[2013 Currie Cup] Round 7

[Draggs]

The weekend starts off with a top vs. bottom fixture in Cape Town. The Griquas travel south to take on WP in an attempt to move up the log. Last week, the Griquas lost to the Sharks at home (for the first time since '09) and will be looking to change things around. Full-back PJ Vermeulen is out with a broken ankle. Both Schoeman flankers are looking decent though and a lot will be expected from them in the battle against the loose forwards of the Cape province. WP beat the Blue Bulls at Loftus by a solid 11 points, but ended the game with 14 men after Michael Rhodes got a red card for stamping.

The first encounter in Kimberley ended in a 19-20 victory for Western Province.

On Saturday, the Free State Cheetahs will take on the Natal Sharks in Durban. The no's 2 and 3 on the log will need a win to stay in the hunt of WP and grab homefield advantage in the play-offs. The Sharks beat Griquas in a tight encounter (25-24) and have only lost to those same Griquas team at home so far this season. Can they win 2 in a row? The Cheetahs get Piet van Zyl back from Bok duty while Marcell Coetzee is released to play for the Sharks team. The addition of Coetzee will see Botes being rested after playing as a captain and doing great. Fans are not happy with Daniel getting back the captaincy but it's his job to prove the fans wrong. Van Zyl competes with Sarel Pretorius for the starting berth at 9.

The first encounter in Bloemfontein ended in a 15-18 victory for Natal Sharks.

The weekend ends with the Transkei derby. Both teams lost last week and the Bulls need a win to stay ahead of the Griquas and get into the top4. In 4th spot, however, are the Golden Lions who need to win to stay in 4th place. This game, with only 3 rounds to go after this, may decide the fate of the Bulls for the season. The Bulls can use Bjorn Basson, who was released by the Boks and can cause havoc on the day. The Golden Lions are the highest scoring team in the league so far, with 26 tries scored for a total of 208 points. Most of them though, were thanks to a imploding Bulls team at Loftus in round 3.

The first encounter in Pretoria ended in a whopping 23-62 victory for Golden Lions.

Round 7 Fixtures

Newlands, Cape Town (Friday, 17:10 GMT)​

Western Province:
15. Gio Aplon, 14. Gerhard van den Heever, 13. Juan de Jongh, 12. Damian de Allende, 11. Cheslin Kolbe, 10. Kurt Coleman, 9. Nic Groom, 8. Nizaam Carr, 7. Rynhardt Elstadt, 6. Rohan Kitshoff, 5. De Kock Steenkamp ©, 4. Taz Fuzani, 3. Pat Cilliers, 2. Scarra Ntubeni, 1. Steven Kitshoff

Replacements: 16. Michael Willemse, 17. Brok Harris, 18. Gerbrandt Grobler, 19 Rayno Smid, 20. Josh Katzen, 21. Louis Schreuder, 22. Demetri Catrakilis


GWK Griquas:
15. Gouws Prinsloo, 14. Nico Scheepers, 13. Jean Stemmet, 12. Howard Mnisi, 11. Rocco Jansen, 10. Francois Brummer, 9. Jacques Coetzee, 8. Leon Karemaker, 7. Burger Schoeman, 6. Marnus Schoeman, 5. Jaco Nepgen, 4. Rory Arnold, 3. Nick Schonert, 2. Ryno Barnes ©, 1. Steph Roberts

Replacements: 16. Matt Dobson, 17. Brummer Badenhorst, 18. Patrick O'Brien, 19. RJ Liebenberg, 20. Marnus Hugo, 21. Du Randt Gerber, 22. Richard Lawson

---

Kings Park, Durban (Saturday, 13:00 GMT)
​

Natal Sharks:
15. SP Marais, 14. Odwa Ndungane, 13. Tim Whitehead, 12. Heimar Williams, 11. Lwazi Mvovo, 10. Fred Zeilinga, 9. Charl McLeod, 8. Keegan Daniel ©, 7. Tera Mtembu, 6. Marcell Coetzee, 5. Pieter-Steph du Toit, 4. Peet Marais, 3. Wiehahn Herbst, 2. Kyle Cooper, 1. Dale Chadwick

Replacements: 16. Monde Hadebe, 17. Rayno Gerber, 18. Edwin Hewitt, 19. Brynard Stander, 20. Cobus Reinach, 21. Butch James, 22. Jaco van Tonder


Free State Cheetahs:
15. Hennie Daniller, 14. Riaan Smit, 13. Johann Sadie, 12. Robert Ebersohn, 11. Raymond Rhule, 10. Elgar Watts, 9. Sarel Pretorius, 8. Davon Raubenheimer, 7. Lappies Labuschagne, 6. Boom Prinsloo ©, 5. Waltie Vermeulen, 4. Lood de Jager, 3. Rossouw de Klerk, 2. Hercu Liebenberg, 1. Trevor Nyakane

Replacements: 16. AJ Le Roux, 17. Schalk van der Merwe, 18. Teboho Mohoje, 19. Freddy Ngoza, 20. Piet van Zyl, 21. Ryno Benjamin, 22. Willie du Plessis

---

Ellis Park, Johannesburg (Saturday, 15:05 GMT)
​

Golden Lions:
15. Marnitz Boshoff, 14. Andries Coetzee, 13. Deon Helberg, 12. Dylan Des Fountain, 11. Anthony Volmink, 10. Elton Jantjies, 9. Ross Cronje, 8. Derick Minnie ©, 7. Warwick Tecklenberg, 6. Jaco Kriel, 5. Franco van der Merwe, 4. Stephan Greeff, 4. Ruan Dreyer, 2. Robbie Coetzee, 1. CJ van der Linde

