Here we are, the final week of the 2013 Currie Cup season. This has been one of those seasons where we look back and say that there was never a dull moment. Some new young talent came to the party and showed us that there is still a great big future for SA Rugby.
As always every rugby supporter in South Africa has picked his or her team to support on Saturday. This is what makes the Currie Cup such a great competition. There are only two teams left and the whole of the nation has a team to support between the two. It is also in this time that people go a little crazy driving down the streets waving flags, hooting at each other, drinking and having a braai together.
So lets get to business. On Friday we will see the Pumas host the Griquas in the 2nd and last Currie Cup Promotion / Relegation game. The Pumas showed last weekend that they can cause an upset here and maybe get back into the Premier Division for 2014.
In the main event of the weekend, we see a Currie Cup Final with a familiar sight for for a second time when Western Province and The Sharks go into battle. This should be yet another epic Currie Cup Final, as most people will agree that the best two teams of this year’s Currie Cup is in the final.
Newlands Stadium in Cape Town is sold out for the occasion!
So folks, hold on to your seats… IT”S GOING TO BE A BUMPY RIDE!
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Here’s a Preview of the weekend’s matches:
Currie Cup Promotion / Relegation Match
Steval Pumas vs GWK Griquas
Mbombela Stadium, Nelspruit
25 October 2013
k/o – 19:10 SA Time (17:10 GMT)
Pumas: 15 Coenie van Wyk, 14 JW Bell, 13 Wilmaure Louw, 12 Stefan Watermeyer, 11 Rosco Speck man, 10 JC Roos, 9 Francois de Klerk, 8 RW Kember, 7 Renaldo Bothma, 6 Corne Steenkamp (Captain), 5 Rudi Matthee, 4 Lubabalo Mtyanda, 3 De-Jay Terblanche, 2 Francois du Toit, 1 Vincent Koch.
Replacements: 16 Frank Herne, 17 Corné Fourie, 18 Drew van Coller/Stephan Kotze, 19 Eduan Van Der Walt, 20, Uzair Cassiem, 21 Dewald Pretorius, 22 Jerome Pretorius.
Griquas: 15 Gouws Prinsloo, 14 Willie le Roux, 13 Jean Stemmet, 12 Howard Mnisi, 11 Rocco Jansen, 10 Francois Brummer, 9 Jacques Coetzee, 8 Carel Greeff, 7 Burger Schoeman, 6 RJ Liebenberg, 5 Patrick O’Brien, 4 Rynhardt Landman, 3 Lourens Adriaanse, 2 Ryno Barnes (Captain), 1 Steph Roberts.
Replacements: 16 Matthew Dobson, 17 Janro van Niekerk, 18 Nick Schonert, 19 Marnus Schoeman, 20 Marnus Hugo, 21 JP Nel, 22 Nico Scheepers.
This will be a fun match too watch. The Pumas lost narrowly to Griquas in Kimberley, so a 3 point win at home could see them kick the Griquas out of the Premier Division. The scenario still seems highly unlikely. It is difficult to predict a scoreline to this game as it is almost going to be played like a final, with a winner takes it’s all attitude. The safe bet here will still be to go for the Griquas as they showed last weekend that they are mature enough to get back into a game. Final score 25-18 to Griquas.
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Currie Cup Final
DHL Western Province vs The Sharks
Newlands, Cape Town
26 October 2013
k/o – 17:30 SA Time (15:30 GMT)
Western Province: 15 Gio Aplon, 14 Gerhard van den Heever, 13 Jean de Villiers, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Cheslin Kolbe, 10 Demetri Catrakilis, 9 Louis Schreuder, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Siya Kolisi, 6 Deon Fourie (Captain), 5 De Kock Steenkamp, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Pat Cilliers, 2 Scarra Ntubeni, 1 Steven Kitshoff.
Replacements: 16 Frans Malherbe, 17 Brok Harris, 18 Michael Rhodes, 19 Schalk Burger, 20 Nic Groom, 21 Kurt Coleman, 22 Juan de Jongh.
The Sharks: 15 SP Marais, 14 Odwa Ndungane, 13 Louis Ludik, 12 Francois Steyn, 11 Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Patrick Lambie, 9 Charl McLeod, 8 Keegan Daniel (Captain), 7 Willem Alberts, 6 Marcell Coetzee, 5 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 4 Peet Marais, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira
Replacements: 16 Kyle Cooper, 17 Wiehahn Herbst, 18 Stephan Lewies, 19 Jacques Botes, 20 Cobus Reinach, 21 Fred Zeilinga, 22 Heimar Williams.
