Who is not amped up for the Currie Cup Final? Even supporters from non-participating teams cannot wait for the epic battle due to follow on Saturday 30 October 2009.
What a wonderful competition!
What a joy to be a rugby supporter!
The battle for the sought after cup is going to be huge, players are going to give their all. Heroes are going to rise to the occasion.
It is very difficult to predict a winner for the final… do you choose the Bulls team full of stars and Springboks or do you choose the gutsy Cheetahs who boast a powerful front row, a fetcher par excelance and with backs who have speed to burn?
Let’s look at the chances and strong and weak points in both teams:
Blue Bulls:
The Bulls have game breakers who have served the Bulls and SA with distinction. Where in the world could you find better than Bakkies Botha, Victor Matfield, Fourie du Preez, Morne Steyn and Bryan Habana… the answer is simple.. nowhere !! In addition There’s Pierre Spies, Danie Rossouw, Dewalt Potgieter, Wynand Olivier and the gutsy little Francois Hougaard.
On paper this Bulls team is settled and virually without weak points…. except in the front row, where they will surely play second fiddle to the might of the Cheetahs front row. Another aspect which worries me and most Bulls supporters is Pierre Spies’s “bad hands” behind the scrums.
In the line-outs the Bulls should reign supreme, in the kicking department Fourie du Preez and Morne Steyn should dictate play. There is possibly not another team in the world with such quality tactical kickers and such a dead-eye dick who kicks for posts.
In midfield Wynand Olivier breaks most team’s lines almost at will, at wings the Bulls have the Habananana and Francois Hougaard. At full back there is the solid Zane Kirchner.
Chasing ground ball and grinding in the rucks and mauls there is the quality of Deon Stegmann, Dewald Potgieter and Pierre Spies!
Will the weakness in the front row and complacency be the Bulls worst enemies?
Free State Cheetahs:
The Cheetahs had an abysmal Super 14 and an equally abysmal start to the Currie Cup this year, but then swung into gear and started demolishing everything in their path!
They boast arguably the best front row combination in SA and is sure to get the upperhand in the scrum battle.
In addition they have fetcher supreme, Heinrich Brussow who will cause untold damage to the Bulls in the ground-ball-battle.
At No 8 they have the up-and-coming Ashley Johnson who has been underrated by most for far too long. I rate this man as a future Springbok, he is abrasive, strong, has good hands, breaks tackles, runs good lines and tackles like a demon.
In JP Joubert, the so called journeyman at scrum half, they have a crisp passer of the ball, a man who mostly takes the correct options, but he is slow and by that I mean he does not seem to run fast with those “horrelbene” of his.
At fly half the Cheetahs have the 2nd most dangerous fly half in SA, a man who punts the ball for miles, who attacks space, who defends well and who easily takes the points when on offer. He sometimes blows hot or cold though… but he’s been in very good shape lately. It will be his last game for the Cheetahs before re-joining the Bulls for next year.
In midfield the Cheetahs are vulnerable…
On the wings the Cheetahs have two speed merchants, with Lionel Mapoe the find of the season on wing and Danwell Demas, arguably one of the fastest but worst wingers to play at this level.
At full back there is the solid and heavily underrated Hennie Danniler, a rock and a pillar in the last vestage.
Prediction:
This is putting me on the spot here, I frankly am very hesitant to make a prediction, but I’ll chance one here… the Bulls should win but it should be a nail-biter to the end.
This week saw cartoons being mailed about and I thought I would share a couple received this morning… Go Bulls!!
Teams:
Blue Bulls: 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Francois Hougaard, 13 Jaco Pretorius, 12 Wynand Olivier, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Fourie du Preez, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Dewald Potgieter, 6 Deon Stegmann, 5 Victor Matfield (captain), 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Derick Kuün, 1 Gurthrö Steenkamp.
Replacements: 16 Bandise Maku, 17 Rossouw de Klerk, 18 Danie Rossouw, 19 Pedrie Wannenburg, 20 Heini Adams, 21 Burton Francis, 22 Gerhard van den Heever.
Free State Cheetahs: 15 Hennie Daniller, 14 Lionel Mapoe, 13 Corné Uys, 12 Meyer Bosman, 11 Danwel Demas, 10 Jacques-Louis Potgieter, 9 JP Joubert, 8 Ashley Johnson, 7 Frans Viljoen, 6 Heinrich Brüssow, 5 David de Villiers, 4 Nico Breedt, 3 WP Nel, 2 Adriaan Strauss (captain), 1 Wian du Preez.
Replacements: 16 Richardt Strauss, 17 Coenie Oosthuizen, 18 Izak van der Westhuizen, 19 Lukas Floors, 20 Tewis de Bruyn, 21 Louis Strydom, 22 Fabian Juries.
Date: Saturday, October 31
Venue: Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
Kick-off: 17.00 (15.00 GMT)
Predicted weather: Early showers and morning clouds, otherwise mild. High of 25°C and a low of 13°C. The win will be at about 15km/h NE and there’s about a 50 percent chance of precipitation.
Referee: Jonathan Kaplan
Assistant referees: Pro Legoete, Cobus Wessels
TMO: Shaun Veldsman
Dis lekker om ‘n Bul te wees !!
Heeeeeeeeeeeee haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
Dit gaan groot wees.
Ek dink die game gaan baie meer gelyk wees as wat almal dink. Daar word baie gemaak van die skrums en die afbreek punte.
Brussow gaan verseker dit moeilik maak, maar moet nie vir Pottie en Stegmann weggooi nie, hulle behoort self ‘n bal of twee te wen.
