Preview: Currie Cup, Round One

Despite it being a RWC year, there will be no love lost between South Africa's top provincial sides in the Currie Cup this season.

Despite it being a World Cup year, there will be no love lost between South Africa's top provincial sides during this year's Currie Cup.

The country's most prestigous provincial competition gets underway this weekend, and with the majority of the first-choice Springboks either injured or on Tri-Nations duty, some of the leading teams' depth will be tested.

The big match takes place in Durban on Saturday, where defending champions the Sharks host a weakened Blue Bulls side.

The tournament kicks-off on Friday tough, when the Lions host the Pumas at Coca-Cola Park. The Johannesburg-based union have been in the news recently, with John Mitchell probably keen to show that such boardroom hassles has not filtered through to his team by picking up maximum points against the Pumas.

In other action on Saturday, Western Province host Griquas at Newlands in Cape Town, and the Free State Cheetahs face the Leopards in Bloemfontein.

Fixtures:

Friday, 15 July: Lions v Pumas

Saturday, 16 July: Western Province v Griquas, Free State Cheetahs v Leopards, Sharks v Blue Bulls

Previews:

Lions v Pumas
Coca-Cola Park, Johannesburg

The Lions' entire starting line-up had regular game-time during this year's Super Rugby tournament and should prove too strong for the Pumas at their home venue.

The Johannesburg-based side's coach John Mitchell was a frustrated man during large parts of Super Rugby, but in the latter stages of that competition his side put in some fine performances, and they will be keen to build on that platform.

This fixture was closely contested last season. The Lions were made to sweat in Witbank before beating the hosts 33-30, and the Pumas showed that that result was no fluke when they registered a shock 34-27 win in Johannesburg.

But with Mitchell now at the helm for a year at the Lions, expect a very different result. The former All Blacks coach is a shrewd tactician and his charges should be rampant this weekend.

The Lions have only lost fly-halves Butch James and Elton Jantjies to the national squad but can still depend on the services of Springboks Wickus van Heerden (lock) and Bandise Maku (hooker) amongst their forwards while experienced campaigners like Jano Vermaak (scrum-half) and captain Doppies la Grange (inside centre) are in their back-line.

The Pumas' forwards are usually competitive at set-pieces. Their fly-half Ricardo Croy is an underrated player who has the ability to bring out the best in his outside backs, if he receives the ball on the front foot.

Prediction: The visitors will put up a fight, especially in the first half, but expect this Lions side to step up a gear and to dominate during the second half. Lions by 15!

The teams:

Lions: 15 Jaco Taute, 14 Dylan Des Fountain, 13 Alwyn Hollenbach, 12 Doppies La Grange (c), 11 Lionel Mapoe, 10 Burton Francis, 9 Jano Vermaak, 8 Joshua Strauss, 7 Derick Minnie, 6 Cobus Grobbelaar, 5 Franco van der Merwe, 4 Wikus van Heerden, 3 Jacobie Adriaanse, 2 Bandise Maku, 1 Pat Cilliers.
Replacements: 16 Martin Bezuidenhout, 17 Caylib Oosthuizen, 18 Johan Snyman, 19 Dries van Schalkwyk, 20 Michael Bondesio, 21 Hein Cronje, 22 Michael Killian.

Pumas: 15 MJ Mentz, 14 Deon Scholtz, 13 JW Jonker, 12 Pieter Engelbrecht, 11 Ashwin Scott, 10 Ricardo Croy, 9 Shaun Venter, 8 Christo le Roux, 7 Jaco Bouwer, 6 Corne Steenkamp (c), 5 Marius Coetzer, 4 Rudi Mathee, 3 Ashley Buys, 2 Marthinus van der Westhuizen, 1 Dawie Steyn.
Replacements: 16 Torsten van Jaarsveld, 17 Brett Nel, 18 Willem Serfontein, 19 RW Kember, 20 Tian Meyer, 21 Tiaan Marx, 22 Carl Bezuidenhout.

Kick-off: 19:10 (17:10 GMT)
Referee: Stuart Berry

Western Province v Griquas
Newlands, Cape Town

Last season's runners-up Western Province should be too strong on their home turf for the boys from Kimberley.

The home side will be captained by Deon Fourie after newly appointed skipper Duane Vermeulen was ruled out for several weeks with a knee injury sustained during the closing stages of the Stormers' Super Rugby campaign.

Traditionally both sides like to play expansively so an entertaining spectacle should be expected.

Earlier this week, it was confirmed that WP's Johann Sadie and JJ Engelbrecht will move to the Blue Bulls at the end of the season, which should lead to both players being keen to show their current employers that it was a mistake to allow them to leave.

WP have picked former Blue Bulls and Springbok loose forward Hilton Lobberts at lock and it will be interesting to see if he can still make an impact at this level.

The visitors have several former WP players in their ranks but a lot of their attacking momentum will come from their full-back Riaan Viljoen, who was one of the Cheetahs' most consistent performers in Super Rugby.

Prediction: With so many former WP players in their ranks, Griquas will be highly motivated and competitive. However, the hosts have chosen an attacking side and should have too much ammunition. WP by 10!

The teams: