Springboks
Top South African referees Marius Jonker and Mark Lawrence have been handed this weekend’s crucial Absa Currie Cup semifinals.
The Western Province celebrations of their excellent 33-21 win over the Sharks in the final Absa Currie Cup league match have been tempered by the doubt hovering over the participation of the two Fouries, Jaque and Deon, in Saturday’s semifinal against the Cheetahs.
Vodacom Blue Bulls loose forwards Deon Stegmann and Pierre Spies will know on Tuesday whether they will be given the green light to play in Saturday’s Absa Currie Cup semifinal against the Sharks in Durban.
Western Province’s prospects of reaching their first Currie Cup Final in almost a decade may be dealt a crippling blow.It was confirmed on Sunday that hooker Deon Fourie will appear before a South African Rugby Union judicial hearing, after he was cited for foul play during the Premier Division game against the Sharks on Saturday.
WP (20) 33 / Sharks (7) 21 (Final Score)
Vodacom Western Province hosted the Sharks at Newlands, Cape Town at 17:05 SA Time. This is the match thread for discussion of the game. The match was broadcast live on SuperSport 1 & SuperSport HD & M-Net on TV in SA.
WP were clearly the hungrier team in this game and the Sharks played a strange lacklustre attacking game, with both teams scoring 3 tries each in the process.
With this last game in the regular Currie Cup season, the semi-finalists and where they will play is now determined, with the Sharks taking on the Blue Bulls in Durban and the WP taking on the Cheetahs in Cape Town.
The Final Currie Cup Log Standings list the top 4 as follows:
- Sharks 52
- WP 48
- Cheetahs 47
- Bulls 47
Griquas (15) 36 / Blue Bulls (22) 48 (Final Score)
The GWK Griquas hosted the Blue Bulls at GWK Park, Kimberley at 15:00 SA Time. This is the match thread for discussion of the game. The match was broadcast live on SuperSport 1 & M-Net on TV in SA.
The Blue Bulls started slowly as a spirited Griquas took the early initiative but the Blue Bulls ran in 7 tries against the 5 tries from Griquas, which included 2 pearlers by Bjorn Basson, the man who now holds the all time Currie Cup record for tries in a season with 21 tries.
Lions (17) 27 / Pumas (17) 34 (Final Score)
The Xerox Lions hosted the Barloworld Toyota Pumas at Coca-Cola Park, Johannesburg at 19:10 SA Time. This is the match thread for discussion of the game. The match was broadcast live on SuperSport 1 on DSTV in SA.
The Pumas showed guts and determination and a very good mauling and scrumming game to beat the Lions at Lions headquarters.
Final score Pumas 34 / 27.
Here are the Teams as anoounced.
The Lions were forced to make four late changes to their team that will face the Pumas in a Currie Cup clash in Johannesburg on Friday.
Centre Doppies la Grange, who pulled a hamstring early in last week’s 37-43 loss to the Cheetahs, has been ruled out – forcing a complete reshuffle in the backline.
A full afternoon of rugby awaits Newlands fans on Saturday, with four matches being played. There are limited standing and single seated tickets still available, and these can be purchased from the Newlands Box Office and Computicket.
Free State Cheetahs coach Naka Drotské has resisted the temptation to rush both his returning Springboks back into the starting XV for their final Currie Cup league match of the season.
The Cheetahs, who can still finish second on the standings and secure home ground advantage in the play-offs, face the Leopards in Phokeng on Friday.
Vodacom Blue Bulls coach Frans Ludeke had no hesitation in naming all his available Springboks in the starting line up of the Blue Bulls team to play Griquas in Kimberley on Saturday in the final pool game of Absa’s Currie Cup competition.
Lions coach John Mitchell has named veteran Springbok flank Wikus van Heerden on the bench for what is likely to be his team’s final Currie Cup match of the season.
The fact that Victor Matfield and his fellow Bulls Boks phoned from Cape Town at lunch time on Tuesday to enquire whether they could still make it to the Blue Bulls training session on time shows how eager the team’s five Springboks are to have the Barberton Daisy on their chests again and run out against Griquas on Saturday.
The Sharks are going to Newlands to win with the strongest available side – that was the message from head coach John Plumtree on Tuesday as he looked ahead to the top-of-the-log Currie Cup clash against Western Province at Newlands on Saturday evening.