This will be the one too watch. Just comparing the teams, there is not a lot between these sides. Western Province at home will be a tall order to beat though. With the head to head stats the Sharks do edge Western Province, however when we look at finals between these sides it would seem that Western Province are the favourites here.
Only time can tell what the outcome here would be. The one thing we do know for sure is that both these teams are on top of their games and they are the two best sides in this year’s Currie Cup. This clash has been built up to be one of those classic Currie Cup games that will be spoken about for years to come. A safe bet here will be to put Western Province in for the win, it will be very close though and it does not seem likely that any team will score above 20 points. Final score 18-13 to Western Province.
Look, my team is out of the Final, yet there is still 2 Junior Currie Cup Finals for Blue Bulls supporters to look forward to.
The Blue Bulls Under 19’s will not easily be matched or bettered this season… so I think that one should be safe.
The Blue Bulls Under 21’s fittingly come up against WP Under 21, as a great pre-curser to the activities later in the main match. A number of the Blue Bulls senior side still easily qualifies for the Under 21’s, with at least 2 of them in fact qualifying to still play Under 19. The bolstered Blue Bulls Under 21 side, I would pick as favourites for the Under 21 crown too.
As far as the big Final itself is concerned, I do not have a clear favourite to support, but I think WP will take it… The Sharks are big underdogs for this one.
Due to certain factors my support also leans slightly in favour of supporting WP, if only to serve the fact that WP has always been the Blue Bulls biggest foes over the decades and that THAT respect carries more weight than what The Sharks, late-comers since the 1990’s, or their supporters offer in their less than magnanimous or even boastful demeanor of late.
I really dont care who is winning. Ohh NO how could i say that, if the Sharks win , the resident Shark Imbongi would drive us crazy. And poor Heynecke , my friend, Will have to pick every Tom Dick and Harry from the Sharks for the EOY Tour.
So i shout for the Wiepie, ek het darem n pel hier van daai wereld.
O hel dan sit ek met hom opgeskeep.
Nee wat wie ookal wen , ek hoop dis die span wat die mooiste rugby speel op die dag.
Ek wonder eerder of die Pumas hul onoorwonne status op Nelspruit kan behou
Contrary to Timothy, I’m going with the Pumas.
Well coached and disciplined. Don’t think there’ll be much in it, but I hope they’ll snatch a win.
As for Saturday, I can honestly say I couldn’t give a tTinker’s Cuss who wins.
Sure,the two best teams are in the final, of that there is no doubt, but I honestly don’t care.
Agree with Scrumdown on the Pumas. But I will enjoy watching the final without the emotional burden of supporting my team.
I have Scheduled the following Live Game Articles for the Weekend:
1. Currie Cup Promotion / Relegation: Pumas vs Griquas – Game at 19:10 SA Time, today, Friday 25 October 2013
2. NPC Final: Wellington Lions vs Canterbury – Game at 08:35 SA Time, Saturday 26 October 2013 (The Final of the Premier domestic comp in NZ)
3. Currie Cup Juniors Finals: Joint article for Blue Bulls U/19 vs Golden Lions U/19 PLUS WP U/21 vs Blue Bulls U/21 – Games at 12:30 & 14:30 SA Time respectively, Saturday 26 October 2013
4. Currie Cup Final 2013: WP vs Sharks – Game at 17:30 SA Time, Saturday 26 October 2013
Ahhhh, Pakistan already 3 wickets down and still trail by 370 runs!
Pakistan 48 / 3
Pakistan 124/4 at the end of play, but of more interest is this, courtesy of cricinfo:
‘South Africa were penalised five runs for ball tampering and the team will likely be the subject of a hearing after play on the third day of the second Test against Pakistan in Dubai.
The ICC confirmed that the penalty and the change of ball after 30 overs was due to ball tampering. “As per 42.1 of the ICC playing conditions, the umpires replaced the ball and fined South Africa team five penalty runs for ball tampering,” an ICC spokesperson said.
The incident took place at the start of the 31st over of Pakistan’s innings, two overs after tea, when umpires Ian Gould and Rod Tucker called South African captain Graeme Smith for a chat. The fourth umpire, Shozab Raza, brought a box of balls onto the field and a new one was selected for use.
No individual player has been charged yet but television images showed one of the South African players rubbing the ball allegedly on the zipper of his trouser pocket. The umpires will decide whether to lay a charge at the close of play and that will determine if and when a hearing will take place.
South Africa were well in control of the Test, having taken a commanding 418-run first-innings lead, when the incident occurred.
The laws dealing with ball tampering were changed recently, coming into effect only from October 1. The last time a player was penalised for changing the condition of the ball was in 2010, when Shahid Afridi was banned from two T20s for biting the ball.’
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