Currie Cup
Hawies Fourie
Griquas coach Hawies Fourie has rewarded the squad which earned Currie Cup qualification by retaining much of the team for the Sharks clash at GWK Park on Saturday.
The Kimberley-based side regained their status after ending the qualifying round undefeated.
“Now that we are once again part of the Currie Cup, we don’t just want to be a number. We want to be a real contender in the competition and we hope to use the momentum that we got form the qualifiers to achieve just that,” Fourie said.
The brains trust of the Toyota Free State Cheetahs for the Currie Cup.
Coenie and Caylib Oosthuizen will play no part in the Free State Cheetahs’ Currie Cup match against the Pumas in Nelspruit on Saturday.
With Trevor Nyakane and Adriaan Strauss involved with the Springboks, and both Oosthuizens ruled out through injury, new coach Rory Duncan has been forced to field a new-look front row against the Pumas.
Lions coach, Johan Ackermann
The Lions have suffered key injury blows ahead of their opening Currie Cup clash against the Blue Bulls at Ellis Park this weekend.
According to reports, promising front ranker Julian Redelinghuys has injured his calf muscle and could be sidelined for up to six weeks.
To make matters worse, wings Anthony Volmink and Courtnall Skosan and scrumhalf Michael Bondesio were also injured in training last week.
Eastern Province Kings coach Carlos Spencer’s named Luke Watson as the captain ahead of Friday’s clash with Western Province at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth.
Spencer also included experienced players like Tim Whitehead, Ronnie Cooke and David Bulbring to add stability to a side in which many players will be having their first taste of the Currie Cup Premier Division.
Pumas coach, Jimmy Stonehouse
Pumas coach Jimmy Stonehouse has named his team to face the Cheetahs in their opening Absa Currie Cup Premier Division match in Mbombela on Saturday afternoon.
Stonehouse included inside centre Stefan Watermeyer, who was a regular feature during the Lions’ Super Rugby campaign.
Watermeyer, the only Super Rugby player considered for the starting XV with scrumhalf Faf de Klerk and fullback Coenie van Wyk out with injury, will form a midfield combination with JW Jonker.
A new-look DHL Western Province team will head to Port Elizabeth to open their 2014 ABSA Currie Cup campaign against the Eastern Province Kings on Friday night (kick-off 19:10 SA Time).
Centre Juan de Jongh, in his first senior match as captain of DHL WP, will skipper a squad with eight ABSA Currie Cup debutants, but the 22-man group includes Springbok squad members Frans Malherbe and Eben Etzebeth.
Eben Etzebeth
Frans Malherbe
Two members of the Springboks’ Castle Lager Rugby Championship squad, Eben Etzebeth and Frans Malherbe, have been released to play in the opening round of the Absa Currie Cup Premier Division for DHL Western Province on Friday evening.
Both players are returning from long-term injuries and will be allowed some game time for WP to ease them back into the game.
Etzebeth’s last game was in November 2013, for the Springboks against France in Paris, where he picked up a foot injury. Malherbe has been out for more than three months with concussion.
“Following medical assessments and consultation between our medical team and those of the various provinces, it was decided to release Eben and Frans for this weekend,” said Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer.
Caylib Oosthuizen
Coenie Oosthuizen
Coenie and Caylib Oosthuizen will not be available for the Cheetahs’ first Currie Cup match against the Pumas on Saturday in Nelspruit.
More scrum worries come in the form of Johannes Roux, who injured his arm against the EP Kings in a a warm match last Friday – he sat out of training on Monday.
It is hoped that Roux will be fit to play on Saturday, with the Free Staters looking thin in the front row.
With both Oosthuizens out and Trevor Nyakane with the Springboks, coach Rory Duncan looks set to blood some youngsters.
The Cell C Sharks will start the defence of the Absa Currie Cup title they won last year feeling the effects of having gone further than all the other teams in the recently completed Vodacom Super Rugby season.
Apart from the fact that they’ve lost more players to the Springboks than most, plus a few players have headed overseas, the Sharks arrived back in Durban after their Super Rugby semifinal loss to the Crusaders with injuries in areas they can ill afford it.