Both the Sharks and Province’s Directors of Coaching – Rudolf Straeuli (Sharks) and Rassie Erasmus (WP) have a history of employing ‘cat-and-mouse’ tactics in the run-in to crucial matches, and it could well be the case this week.
He has played in more than 100 Super rugby games and over 50 tests, and on Saturday Springbok Danie Rossouw will play his 99th Currie Cup match – as an eighthman.
It looks like Springbok Andre Pretorius, and not Patrick Lambie, will start at flyhalf for the Sharks against Western Province in the Absa Currie Cup league match in Cape Town.
The Sharks may “freshen up” in a few positions, but their coach John Plumtree has refuted any suggestion that he will follow the lead of the Bulls by choosing a B team for Saturday’s eagerly anticipated final Absa Currie Cup league game against Western Province.
The Leopards Rugby Union on Monday announced Leon Boshoff will take over from current Currie Cup head-coach Chaka Willemse with immediate effect.
Loftus Versfeld stadium manager Hugo Kemp reaffirmed on Sunday what the Blue Bulls Company had warned earlier in the week when he commented on AfriForum’s alleged attempt to use the venue as a platform to promote their smear campaign against Currie Cup sponsors Absa.
Pretoria – Vodacom Blue Bulls No 8, Pierre Spies, has been ruled out of Saturday’s Absa Currie Cup rugby match against Griquas in Kimberley. Continue reading
After an exciting weekend of Semi final deciding clashes the four semi finalists have been decided, the Sharks, WP, Bulls and Cheetahs have all secured their places to battle it out in the knock out stages in two weeks time. Continue reading
The Free State Cheetahs moved to third place on the Absa Currie Cup log when they scored six tries in beating the Xerox Lions 43-37 in Bloemfontein in Saturday.
The Blue bulls kept their hopes of securing a home semi-final alive by crawling home to a 36-32 victory over arch rivals Western Province at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.
Cheetahs 43 / Lions 37 (Final Score)
The Vodacom Free State Cheetahs host the Xerox Lions in Bloemfontein at 17:05 SA Time. This is the match thread for discussion of the game. The match is broadcast live on SuperSport 1 & HD & M-Net in SA.
Blue Bulls 36 / WP 32 (Final Score)
The Vodacom Blue Bulls host the Vodacom WP at Lotus, Pretoria at 15:00 SA Time. This is the match thread for discussion of the game. The match is broadcast live on SuperSport 1 & HD & M-Net in SA.
Sharks (35) 63 / Leopards (6) 6 (Final Score)
The Sharks hosted the Platinum Leopards at ABSA Stadium, Durban at 19:10 SA Time. This is the match thread for discussion of the game. The match was broadcast live on SuperSport 1 on DSTV in SA.
The Sharks ran in 9 converted tries, totally demolishing the Leopards who only managed to convert 2 penalties for all their trouble.
It was like men against boys with the Sharks already bagging their bonus point for tries before 20 minutes had lapsed.
The Sharks have secured their home-semi now, only question which remains is whether WP can catch and surpass them for top spot on the Log.
Regular Vodacom Blue Bulls no 8, Gerrit-Jan van Velze, has been ruled out of the remainder of the Absa Currie Cup competition due to a thumb injury.
Currie Cup Coach-of-the-Month for September, John Mitchell, made only the one anticipated change to the Lions starting lineup for Saturday’s decisive clash with the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein.
“Intense, close, physical”.
Western Province captain Anton van Zyl could hardly produce a more apt description of the challenge awaiting his side in Saturday’s Currie Cup match against the Blue Bulls at Loftus Versfeld.
Van Zyl and Co won a titanic battle in the trenches against the Bulls 15-12 at Newlands in the first round, but the challenge in Pretoria will no doubt be tougher.
Sharks No 8 Ryan Kankowski has been suspended from all forms of rugby for one week, after he was found guilty of foul play in last weekend’s Absa Currie Cup loss to the Lions in Johannesburg, the South African Rugby Union (Saru) said on Thursday.
World Cup winning Springbok prop Gurthrö Steenkamp will make a first start for the Vodacom Blue Bulls in the Absa Currie Cup competition when they take on Western Province at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.
The loss of Springbok wing Jongi Nokwe has forced Free State Cheetahs coach Naka Drotské to name four centres in his backline for Saturday’s Currie Cup crunch match against the Lions.
Sharks coach John Plumtree is considering making a number of changes to his team for Friday’s Currie Cup encounter with the Leopards.
However, he first has to find a new captain now that Stefan Terblanché has been ruled out.