GWK Griquas
The battle for the last available position in the ABSA Currie Cup Premier Division will begin on Friday as 6 of the 7 teams participating in the in the ABSA Currie Cup Qualifiers go-head to-head over the weekend.
The top team on the Log table at the end of the Qualifiers, which feature 7 Rounds of matches, will gain automatic entry into the ABSA Currie Cup Premier Division, while the remaining 6 teams will battle it out in the ABSA Currie Cup First Division.
It will be between GWK Griquas, who participated in the ABSA Currie Cup Premier Division last season, the Down Touch Griffons, champions of the First Division in 2014, as well as the Boland Cavaliers, Border Bulldogs, Leopards, SWD Eagles and the Hino Valke in the competition.
In Friday’s opening matches, the SWD Eagles will host the Leopards at Outeniqua Park in George and Border takes on GWK Griquas at the BCM Stadium in East London. In the only match on Saturday, Boland meet the Down Touch Griffons at the Malmesbury Sports Grounds.
The clash between the SWD Eagles and Leopards is expected to be tight as the teams were closely matched in terms of their attack in the recent Vodacom Cup competition. SWD, however, are expected to bank on their more effective defence as 1 of the areas which could give them an edge.
GWK Griquas, meanwhile, will enter their clash against Border as favourites after showing good form in the 1st half of the season. They will also draw on their experience gained in last year’s ABSA Currie Cup Premier Division as they look to make their presence felt. Border, however, will enter the match with confidence after registering a morale-boosting victory against Boland in their final Vodacom Cup match.
In Malmesbury the battle between Boland and the Down Touch Griffons could also come down to the wire as both teams look to make up for their slow start to the season. The visitors, in particular, will be inspired by their successful ABSA Currie Cup First Division season last year, but they may have to work hard for an invaluable away-win.
The Hino Valke, meanwhile, have a bye.
Dean Grant
Flyhalf Dean Grant is the latest South African to secure a move to play club rugby in France, having been released from his contract at Griquas.
Dean’s main focus this year was on balancing his professional rugby career in Kimberley and completing his Honours in B.Com Investments at the University of Cape Town.
6 Months later, and Grant can celebrate his impressive qualification, and a new chapter in his rugby career.
After spending the past 2 seasons in Kimberley, the 26-year-old has secured a deal with French club Chambery, based in the south-eastern region of France.
Chambery play in Federale 1 (3rd Division), having nearly qualified for the Pro D2 during the 2014 / 2015 season.
“I want to thank Griquas for accommodating my career over the past 2 years by allowing me to balance my studies and my rugby commitments,” said Grant.
Hawies Fourie
Andre Markgraaff
Hawies Fourie has been appointed as the new head coach of Maties, Stellenbosch University’s 1st rugby team. Fourie will start in his new role on 1 November this year.
He is the current head coach of GWK Griquas and also served as backline coach to the Toyota Cheetahs in Super Rugby.
Fourie will replace Chris Rossouw as head coach, with the latter remaining part of the coaching team.
After winning the 1st 3 editions of the Varsity Cup (2008, 2009 and 2010), Maties have struggled to stamp their authority on the competition in recent years, and Fourie’s job will be to make them a powerhouse once more.
Former Springbok coach Andre Markgraaff has been appointed in an advisory capacity at the Maties Rugby Club. Part of Markgraaff’s roles will be to look after coaching, player development and recruitment.
There were tries aplenty as the Vodacom Cup moved up a gear with the quarter-finals moving into sight for the 16 teams vying for the title.
In the South Section, the SWD Eagles probably delivered the biggest upset as they outplayed the Cell C Sharks XV in George on Friday evening, winning comfortably by 36 / 13 after a superb 2nd half performance where they scored 29 unanswered points.
GWK Griquas showed they will not let go of their title without a proper fight as they completely outclassed the Boland Cavaliers by 62 / 19 in Velddrif on Saturday afternoon, while the Toyota Free State XV beat the EP Kings by 50 / 45 in an extraordinary match in Bloemfontein where the scorers with still tied at 42 / 42 with only 5 minutes remaining on the clock.
DHL Western Province were predictably too strong for the Border Bulldogs as they cemented their position at the top of the South Section log with a 34 / 6 win on Saturday afternoon.
In the North Section, last weekend’s log leaders, the Xerox Golden Lions, enjoyed a BYE and was overtaken at the top of the standings by the Vodacom Blue Bulls, who beat the Down Touch Griffons by 40 / 21 in Pretoria on Friday afternoon.