Both locks, Stephan Lewies and Etienne Oosthuizen, have injuries that make them doubtful starters for Saturday’s domestic competition opener against Griquas in Kimberley. Assistant coach Sean Everitt has given the pair’s chances of playing as 50 / 50, with the problem being that there isn’t too much available back-up now that the strong and abrasive Anton Bresler has headed overseas.
Eastern Province Kings coach Carlos Spencer’s main focus is to keep his team relaxed this week as the team makes a return to the top echelon of Currie Cup rugby after many years in the wilderness.
On Tuesday, Spencer named Luke Watson as the captain ahead of Friday’s clash with Western Province at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth.
“We know that it is a big challenge, but this week has been about getting the players to enjoy the preparations and to plan for the game without putting too much pressure on them,” Spencer said.
Jaco Taute
Jaco Taute has been ear marked as a potential centre option for Western Province should newly appointed captain Juan de Jongh get called up to the Springboks.
Taute, who usually finds himself in the No 15 jumper, is set to play a major role in Allister Coetzee’s Currie Cup squad with the coach also having a look into the Springbok as a potential captaincy replacement.
It would not be an unfamiliar role for the fullback having played in the centres at the highest level.
Taute made his international debut against the Wallabies in 2012 as a late inclusion into the squad, playing centre after Frans Steyn was ruled out with injury.
THE Eastern Province Kings lost their final warm up friendly to the Free State Cheetahs, losing 12 (5) points to the Cheetahs 28 (7) at the Cradock Sports Fields this afternoon.
The Kings took to the field with a much changed team from their game against the SWD Eagles that won in George two weeks ago by 78 points to 32, and were let down a bit by two late tries by the Cheetahs in the second half.
DHL Western Province coach Allister Coetzee has released his playing squad for the upcoming 2014 Absa Currie Cup season.
Jurie Roux
Certain contracted Springboks may yet see action in the 2014 Currie Cup, despite reports this week to the contrary.
But it seems the only ones who will feature in the time-honoured domestic competition will be any who don’t crack the nod for Bok coach Heyneke Meyer’s squad for the Castle Lager Rugby Championship which is to be named on Saturday (around 14:00).
SARU on Friday moved to clarify the reports, which were sparked when John Smit, chief executive of the Currie Cup-holding Sharks, revealed on the franchise’s website: “It was decided upon that all contracted Boks will play no part in the Currie Cup.”
Jake White
Cell C Sharks CEO John Smit says Director of Rugby Jake White won’t be actively involved with the union’s Currie Cup side.
White coached the Sharks’ Super Rugby side, but their Currie Cup team will be coached by Brad MacLeod-Henderson, with Paul Anthony and Sean Everitt as assistants.
Smith told the Sharks’ official website that White will be focusing on other areas at the union during the Currie Cup.
William Ambaka Ndayara
Powerhouse Kenyan wing William Ambaka Ndayara will join DHL Western Province ahead of the 2014 Absa Currie Cup competition.
Bismarck du Plessis
The South African Rugby Union (SARU) has asked teams not to pick their contracted Springboks for the entirety of this year’s Absa Currie Cup tournament.
In the past, Springbok players returned during the latter stages of the competition, but this year will be different.
The Cell C Sharks were the first team to confirm the matter, with CEO John Smit saying the defending champions have to make the best of the tricky situation.
“It was decided upon that all contracted Boks will play no part in the Currie Cup, which puts us at a bit of a disadvantage,” Smit told Sharks website editor Michael Marnewick.
Conrad Hoffmann
Brumbies scrumhalf Conrad Hoffmann has returned to play for the Sharks in this year’s Currie Cup, the Durban team announced via their official website.
The 26-year-old played for the Sharks between 2011 and 2012 after joining from Western Province.
His career was hampered by injuries before getting a lifeline at the Brumbies this year. However, a lack of game time at the Australian side has seen Hoffmann return to the Sharks ahead of the Currie Cup season.
Chrysander Botha
English club Exeter Chiefs have signed Lions fullback Chrysander Botha ahead of the new Premiership season.
According to Exeter’s official website, the 26-year-old Namibian international touched down at Sandy Park on Wednesday and will join up with his new team-mates next week.
Botha has been tracked by the Chiefs coaching team for some time and assistant coach Ali Hepher believes his arrival will give the Devon club another attacking weapon in their arsenal.
