7 Duane Vermeulen, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Anton Van Zyl, 4 Chris Jack, 3 Brok Harris, 2 Tiaan Liebenberg, 1 Wicus Blaauw.
Replacements: 16 Deon Fourie, 17 JD Moller, 18 Adriaan Fondse, 19 Pieter Louw, 20 Conrad Hoffmann, 21 Morgan Newman, 22 Frikkie Welsh
Kick-off: 15.00 (13.00 GMT)
Referee: Craig Joubert
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Boland v Lions
Boland Stadium, Wellington
With just a single win this season – against the Leopards- Boland are desperate to rack up a few points and will looking to use their home ground to their advantage on Friday.
The Cape has seen plenty of rain in the last two days and many a team has fallen foul of a soggy surface in Wellington. The home side's preparation has however been hampered by a spate of injuries and 'flu.
For the second week in a row that Boland coach Deon Davids has had to ring the changes, making five in total and a positional switch. Luckily for Davids first-choice fly-half Elgar Watts passed a late fitness test after injuring his knee earlier in the week.
With left wing Cornal Hendricks injured, former Valke flyer star Ernie Kruger gets start out wide.
Up front the coach has been forced to change both his flankers. Zolani Mofu was in bed with 'flu for most of the week, while David Hendricks injured a shoulder that will sideline him for eight weeks.
In come former Blue Bulls Vodacom Cup captain Carel Hoffman and Wendal Wehr.
In the front row Jané du Toit moves from loosehead to tighthead where he replaces Jacobie Adriaanse, who is nursing an ankle injury.
Loosehead prop Janro van Niekerk, who was supposed to frustrate the visitors in the scrums, failed his final, desperate fitness test due to an ankle injury he sustained against Griquas in Kimberley two weeks ago.
His place now goes to Matie strongman Johan Roets, who will make the starting line-up for the first time.
“Home matches are vital in the Currie Cup. We had a disastrous result in Kimberley a fortnight ago but improved a lot against the Blue Bulls at the weekend,” said Davids.
“Now we need to take a step up. We are playing in front of our home crowd and need to get back on the score board.”
Meanwhile, after being upset by the Griquas last week, Lions coach Hans Coetzee has made five changes to his side, four of which are in the backline.
An all-new half-back pairing sees fly-half Ruan Boshoff makes his Currie Cup debut for the Lions outside Jano Vermaak, who returns to the starting line-up after being sidelined with a light concussion. Boshoff