The Steval Pumas’ 31 / 23 victory over the Leopards XV in Potchefstroom on Friday means the race to the top of the North Section log is now effectively between 3 teams.
The FNB Welwitschias recorded their 1st win of the season when they beat the Assupol Limpopo Blue Bulls by 24 / 17 in Windhoek on Saturday afternoon.
Carel Greeff
The Toyota Cheetahs have called up loose forward Carel Greeff as they prepare for their Super Rugby tour match against the Brumbies in Canberra on Saturday.
Greeff, who played for Griquas in the Vodacom Cup at the weekend, will replace Jean Cook.
Cook injured his groin in the warm-up prior to last weekend’s 37 / 27 loss to the Chiefs in Hamilton.
The South Section of the Vodacom Cup kicked off on Friday evening with a resounding victory for the SWD Eagles, while the Cell C Sharks XV and Steval Pumas got 50-pointers without conceding a point on Saturday.
Apart from these 3 matches, the 4 others played this weekend were much closer affairs.
On Friday, the Xerox Golden Lions remained unbeaten when they beat northern neighbours the Vodacom Blue Bulls in Johannesburg.
Saturday’s other matches saw wins for DHL Western Province in Caledon, where loose forward Sikhumbuzo Notshe scored 4 tries, GWK Griquas in Port Elizabeth and the Leopards XV in Lichtenburg.
Stephan Coetzee
Michael van der Spuy
Griquas have secured the services of two promising Western Province players for next season.
Centre Michael van der Spuy and hooker Stephan Coetzee – who both showed promise for WP this season – have signed with Griquas until the end of the 2015 season.
It will also be a boost for the men from Kimberley who recently lost the services of hooker Ryno Barnes (Free State) and centres Howards Mnisi (Lions) and Doppies la Grange (retirement).
Doppies la Grange
Gideon “Doppies” la Grange has brought the curtain down on his career after a short return stint in the Currie Cup for the Griquas.
The 32-year-old returned to South Africa via Kimberley after playing in Italy for Benetton Treviso in 2013 where he only made nine appearances.
La Grange states the reason for his retirement is that his body was sending him signals.
Ryno Barnes
Griquas hooker Ryno Barnes will appear before a SARU disciplinary committee on Thursday after receiving a red card for verbally abusing referee Pro Legoete in the Currie Cup match against the Blue Bulls in Pretoria last Saturday.
Barnes received a Red Card for the incident in the 72nd minute, which was in breach of Law 10.4 (m) and (s).
DHL Western Province will host the Vodacom Blue Bulls in Cape Town and the Xerox Golden Lions will face the Cell C Sharks in Johannesburg in the Absa Currie Cup Premier Division semifinals next weekend.
Log-leaders DHL Western Province were assured of their home semifinal and the top spot on the log before entering the final round of pool matches this weekend, while the Xerox Golden Lions sealed their home semifinal by thumping the Toyota Free State Cheetahs. The victory for the Johannesburg team was enough to cancel out any efforts by the Cell C Sharks for the second spot on the log.
In the weekend’s matches, the EP Kings registered their first victory of the season as they pipped the Steval Pumas 26-25 in Port Elizabeth, while the Xerox Golden Lions thumped the Toyota Free State Cheetahs 47-7 at Ellis Park, the Cell C Sharks defeated DHL Western Province 28-20 in Cape Town and the Vodacom Blue Bulls beat GWK Griquas 46-12 in Pretoria.
The Xerox Golden Lions will meet the Cell C Sharks in the first semifinal on Saturday, October 18, at 14:30 SA Time and DHL Western Province will go up against the Vodacom Blue Bulls at 17:00 SA Time.
Blue Bulls (20) 46 / 12 (12) Griquas (Final Score)
The Vodacom Blue Bulls and GWK Griquas did battle in the ABSA Currie Cup Premier Division at
Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria at 19:10 SA Time (17:10 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 & M-Net on TV in SA.
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A host of injuries has forced Griquas coach Hawies Fourie to select players out of position ahead of their final round-robin Currie Cup fixture against the Blue Bulls in Pretoria on Saturday.
“Injuries have plagued us this year,” Fourie said.
“It is a problem with which any union struggles, but we’ve gotten the short end of the stick this year. It makes preparations very difficult and it disrupts any momentum we might have had.”
Locks Hilton Lobberts and Boela Serfontein, prop Steph Roberts, flank Carel Greeff and captain Wayne Stevens have all been ruled out with injuries.
Let me start off this week’s SuperBru thread by saying “Thanks for nothing, Sharks!”