Kick-off for 2014′s Currie Cup is almost upon us with a full set of fixtures scheduled for 9 August.
Sportingbet have come to the party by pricing up a market for the overall winner of this tournament.
With that in mind, here’s our take on who has a major shot at the trophy and which sides may struggle to keep up with the pace.
Blue Bulls coach Frans Ludeke on Wednesday confirmed Deon Stegmann’s captaincy for his team’s upcoming Currie Cup campaign and named a strong 26 man squad for Friday’s warm-up match against the Pumas in Nelspruit.
“It was an easy decision to call on ‘Steggies’ to lead the team this year,” Ludeke said.
“He is not only one of the most experienced players in the squad, but also one that leads by example on and off the field.”
Henry Immelman from Grey College, in action against Affies.
A schoolboy teenager is set to play in the 2014 Currie Cup – Henry Immelman, the Grey College fullback.
Thomas du Toit, who was at Paarl Boys’ High last year, has proved that a teenager can stand firm among the tough, gnarled men of the front row.
Frans Steyn was 19 when he was chosen for the Sharks and then for South Africa. That was 2007, the year he turned 20. Johan Goosen was 18 when first he played for the Cheetahs in 2011, the year he turned 19.
Now Henry Immelman has been chosen in the Free State squad to play in the Currie Cup. He turned 19 in May. Unlike Steyn and Goosen he is still at school – in matric at Grey College, the school that Steyn and Goosen attended. Like the other two he played for Free State at Craven Week. Goosen made SA schools; Steyn and Immelman did not. Steyn and Goosen were born east of Bloemfontein – in Aliwal North and Burgersdorp. Immelman was born, on 26 May 1995, in Upington.
Seabelo Senatla
Western Province look likely to unleash Springbok Sevens star Seabelo Senatla at right wing in their opening Currie Cup encounter.
According to reports, the 21-year-old landed in Cape Town on Tuesday after helping the South African Sevens side claim gold at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow at the weekend.
Eben Etzebeth
Springbok and WP lock Eben Etzebeth has returned to full training ahead of the Currie Cup and Rugby Championship.
Etzebeth has not seen a single minute of competitive action in 2014 after first a foot, and later a toe injury, kept him out of the Stormers’ entire Super Rugby campaign.
After a long and arduous process he is finally nearing a return to fitness, but it remains to be seen if Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer opts to draft him into the Bok set-up immediately or allows him to get some game time under his belt with Western Province.
Western Province’s preparations for their opening 2014 Currie Cup game have been hamstrung by the timing of the Springbok squad announcement which will be made in Johannesburg on Saturday.
Several Province players are expected to be named in the national squad which will play in the Rugby Championship next month and that will rule them out for Currie Cup duty.
Adriaan Strauss
Springbok hooker Adriaan Strauss has broken his silence, saying he is excited at the prospect of moving to the Bulls at the end of the season.
The Bulls officially announced the move on Monday, but Strauss revealed exclusively to the supersport.com website that his decision was taken to further his career.
Strauss signed a two-year contract to move to the Bulls, following fellow Cheetahs players Trevor Nyakane and Lappies Labuschagné who will also line up for the Pretoria franchise in next year’s Super Rugby competition.
Lubabalo “Tera” Mtembu
The ANC in KwaZulu-Natal has commended the Sharks rugby team for their appointment on Tuesday of Lubabalo Mtembu as the team’s first black captain.
“The decision to appoint Mtembu is a clear sign that the Sharks rugby team is serious about the transformation of the sport which has been one of the thorny issues since the advent our democratic dispensation in 1994,” African National Congress provincial secretary Sihle Zikalala said in a statement.
EP Kings head coach Carlos Spencer has announced a much changed team to take on the Free State Cheetahs in their final warm up game in Cradock on Friday.
Spencer said Luke Watson will once again captain the side, having returned after sitting out the game against the SWD Eagles in George due to a rib injury.
In comparison to the SWD Eagles game, Spencer has named eight new players in the starting line up and four more have received a starting position after being called up from the bench.
Lizo Gqoboka is the only player to retain his spot in the team at loosehead prop. He is accompanied up front by Michael van Vuuren, who returns to hooker in place of Edgar Marutlulle and Tom Botha at tighthead in place of Charl du Plessis. Both Marutlulle and Du Plessis move to the bench.
