The Blue Bulls need to beat Western Province in Pretoria on Sunday to keep their Currie Cup playoff hopes alive, writes JON CARDINELLI.
SHARKS vs GOLDEN LIONS (Friday, 19:15)
The Sharks have already booked their place in the playoffs. A win against the Lions this Friday, however, will earn them the right to host a semi-final as well as a possible final.
The Lions have everything to play for this Friday. A win in Durban will strengthen their bid for a semi-final place. Swys de Bruin’s side currently sits in fourth place on the Currie Cup log.
The Sharks must be favourites to win this clash, though. They have the pack to win the set pieces as well as the collisions. Flyhalf Curwin Bosch has found some form and winger S’bu Nkosi will be full of confidence following his stint – however brief – with the Springboks.
The Lions have been one of the least consistent teams on show this season. They rank fifth in the tournament for tackle completion while their attack has made the sixth-most linebreaks and scored the fifth-most tries, according to alloutrugby.com.
Sharks –15 Garth April, 14 Odwa Ndungane, 13 Tristan Blewett, 12 Marius Louw, 11 S’bu Nkosi, 10 Curwin Bosch, 9 Michael Claassens, 8 Dan du Preez, 7 Jacques Vermeulen, 6 Keegan Daniel, 5 Ruan Botha (c), 4 Tyler Paul, 3 Ross Geldenhuys, 2 Franco Marais, 1 Thomas du Toit.
Subs: 16 Akker van der Merwe, 17 Juan Schoeman, 18 Jean Droste, 19 Tera Mtembu, 20 Cameron Wright, 21 Inny Radebe, 22 Rhyno Smith.
Golden Lions – 15 Jaco van der Walt, 14 Sylvian Mahuza, 13 Harold Vorster, 12 Rohan Janse van Rensburg, 11 Aphiwe Dyantyi, 10 Ashlon Davids, 9 Marco Jansen van Vuren, 8 Fabian Booysen, 7 Cyle Brink, 6 Kwagga Smith, 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Rhyno Herbst, 3 Jacobie Adriaanse, 2 Robbie Coetzee, 1 Jacques van Rooyen (c).
Subs: 16 Sti Sithole, 17 Pieter Jansen, 18 Johannes Jonker, 19 Robert Kruger, 20 Len Massyn, 21 Bradley Thain, 22 Anthony Volmink/Stokkies Hanekom.
GRIQUAS vs FREE STATE CHEETAHS (Saturday, 14:00)
Second-placed Free State must view this clash as an opportunity to boost their log tally. The union’s best players will be on duty in the Pro14 this weekend. Nevertheless, the domestic side should be good enough to beat last-placed Griquas and strengthen Free State’s claim for a home semi-final.
Free State have proved to be one of the strongest teams at the collisions and breakdowns this season. No team has won more turnovers in the 2017 Currie Cup.
The visitors will fancy themselves from broken field in this particular clash. Griquas have missed 281 tackles to date, the third-most in the tournament.
One would expect Free State to translate turnover opportunities into points this Saturday, and to secure a comfortable win.
Griquas – 15 Adriaan Coertzen (c), 14 Kyle Steyn, 13 Tertius Kruger, 12 Johnathan Francke, 11 Enver Brandt, 10 George Whitehead, 9 Christiaan Meyer, 8 Conway Pretorius, 7 Sias Koen, 6 Wendal Wehr, 5 Floris Pelser, 4 Sintu Manjezi, 3 Stephan Kotze, 2 Abraham Le Roux, 1 Liam Hendricks.
Subs: 16 Marius Fourie, 17 Louwrens Strydom, 18 Wandile Putuma, 19 Shaun McDonald, 20 DeWet Kruger, 21 Renier Botha, 22 Andre Swarts.
Free State Cheetahs – 15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Vuyani Maqina, 13 Ali Mgijima, 12 Lloyd Greeff, 11 Cecil Afrika, 10 Robbie Petzer, 9 Zee Mkhabela, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Chris Dry (c), 6 Daniel Maartens, 5 Carl Wegner, 4 Dennis Visser, 3 Erich de Jager, 2 Joseph Dweba, 1 Gert Coetzee.
Subs: 16 Reinach Venter, 17 Andrew Kuhn, 18 Jeremy Jordaan, 19 Nicolaas Immelman, 20 JP Smith, 21 Stephan Janse van Rensburg, 23 JW Jonker.
SUPERBRU: SA Rugby magazine team’s predictions
BLUE BULLS vs WESTERN PROVINCE (Sunday, 14:30)
WP are still in the running for a home semi-final at this stage of the competition. The Bulls, however, face a scrap to qualify for the knockout phase of the tournament.
The Bulls have one of the worst defensive records and have lost six of their nine games to date. They will need to sharpen up in this department if they are going to keep the WP attack honest on Sunday.
WP have scored more tries than any other side this season (45). That said, their shaky defence has often cost them and is the reason why they boast a mediocre win record (five in nine games).
They should not want for motivation on Sunday, though. A loss would serve as a blow to their hopes of hosting a playoff at Newlands.
Blue Bulls – 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Duncan Matthews, 13 Burger Odendaal (c), 12 JT Jackson, 11 Johnny Kotze, 10 Marnitz Boshoff, 9 Ivan van Zyl, 8 Nic de Jager, 7 Tim Agaba, 6 Marco van Staden, 5 Aston Fortuin, 4 Ruben van Heerden, 3 Conraad van Vuuren, 2 Edgar Marutlulle, 1 Pierre Schoeman.
Subs: 16 Johan Grobbelaar, 17 Dayan van der Westhuizen, 18 Jano Venter, 19 Boom Prinsloo, 20 Piet van Zyl, 21 Tony Jantjies, 22 Ulrich Beyers.
Western Province – 15 Damian Willemse, 14 Seabelo Senatla, 13 EW Viljoen, 12 Huw Jones, 11 Werner Kok, 10 Robert du Preez, 9 Jano Vermaak, 8 Nizaam Carr, 7 Cobus Wiese, 6 Jaco Coetzee, 5 JD Schickerling, 4 Chris van Zyl (c), 3 Frans van Wyk, 2 Ramone Samuels, 1 JC Janse van Rensburg.
Subs: 16 Dean Muir, 17 Ali Vermaak, 18 Wilco Louw, 19 Jan de Klerk, 20 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 21 Dewaldt Duvenage, 22 Ruhan Nel.
Photo: Johan Rynners/Gallo Images