Typical of the Cell C Sharks, play like plonkers for most of the Currie Cup, but then turn it on just in time to mess up everyone’s GSP.
After losses to the Steval Pumas and then at home to the GWK Griquas, not many gave them a chance at Loftus. Well done to the Sharks though, but it must be added that the Blue Bulls looked like plonkers on Saturday.
As anticipated, DHL Western Province and the Xerox Golden Lions confirmed their positions at the top of the Absa Currie Cup log with bonus point home wins over the weekend, but they may have reason now to be looking nervously over their shoulders.
The Cell C Sharks have looked woeful for most of the season and until the second half against the Toyota Free State Cheetahs 10 days again, they just weren’t converting their line breaks or stringing phases together.
WP (24) 36 / 12 (0) Griquas (Final Score)
DHL Western Province and GWK Griquas did battle in the ABSA Currie Cup Premier Division at
Newlands, Cape Town at 15:00 SA Time (13:00 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 & M-Net on TV in SA.
(Take Note: There will be no LIVE GAME ARTICLE for the EP Kings / Toyota Free State Cheetahs match, as it also takes place at the same time as this game)
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Only 4 points separated the All Blacks from the Bokke in Wellington, but, as expected, New Zealand were the victors.
Australia managed a 7 point win against the Pumas so there were no surprises for Round 4 of the Rugby Championship.
There we many positives to be taken out of the game from a South African perspective, the biggest being the form of Handré Pollard playing in his first real big Test.
Round 3 of the Rugby Championship ended in heartbreak for the Springboks when they went down to Australia by 1 point in the final few minutes of what was not an entertaining match at all.
The referee, the yellow card to Bryan Habana, the failed touchfinder by Morné Steyn and various other reasons have already been dissected and discussed, so we won’t dwell on those.
Griqua players celebrate their first win of the Currie Cup.
The mini-slump being experienced by the defending champions, the Sharks, is a key feature of the Currie Cup at its midway point in league play.
Two losses on the trot – after a three-match winning start that hadn’t produced much champagne rugby and was already delivering certain warning signs – have left the Durban-based side with an increasingly precarious hold on a “semi-final” slot.
They lie fourth on the overall table and with an awful lot of work to do in the second half of their ordinary-season roster if they are to recover enough ground to challenge for rights to a possible home final – perhaps simply making sure they actually get into the last four must be a shorter-term, lesser objective now.
Sharks (8) 18 / 21 (15) Griquas (Final Score)
The Cell C Sharks and GWK Griquas did battle in the ABSA Currie Cup Premier Division at
Growthpoint Kings Park, Durban at 17:05 SA Time (15:05 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 & M-Net on TV in SA.
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This weekend sees the resumption of The Rugby Championship with the All Blacks hosting the Pumas in Napier and the Springboks traveling to Perth to face the Wallabies.
Last weekend we had the Round 4 of the ABSA Currie Cup and there has been some movement at the top of the Rugby-Talk SuperBru group.
The 6 Important games we focus on which are played this weekend, consists of the 2 Rugby Championship Test matches as well as 4 ABSA Currie Cup Premier Division matches.
Xerox Golden Lions keep EP Kings at bay
The Golden Lions got their Currie Cup rugby title bid back on track when they scored a bonus-point win in overcoming a courageous Eastern Province Kings outfit 41-22 at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth on Saturday night.
With Ruan Combrinck in outstanding form with the boot, slotting all seven of his kicks at goal with five conversions and two penalties, the Lions will be satisfied to come away from Port Elizabeth with five points.
Henco Venter will start at lock in the only change to the Free State Cheetahs’ team to face Griquas in Kimberley on Saturday.
Kick-off is at 15:00 SA Time (13:00 GMT).
Waltie Vermeulen will take his place on the bench, in the only other change to the match day squad.
WP flyer, Kobus van Wyk
Surprise, surprise… there are the Sharks and Western Province, back dominating Currie Cup rugby.
Many changes could still happen, of course, given that the 2014 competition is not quite a third of the way through the pre-knockout phase, but it is interesting nevertheless that the two coastal powers have already seized just a hint of a grip.
It will only increase speculation that the pair may be set for a third successive meeting in the final this year, something that has not happened since the Blue Bulls and Cheetahs met in each of the 2004, 2005 and 2006 showpieces.
A long-range penalty by Fred Zeilinga four minutes from time helped the Sharks snatch a last-ditch 19-16 victory over the Free State Cheetahs in their Currie Cup clash at Kings Park on Saturday night.
The home flyhalf kicked 14 points in total, with the other five coming through a late try by Tonderai Chavhanga.