Adriaan Strauss
Trevor Nyakane
Lappies Labuschagne
Jamba Ulengo
The Blue Bulls Company (Pty) Ltd is pleased to announce the signings of Adriaan Strauss, Trevor Nyakane, Pieter Labuschagne and Jamba Ulengo. All three forwards will join the Vodacom Bulls on November 1st, 2014, while Ulengo has already started training with the Vodacom Blue Bulls.
Springbok hooker Strauss, who captained the Toyota Cheetahs in recent seasons, was South Africa’s Vodacom Super Rugby Player of the Year in 2013 and returns to Loftus Versfeld, where he made his Vodacom Super Rugby career in 2006 after a seven year absence. He has signed a two year deal.
CEO, John Smit handing Tera Mtembu his jersey
The Sharks are delighted to announce the appointment of talented loose-forward Tera Mtembu as captain of the Cell C Sharks for Absa Currie Cup 2014.
Having come through The Sharks Academy ranks, this dedicated, free-spirited and hard-working youngster has always displayed leadership qualities and is a well-liked and respected member of the squad.
These commendable attributes contributed to him being entrusted with the captaincy armband, whenever he was not on senior duty, during this year’s Vodacom Cup campaign.
Adriaan Strauss who earlier this week was seen wearing a Cheetah jersey at the unveiling of the new look kit.
In a somewhat confusing week for Adriaan Strauss fans, the big question is, did he or didn’t he? Conflicting reports indicate that he signed for the Bulls, and others that he will be remaining at the Cheetahs.
Earlier this week, at the unveiling of the new Blue Bulls and Free State Cheetahs jerseys for the 2014 Currie Cup, Strauss was the poster boy for the Cheetahs.
What I find strange though, is a specific question asked to him during a Q & A session. Have a look at question No. 8 posed to him and decide whether that was already a dead giveaway.
Deon Stegmann
Flank Deon Stegmann has been made captain of the Blue Bulls for this year’s Currie Cup competition.
Bulls coach Frans Ludeke confirmed the news on Wednesday.
Stegmann, 28, will take over from Jono Ross who captained the team in last year’s Currie Cup when they failed to make the semi-finals.
PUMA, the official technical and apparel sponsor of the Toyota Free State Cheetahs, has unveiled a new heritage-inspired Currie Cup rugby kit in the customary white and russet orange.
“As always the Toyota Free State Cheetahs are looking forward to the Currie Cup competition and this year even more so with our new Currie Cup jersey design from our partner PUMA,” said Kobus le Roux, the Marketing & Sales Executive at the Free State Cheetahs. “PUMA has yet again been able to design a new fresh look for the Toyota Free State Cheetahs without changing our unique traditions. Proudly white and orange! Proudly Cheetahs! Proudly PUMA.”
PUMA, the official technical and apparel sponsor of the Blue Bulls, has unveiled a new Currie Cup rugby kit inspired by heritage and tradition – with no pink colourways or camo designs in sight.
The jersey in the Blue Bulls’ customary blue is also embroidered with both the PUMA logo and the Blue Bulls’ Daisy on the shirt. Part of PUMA’s evoPOWER Rugby apparel design, the jersey uses a polyester tight fit material which is lightweight, comfortable and robust.
“The ABSA Currie Cup symbolises the long and proud heritage of South African Rugby, so it was important for us not to break away from the traditional look of our ABSA Currie Cup jersey for that very reason. We firmly believe that the simplicity, yet elegance of the design makes a bold statement,” said Barend van Graan, CEO of the Blue Bulls Company.
SARU CEO Jurie Roux at the launch of the 2014 Currie Cup campaign
The new Absa Currie Cup Premier Division format featuring eight teams will come into play on 8 August in a fresh start to SA’s top domestic competition, with newcomers the EP Kings taking on DHL Western Province in the opening match.
The official launch of the 2014 Absa Currie Cup competition was hosted by the South African Rugby Union (SARU) and sponsor Absa on Wednesday at Jeppe High School for Boys in Johannesburg where the new format was explained and the 2014 marketing campaign revealed.
The launch featured a Tag rugby match between the media, and the players and coaching staff of the Premier and First Division teams.