Die skrums moet ons maar net probeer vasstaan. WP het ons probeer vernietig maar dit nie reg gekry nie. Ek dink dit gaan ook beter gaan as wat ons dink.
Looking forward to the Final. Bulls/Cheetahs just give us good rugby watch and I will be happy.
Good luck to both teams.
Afternoon Polla, See you up there.
Gert – Grote Griet Gert, jy het registreer en jy is GOEDGEKEUR !!
Voltooi asseblief jou Profiel deur jou regte NAAM (seker Gert… hehehe) en VAN te voltooi, en begin blog !
Hello Puma et al…Got a bit stuck reading Morne’s article….At least the WP u/16 and u/18 Teams won their competitions!…some light in the tunnel, but it will probably be shot out by the time these chaps reaches 21!
6@ Polla – Shame man… die waarheid maak maar seer.
Maar soos Morné sê, dit word toegesmeer en die bullshit propaganda van die WP masjien word vir julle ondersteuners gevoer.
Dis tyd dat Wagner en sy hansworsies plek maak vir Administrateurs wat besigheidsgerig is !!
gbs,
Wat de hel gaan aan met die Brussouw gerugte? Ek dink dis ‘n klomp k@k, maar weet jy of daar enige waarheid daaraan sit?
Good luck to Sharks U21’s tomorrow against the Cheetahs. Before the CC final.
Some good rugby to watch tomorrow.
Brussouw tref my as ‘n persoon gemaak van die Juan en tot ‘n mate Os stoffasie.
8@Die Vlak – Ek hoor ook maar net die gerugte… Brussow moet liewer bly waar hy is man!
6 – Polla,
Ja, me too just went to read Morne’s article. Always good articles by Morne.
gOOde arti Rudi
agrEE buLLs should take…
but then
it is a final @ roftus against the chEEtahs!
11 – GBS
Rumours flying about that Brussow is just about to sign with the Sharks.
I for one will only believe it when he is in a Sharks jersey or it is down on paper. Until then he is a Cheetah man.
13@ wiLLem die OrakeLman – Fanks, ek was nogal objektief vir ‘n Bulls supporter, nê!!
14@ Oerwoudkat – Yeah, I heard the rumours… freegin poaching Tjarks !!
Ek moet eers weer waai!..Sterkte aan altwee spanne more. Mag die een wat die meeste driee druk wen!..En mag die bokke nie seerkry nie!
Cheers en sterkte aan die ondersteuners!..hop die senuwees hou!
We must hold on to him, he’s crucial for the S14 campaign. I think it’s just the sardines trying to unsettle him, pretty sure it won’t work.
15 hehehe
vir ‘n buLLs suPPorter – verseker 🙂
Sterkte vir beide spanne maar ek dink die span met die meeste punte op die scoreboard sal die een wen..lol…
Damn those poachers. Very grey area, but to me there’s a huge difference between buying players when they are young and developing their skills or buying a player from the ‘feeder’ unions, and buying a player at/close to his prime. I know it’s the ‘proffesional era’, but one can’t compare the moral code and loyalty of a rugby-player and a footballer.
99% sure it’s a load of drivel, if it’s not it’ll be a massive blow to my Cheetahs.
If the Sharks can’t win with the pool of talent already at their disposal, they should just give up. Will they go on untill they have sucked South Africa dry?
The Springboks are not reliant on 4-5 strong South African unions, but it can’t but help to improve the standard of South African rugby even more.
Genoeg van die twak. Gooi mielies julle mielieboere!!!!!
VVVRRRYYYSSSTTTAAAATTTTT
Who agrees and who disagrees with the above Article… come on dammit, klim uit julle gate uit !!
21
relax
HB wiLL be in Oranje 2010/2011.
He is the face of vrystAAt Rugby just as AdriAAnStrauSS is the long term captain.
chEEtah player are not paid nuTTing.
The Union cant aFFord a bigbOOk like the buLLs or the cashsplash on okes like Habarnero!
Now that the Coach had had his “DamascusMoment” its aLL back to normal.
Regardless of the fuLLtime score tomoRRow
ChEEtahs nEEds to up their performance in the S14.
Pity about Potgieter though.
very gOOde player.
Dink hul probeer die Brussow skuif na Durbs stil hou tot NA die finaal, maar nuus is besig om uit te lek.
23@ wiLLemien – Volgende jaar gaan die Bulls ‘n gedugte agterlyn hê…
9. Fourie du Preez / Heini Adams / Francois Hougaard
10. Morne Steyn / Jacques-Louis Potgieter / Francois Brummer
11. Gerhard van den Heever / Bjorn Basson
12. Jacques-Louis Potgieter (jaaaaaaaaa dis reg, op binnesenter)
13. Wynand Olivier / Jaco Pretorius
14. Akona Ndungane / Francois Hougaard
15. Zane Kirchner / Tiger Mangweni / Jaco (Moses) van der Westhuizen
Willem,
I think Naas will make a good replacement for JLP, strikes me as an intelligent player, and we will most definitely make progress in the S14. Juan needs to stay injury-free though.
‘nutting’? Jy push jou luck met daai willemisms van jou, dink jy jy’s die oorspronklike wikkelspies? 😉
Ek hoop jy’s reg, ons moet Heinrich op ons boeke he.
Bulls 24 Cheetahs 28
26 & 27@ Die Vlak – Wat rook jy, want daai goed klink potent ????
25: het basson nie weer geteken by Kwasse nie ?
29@ BiDiBiDi – Weetie…. miskien…
Maar Moses en / of Zane kan maklik double as ‘n vleuel ook…
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