However, the visitors will rue what might have been after leading the game for most of the evening thanks to a brilliant Clayton Blommetjies’ try and the boot of Willie du Plessis.
Pumas (11) 33 / 15 (12) Griquas (Final Score)
The Steval Pumas and GWK Griquas did battle in the ABSA Currie Cup Premier Division at
Mbombela Stadium, Nelspruit at 19:10 SA Time (17:10 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 & CSN on TV in SA.
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Round one of the Rugby Championship is done and dusted, and it would seem as if the rain was the winner in both games.
Two players picked a draw between the Wallabies and All Blacks and are sitting pretty on 3 log points.
Well done Angostura and Charo, brave call to go for a draw and the rewards for bravery means a yellow cap for Angos.
This past weekend saw Round 2 of the ABSA Currie Cup of 2014.
As usual 4 games were played, with the Cell C Sharks beating Steal Pumas 34 / 17, DHL Western Province demolishing the Vodacom Blue Bulls by 41 / 17, Xerox Goldenlions hammering EP Kings by 60 / 19 and the Toyota Free State Cheetahs beating GWK Griquas 34 / 27.
WP demolish Blue Bulls
DHL Western Province scored three tries either side of halftime as they demolished the Vodacom Blue Bulls 41-17 (halftime 19-6) in a scintillating Absa Currie Cup encounter at DHL Newlands in Cape Town on Saturday.
Province ran in six tries through Pat Cilliers, Michael Rhodes, Nizaam Carr, Juan de Jongh and a brace from Seabelo Senatla while replacement hooker Bongi Mbonambi nabbed one for the visitors.
The Rugby Championship kicks off Saturday when Australia host the All Blacks in Sydney.
The New Zealand All Blacks are on a run of 17 wins and could set the record for the most successive Test wins for a Tier 1 nation, should they win.
None of the current Wallaby squad has ever held the Bledisloe Cup, Australia has last won that in 2003.
Brad Macleod-Henderson
Cell C Sharks coach Brad Macleod-Henderson is happy with his side’s victory over Griquas in round one of this year’s Currie Cup competition with the Durban-based outfit besting the Peacock Blues 31-24 in closely contested affair in Kimberley on Saturday afternoon.
The visitors enjoyed a comfortable lead of 18-3 at half-time after Griquas centre Jonathan Francke was shown a Red Card in the seventh minute for a dangerous tackle.
It left the Sharks with one man over on attack as well as defence but, in the end, they had to work hard to best a motivated home side.
Brumbies recruit Rory Arnold, the tallest player in Super Rugby.
If you thought NSW Watarahs and Australian Wallabies battering ram Will Skelton was big, meet ACT Brumbies recruit Rory Arnold, the tallest player in Super Rugby.
The 208cm, 130kg lock created huge headlines last year after being involved in an alleged biting incident in South Africa, but Arnold is determined to make a big impact at the Brumbies for the right reasons.
While man mountain Skelton weighs in at 140kg, at 203cm he can’t match Arnold, who is equal in height with former South African player Andries Bekker. They are the tallest players in Super Rugby’s 19-year history.
Griquas (3) 24 / 31 (18) Sharks (Final Score)
GWK Griquas and the Cell C Sharks did battle in the ABSA Currie Cup Premier Division at
GWK Park, Kimberley at 15:00 SA Time (13:00 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1, SHD & M-Net on TV in SA.
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Tonight sees the kick off of the 2014 edition of the ABSA Currie Cup, and more importantly, the start of a new SuperBru campaign.
Just a week ago the pool for the Super Rugby ended, and it turned out to be quite a dog fight at the top of the table between Blue Bird, Sharks_Forever, Charo and Winston Champ, with Blue Bird hanging on to take the bragging rights.
For those of us who were fighting it out down at the bottom of the log, don’t despair, today we all start with a clean slate.
Good luck with those picks, and if you are still deliberating, have a look at what some of the pundits and so-called experts have decided.
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.
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.
Luther Obi scored 4 tries against the hapless Border Bulldogs
The Leopards scored 15 tries in beating the Border Bulldogs 103-15 (halftime 54-3) in a lost cause at Profert Olen Park on Saturday.
The Leopards knew they had to win with a bonus point to have any hope of catching the Griquas in the race to the Currie Cup Premier Division, and they did what they had to do with clinical efficiency in a free-flowing rout.
They kicked off with hope in their heart and a determination to push all the way. But it was all in vain as, at about the time they put boot to ball, the Griquas scored their fourth try against SWD Eagles and all but sealed their promotion after just half an hour’s play in George.