Preview: Currie Cup, Round Two

After an exciting opening week, South Africa's provincial unions resume hostilities in the Currie Cup's second round this weekend.

After an exciting opening week, South Africa's provincial unions resume hostilities in the Currie Cup's second round this weekend.

The big match of the round takes place in Pretoria, where the Blue Bulls host the Free State Cheetahs.

The Blue Bulls and Free State have been the two dominant forces on the South African domestic scene for the past decade.

The Pretoria-based Bulls won the tournament on four occassions since the turn of the century and Free State twice – they also shared the spoils in 2006.

Although it's very early in the competition, the home side lost 35-16 to the Sharks in their opening fixture and will be determined to bounce back in front of their partisan supporters.

However, they face a Cheetahs side who were in a rampant mood when they beat the Leopards 40-12 in their first match of the season last week.

The weekend's action kicks off on Friday when the defending champion Sharks face a tricky assignment in Polokwane against the Pumas.

In Friday's other match, last year's runners-up Western Province travel to Potchefstroom where they face the Leopards. On Saturday, the Griquas host the Golden Lions in Kimberley before the action moves to Loftus Versfeld.

Fixtures:

Friday, 22 July
Pumas v Sharks
Leopards v Western Province

Saturday, 23 July
Griquas v Lions
Blue Bulls v Free State Cheetahs

Pumas v Sharks
Mbombela Stadium, Polokwane

The Sharks will be keen to maintain their winning momentum against the Pumas, who showed in their narrow 31-27 defeat to the Golden Lions that they won't be pushovers this season.

During last season's campaign, the Pumas put in some fine performances at this venue including a memorable 22-21 win over the Blue Bulls.

The Sharks showed in their win last week in Durban that they are determined to hold on to the trophy. New captain Keegan Daniel led from the front against the Blue Bulls and was rewarded for his effort with a man-of-the-match award.

Daniel, who was a surprise omission from the Springbok squad for their overseas leg of their Tri-Nations campaign, shone in the leadership role and will be keen to continue where he left off against the Bulls.

The Pumas were unlucky to lose against the Lions and will make life difficult for the visitors.

The home side's forwards are expected to lay a solid platform for their exciting back-line, which contains four former Sevens Springboks.

Full-back MJ Mentz, scrum-half Shaun Venter and centres Pieter Engelbrecht and JW Jonker, have all represented South Africa at the shortened version of the game, and could prove a handful on attack for the Sharks.

Prediction: The Pumas will put up a brave fight but the Sharks are a well-balanced team and should pull this one off. Sharks by seven!

Betting odds: Pumas to win: 11/2, Sharks to win: 1/12, draw: 25/1

The teams:

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 Willem Serfontein, 3 Ashley Buys, 2 Pellow van der Westhuizen, 1 De-Jay Terblanche.
Replacements:16 Torsten van Jaarsveld, 17 Brett Nel, 18 Eduan Van Der Walt, 19 RW Kember, 20 Tian Meyer, 21 Tiaan Marx, 22 Carl Bezuidenhout.

Sharks:15 Stefan Terblanche, 14 Mark Richards, 13 Marius Joubert, 12 Meyer Bosman, 11 Louis Ludik, 10 Frederic Michalak, 9 Ross Cronje, 8 Keegan Daniel (c), 7 Marcell Coetzee, 6 Jacques Botes, 5 Ross Skeate, 4 Anton Bresler, 3 Wiehahn Herbst, 2 Craig Burden, 1 Dale Chadwick
Replacements:16 Kyle Cooper, 17 Julian Redelinghuys/Eugene van Staden, 18 Jan Andre Marais, 19 Francois Kleinhans, 20 Jacobus Reinach, 21 Jacques-Louis Potgieter, 22 Sibusiso Sithole.

Kick-off:19:00 (17:00 GMT)
Referee: Mark Lawrence

Leopards v Western Province
Olen Park, Potchefstroom

After their 26-all draw with Griquas, Western Province will be determined to pick up a full compliment of points against the lowly Leopards.

The Cape side were dealt a heavy blow when fly-half Gary van Aswegen was ruled out for two months with a knee injury. His place has been taken by rookie pivot Demetri Catrakilis.

WP's regular scrum-half Dewaldt Duvenhage returns at the expense of Louis Schreuder while Rohan Kitshoff replaces Wimpie van der Walt on the side of the scrum.

Although WP have an inexperienced side there were some players who impressed in their opening clash of 2011. Flanker Siya Kolisi was one of the standout performers in the forwards, while Bulls-bound Johann Sadie impressed on defence and attack amongst the backs.

The Leopards are expected to struggle throughout this season's competition but like any team who are playing in front of their home crowd, they will give a one hundred per cent effort for the entire match.

This effort will depend largely on the performance of their big forwards, but if WP do dominate up front it could be a long 80 minutes at the office for the home side.

Prediction: Despite having a young and inexperienced side, last season's runners-up should have too much firepower for the Leopards. WP by 20!

Betting odds: Leopards to win: 7/1, Western Province to win: 1/16, draw: 33/1

The teams:

Leopards:15 George Tossel, 14 Danie Dames, 13 Joubert Engelbrecht, 12 Charl Weideman, 11 Vainon Willis, 10 Clayton Durand (c), 9 Whestley Moolman, 8 Morne Hanekom, 7 MB Lusaseni, 6 Philip de Wet, 5 Roan van Heerden, 4 Brendon Snyman, 3 Stephan Bezuidenhout, 2 Gavin Williamson, 1 BG Uys.
Replacements:16 Stoffel Duvenage, 17 Bêrend Botha, 18 Thabo Mamojele, 19 Christo van Niekerk, 20 Theo van Wyk, 21 Walter Venter, 22 Hoffman Maritz.

Western Province:15 Conrad Jantjes, 14 Danie Poolman, 13 Johann Sadie, 12 Tim Whitehead, 11 JJ Engelbrecht, 10 Demetri Catrakilis, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage, 8 Nick Koster, 7 Siya Kolisi, 6 Rohan Kitshoff, 5 De Kock Steenkamp, 4 Hilton Lobberts, 3 Brok Harris, 2 Deon Fourie (c) and 1 Wicus Blaauw.
Replacements:16 Tiaan Liebenberg, 17 Frans Malherbe, 18 Adriaan Fondse, 19 Nicholas Fenton-Wells, 20 Louis Schreuder, 21 Isma-eel Dollie and 22 Marcel Brache.

Kick-off:19:10 (17:10 GMT)
Referee: Lesego Legoete

Griquas v Golden Lions
GWK Park, Kimberley

This could be the closest match of the weekend.

Griquas showed in their 26-all draw with WP that they will not be taking a backward step to the more fancied sides, and with a fervent home crowd behind them don't be surprised if they win this game.

The men from Kimberley