Replacements: 16. Willie Wepener, 17. Jacques van Rooyen, 18. Chris van Zyl, 19. Lambert Groenewald, 20. Guy Cronje, 21. Lionel Cronje, 22. Ruhan Nel


Blue Bulls:
15. Clayton Blommetjies, 14. Akona Ndungane, 13. Ulrich Beyers, 12. Francois Venter, 11. Bjorn Basson, 10. Tony Jantjies, 9. Rudy Paige, 8. Jono Ross ©, 7. Jacques du Plessis, 6. Wiaan Liebenberg, 5. Wilhelm Steenkamp, 4. Paul Willemse, 3. Werner Kruger, 2. Bandise Maku, 1. Morne Mellett

Replacements: 16. Callie Visagie, 17. Frik Kirsten, 18. Grant Hattingh, 19. Jacques Engelbrecht, 20. Lohan Jacobs, 21. William Small-Smith, 22. Jurgen Visser

 

[TRF_Ezequiel]

Added a short preview

 

[Draggs]

Sounds like we will finally rotate our back row.
Botes expected to be given a rest, hopefully Deysel will as well. Coetzee is back from the Boks, so I'd like to see a trio of Daniel, Coetzee, Mtembu. Williams and Whitehead could start together as well. Ludik deserves a rest but I wouldn't mind seeing him in the back three. SP is coming along well at fullback. Feeling less worried with Louis and Riaan not around for SR next year.

 

[TRF_Ezequiel]

Riaan is only in Japan for 6 months, as far as I know.

 

[Draggs]

15. SP Marais
14. Odwa Ndungane
13. Tim Whitehead
12. Heimar Williams
11. Lwazi Mvovo
10. Fred Zeilinga
9. Charl McLeod
8. Keegan Daniel (Capt)
7. Tera Mtembu
6. Marcell Coetzee
5. Pieter-Steph du Toit
4. Peet Marais
3. Wiehahn Herbst
2. Kyle Cooper
1. Dale Chadwick


Replacements
16. Monde Hadebe
17. Rayno Gerber
18. Edwin Hewitt
19. Brynard Stander
20. Cobus Reinach
21. Butch James
22. Jaco van Tonder

Quite like that team. Heimar has impressed so far.

 

[TRF_Ezequiel]

Added all the line-ups. Apologies for the delay. Busy week.

 

[Gena_ZA]

Funny that when the Bulls do bad their forum posters goes quiet as well, when they do good, my oh my, one have to hold em back

 

[Gena_ZA]

Feeling sorry form Griquas and their injuries, think they will be slaughtered at Newlands this week.
Lions vs. Bulls will be closer than last time but think the Lions will win narrowly. - Would like to see more of Sampie, he makes things happen, same with Kriel on Lions side
Same with Sharks, think at home they will take the Cheetahs by a small margin - Glad Mtembu is there, really like him, but at 8, let's see what he can deliver. Heimar also a good prospect and Pieter-Steph should sommer be called to the Boks straight away.

 

[Draggs]

Funny that when the Bulls do bad their forum posters goes quiet as well, when they do good, my oh my, one have to hold em back

I think I was rather scarce after both finals last year, nothing unique to the Bulle.
Weird back row setup for us.

 

[TRF_heineken]

Funny that when the Bulls do bad their forum posters goes quiet as well, when they do good, my oh my, one have to hold em back

Funny that only WP fans pick that up and expect a reaction...

You and my brother could've been twins!

Anyways, I have been quiet throughout this whole Currie Cup season, to be honest, I have only watched the first week of matches, Saturday afternoons have been a bit tough for me, as we have so many plans and things to sort out for my wedding that me and my fiancee have to do things Saturday afternoons, as we don't have any other time available.

 

[Gena_ZA]

lol Hein, it's so obvious and do not requires a reaction, it was just a statement.
But if the shoe fits.... Don't worry man, it should be better in a few years.

Best of wishes for your marriage and the lead up to it, it is a special time in ones life

 

[Draggs]

Good win over FS puts us top of the log again.
Impressive display overall, Coetzee was really up for it, best performance from him for a while.
Fred was OK, kicking is an issue at times, but I hope we persist with him from here on out.

 

[Gena_ZA]

Sharks deserve the top spot, they had a great game and WP had a poor one, they might as well start with a yellow card it seems

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

I am split in two regarding who of the Sharks and WP deserve top spot ATM... my thoughts run as follows;

WP
+ are undefeated with their two dips resulting in draws
+ so are finding ways of grinding out the results
- the first draw we really shouldn't have let them back in the game and have come close to losing because of pathetic 2nd halve dsiplays
- we do not have a single bonus point..
- which speaks volumes about our focus when on top; we just can't play 1 single 'complete' game
+ we have had some atrocious weather which has evened the playing field for 'weaker' teams TBH and has held us back a bit

Sharks
+ are on fine form seemingly
- but we know they can go from sublime to mediocre in the space of a week
+ they are on top of the log and no matter how they got there that is a fact and even though they are a bit inconsistent they have the ability to play a sublime game of rugby which is always a good thing to have in the knock-outs; that extra gear which I think we are sadly missing at WP...

 

[TRF_Ezequiel]

Sharks are inconsistent due to the abundance of injuries. To top that off (Bresler and Wentzel being injured on our lock department) we also see Pieter-Steph du Toit being called up to the Bok squad now. He just returned from injury and while I really like the fact he is in the squad, I would have preferred if he wasn't rushed into this.

Marcell Coetzee is called up again but won't see any game time with Louw, Vermeulen, Kolisi and Alberts all being preferred over him. However, when he played for us over the weekend, he was the best loosie on the field. Losing him and PSdT will be a huge blow.