Preview: Currie Cup, Round Five
The intesity levels will rise during matches this week, after it was announced that next year's Currie Cup will be reduced to six teams.
The intesity levels will rise during matches this week, after it was announced that next year's Currie Cup will be reduced to six teams.
With South Africa hosting Australia in a Tri-Nations clash in Durban on Saturday, most of this week's action takes place on Friday.
Western Province host the Sharks at Newlands in Cape Town, in a repeat of last year's final.
WP won the corresponding match 33-21 last year, but earlier in that season the Sharks defeated them 27-16 in Durban and clinched the title with their 30-10 win in the final.
Both these teams were on the receiving end of defeats last week, so expect a physical encounter as they look to return to the victory trail this weekend.
The other big match of the weekend takes place at Coca-Cola Park in Johannesburg where the table-topping Lions host a resurgent Free State Cheetahs outfit on Saturday.
The Lions are the only unbeaten side in the competition and are in a confident mood after registering a 36-27 win over the Blue Bulls, at Loftus Versfeld last week.
In other action over the weekend, Griquas host the Leopards in Kimberley and the Blue Bulls, who are occupying the bottom spot on the table, travel to Nelspruit to face the Pumas.
Friday, 12 August
Pumas v Blue Bulls
Griquas v Leopards
Western Province v Sharks
Saturday, 13 August
Golden Lions v Free State Cheetahs
Standings:
1. Golden Lions 18
2. Sharks 14
3. Western Province 13
4. Griquas 12
5. Cheetahs 11
6. Leopards 5
7. Pumas 4
8. Blue Bulls 4
Previews:
Pumas v Blue Bulls
Mbombela Stadium, Nelspruit
Who would have predicted that the Blue Bulls would occupy the bottom spot on the points standings after four rounds of a Currie Cup competition?
Well, that is the case, and despite having several Springboks back in their ranks, the Pretoria-based union are propping up the bottom-end of the table with just one victory out of four matches.
And although they play a Pumas side who are just one position above them due to a superior points difference, their visit to Mpumalanga will not be an easy one.
In last year's corresponding match, the hosts registered the biggest upset of the season, when they beat the Blue Bulls 22-21 at the same venue.
The Blue Bulls have strengthened their ranks with the acquisition of former Golden Lions scrum-half Jano Vermaak, who makes his debut in this clash, and they will do everything to avoid a repeat of last season's result.
The Pumas have lost all their previous matches this season, and will be equally desperate to pull off a win. They will be disappointed after going down to the Leopards last week, as the Potchefstroom-based team are traditionally the whipping boys of the competition.
However, they will draw inspiration from their memorable win at this venue last year.
Prediction: Although last year's result will have a phsycological effect on the Blue Bulls, expect them to pull this one off. Bulls by eight!
The teams:
Pumas: 15 Carl Bezuidenhout, 14 Deon Scholtz, 13 JW Jonker, 12 Tian Meyer, 11 MJ Mentz, 10 Ricardo Croy, 9 Shaun Venter, 8 Christo le Roux, 7 Jaco Bouwer, 6 Corne Steenkamp (captain), 5 Marius Coetzer, 4 Eduan van der Walt, 3 Ashley Buys, 2 Marthinus van der Westhuizen, 1 Dawie Steyn.
Replacements: 16 Torsten van Jaarsveld, 17 De-Jay Terblanche, 18 Rudi Mathee, 19 RW Kember, 20 Hendrik van der Nest, 21 Tiaan Marx, 22 Johan Jackson.
Blue Bulls: 15 Jurgen Visser, 14 Akona Ndungane, 13 Zane Kirchner, 12 Wynand Olivier, 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Marnitz Boshoff, 9 Jano Vermaak, 8 CJ Stander, 7 Dewald Potgieter (c), 6 Deon Stegmann, 5 Juandré Kruger, 4 Flip van der Merwe, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 1 Dean Greyling.
Replacements: 16 Gary Botha, 17 Rossouw de Klerk, 18 Gerrit-Jan van Velze, 19 Arno Botha, 20 Dustin Jinka, 21 Louis Fouché, 22 Francois Venter.
Kick-off:17:05 (15:05 GMT)
Referee: Andrew Lees
Griquas v Leopards
GWK Stadium, Kimberley
Both these teams registered surprising wins last weekend and will be keen to gain momentum after those results.
Griquas in particular, will be confident as they head into this encounter after their shock demolition of the defending champions, the Sharks at the weekend.
Although Griquas captain and flanker Jonathan Mokuena is a doubtful starter for this match, the Kimberley-based union will be confident that they can win their second successive match, after a good all round performance set up their win last week.
Griquas' other hard-working flanker Davon Raubenheimer had a storming game against the Sharks and will look to continue where he left off in that match, while plenty will also be expected of experienced campaigners like Riaan Viljoen and Barry Geel in the home side's back-line.
Although the Leopards are an unfashionable side, they proved in their win over the Pumas last week that if they gel, they can deliver the goods.
Griquas beat the Leopards 29-20 in last season's fixture in Kimberley and they also triumphed 41-27 when the teams met in Potchefstroom last year.
These statistics will build their confidence as they head into this weekend's encounter.
Prediction: Griquas are much better team than the Leopards on paper. Although the game is not played on that surface, home ground advantage will swing things in their favour. Griquas by 12!
The teams:
Griquas: 15 Rudi Vogt, 14 Riaan Viljoen, 13 Jean Stemmet, 12 Barry Geel, 11 Dusty Noble, 10 Earl Rose, 9 Marnus Hugo, 8 Burger Schoeman, 7 Davon Raubenheimer, 6 Jonathan Mokuena (c)/Justin Downey, 5 Martin Muller, 4 Hendrik Roodt, 3 Lourens Adriaanse, 2 Ryno Barnes, 1 Jean Botha.
Replacements: 16 Matthew Dobson, 17 Ivann Espag, 18 Frikkie Spies, 19 Downey/Marnus Schoeman, 20 Matthew Rosslee, 21 Monty Dumond, 22 Wilmaure Louw.
Leopards: 15 Clayton Durand, 14 George Tossel, 13 Charl Weideman, 12 Joubert Engelbrecht, 11 Vainon Willis, 10 Wesley Dunlop, 9 Whestley Moolman, 8 Morne Hanekom (c), 7 Luvuyiso Lusaseni, 6 Philip De Wet, 5 Christo Van Niekerk, 4 Brendon Snyman, 3 Stephan Bezuidenhout, 2 Gavin Williamson, 1 BG Uys.
Replacements: 16 Marius Fourie, 17 Berend Botha, 18 Roelof Van Heerden, 19 Spanner Pretorius, 20 Theo van Wyk, 21 Walter Venter, 22 Jovan Bowles.
Kick-off:19:00 (17:00 GMT)
Referee: Joey Salmans
Western Province v Sharks
Newlands Stadium, Cape Town
This will be the biggest clash of the weekend between two of the traditional powerhouses of South African rugby. Although WP will be playing in front of their home crowd, the Sharks will be up for this challenge