The Sharks will move to the top of the Currie Cup log with a win over a weakened Free State Cheetahs side in Durban on Saturday, writes JON CARDINELLI.
BLUE BULLS vs GRIQUAS
The Blue Bulls have lost four of their six matches and currently languish in sixth position on the Currie Cup log. The stats confirm that they have struggled at the set pieces and on defence.
Their attacking stats after six games, however, make for encouraging reading. The Bulls have made the most linebreaks and scored the second-most tries. Fullback Warrick Gelant has crossed the tryline four times to date, and should pose a threat to the Griquas defence this Friday.
Griquas have missed 176 tackles (only the Pumas and Cheetahs have missed more). They’ve also had their problems on attack. Their lineout hasn’t functioned and they are ranked second last for tries scored.
This Bulls side – which includes as many as nine changes following their 51-15 loss to the Pumas – should be favourites to claim a win at home.
Blue Bulls – 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Duncan Matthews, 13 Johnny Kotze, 12 JT Jackson, 11 Rabs Maxwane, 10 Marnitz Boshoff, 9 Ivan van Zyl, 8 Nic de Jager (c), 7 Jannes Kirsten, 6 Shaun Adendorff, 5 Ruben van Heerden, 4 Aston Fortuin, 3 Dayan van der Westhuizen, 2 Edgar Marutlulle, 1 Lizo Gqoboka.
Subs: 16 Johan Grobbelaar, 17 Matthys Basson, 18 Jano Venter, 19 Tim Agaba, 20 André Warner, 21 Tony Jantjies/Tinus de Beer, 22 Franco Naude/Stedman Gans.
Griquas – 15 AJ Coertzen (c), 14 Ederies Arendse, 13 Tertius Kruger, 12 Johnathan Francke, 11 Koch Marx, 10 Andre Swarts, 9 Christiaan Meyer, 8 Jonathan Janse van Rensburg, 7 Sias Koen, 6 Wendal Wehr, 5 Pieter Janse van Vuren, 4 FP Pelser, 3 Stephan Kotze, 2 Wilmar Arnoldi, 1 Liam Hendricks.
Subs: 16 AJ Le Roux, 17 Nicolaas Oosthuizen, 18 Jonathan Adendorf, 19 De Wet Kruger, 20 Renier Botha, 21 George Whitehead, 22 Eric Zana.
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GOLDEN LIONS vs PUMAS
The Golden Lions are in trouble. Swys de Bruin’s charges have won one from six in this tournament and are currently seventh in the standings. Another loss could jeapordise their chances of qualifying for the playoffs.
The Lions have battled to make an impact with ball in hand in this competition. While they are ranked second for carries, they are at fifth for metres made, linebreaks and tries scored. They have also struggled at the gainline on defence. No side has made fewer dominant tackles than the Lions this season.
The Pumas will be full of confidence following their resounding win against the Bulls in Nelspruit. Their kicking game has been effective, and they may look to put the Lions under pressure with a series of high bombs this Saturday.
A win in Johannesburg would see the Pumas moving up to third – past Western Province, who have a bye this weekend – in the standings. That said, the Lions should be desperate to claim a morale-boosting victory at home.
Golden Lions – 15 Sylvian Mahuza, 14 Madosh Tambwe, 13 Manual Rass, 12 Rohan Janse van Rensburg, 11 Aphiwe Dyantyi, 10 Ashlon Davids, 9 Marco Jansen van Vuren, 8 Ryan Kankowski, 7 Fabian Booysen, 6 Cyle Brink, 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Andries Ferreira, 3 Ruan Dreyer, 2 Robbie Coetzee, 1 Jacques van Rooyen (c).
Subs: 16 Pieter Jansen, 17 Corné Fourie, 18 Jacobie Adriaanse, 19 Robert Kruger, 20 Hacjivah Dayimani, 21 Branco du Preez, 22 Jaco van der Walt.
Pumas – 15 Gerrit Smith, 14 Jean-Paul Lewis, 13 Jerome Pretorius, 12 Hennie Skorbinski (captain), 11 Ruwellyn Isbell, 10 Kobus Marais, 9 Stefan Ungerer, 8 Willie Engelbrecht, 7 Lambert Groenewald, 6 Thembelani Bholi, 5 Hugo Kloppers, 4 Stefan Willemse, 3 Pieter Scholtz, 2 Mark Pretorius, 1 Kwezi Mona.
Subs: 16 Frankie Herne, 17 De-Jay Terblanche, 18 Cameron Lindsay, 19 Brian Shabangu, 20 Chris Cloete, 21 Reynier van Rooyen, 22 Neil Maritz.
SHARKS vs FREE STATE CHEETAHS
The Free State Cheetahs have won five of their six games and deservedly sit at the top of the standings. No team has scored more points or tries this season.
In the past, we may have considered these stats and talked up the Cheetahs as title favourites. This season, however, the Cheetahs will need to split their coach and player resources between the Currie Cup and the Pro14.
The expanded Europe-based competition will commence this weekend. The upshot is that the Cheetahs’ strongest combination will tackle Ulster in Belfast on Friday, while the best of the rest will take on the Sharks in Durban on Saturday.
The Sharks won’t mind, though. They should view the coming game against a weakened Cheetahs side as an opportunity to move to the top of the Currie Cup log.
The Sharks boast the best lineout contesting stats in the tournament. They should look to target the Cheetahs at this set piece and then strike from turnover ball.
The hosts have the means to win territory via their kicking game. The Sharks have the most kicking metres and have kicked more out of hand than any other side.
They may opt to keep more ball in hand on this occasion, though. The Cheetahs will be without their first-choice players, and so the Sharks may decide to target some of their less experienced players on defence.
Sharks – 15 Inny Radebe, 14 Tythan Adams, 13 Jeremy Ward, 12 Lukhanyo Am, 11 Sibusiso Nkosi, 10 Benhard Janse van Rensburg, 9 Louis Schreuder, 8 Lubabalo Mtembu, 7 Jacques Vermeulen, 6 Keegan Daniel, 5 Ruan Botha (c), 4 Tyler Paul, 3 John-Hubert Meyer, 2 Armand van der Merwe, 1 Thomas du Toit.
Subs: 16 Franco Marais, 17 Mzamo Majola, 18 Jean Droste, 19 Wian Vosloo, 20 Michael Claassens, 21 Marius Louw, 22 Garth April.
Free State Cheetahs – 15 Reinhardt Erwee, 14 Carel-Jan Coetzee, 13 JW Jonker, 12 Stephan Janse van Rensburg, 11 Luther Obi, 10 Ryno Eksteen, 9 JP Smith, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Chris Dry (c), 6 Junior Pokomela, 5 Dennis Visser, 4 Nicolaas Immelman, 3 Luan de Bruin, 2 Reinach Venter, 1 Gert Kotze.
Subs: 16 Elandre Huggett, 17 Andrew Kuhn, 18 Sibabalo Qoma, 19 Ntokoza Vidima, 20 Daniel Maartens, 21 Dian Badenhorst, 22 Marco Mason.
Photo: Johan Pretorius/Gallo Images
