Currie Cup preview (Play-offs)
19 Oct 2012
GARETH DUNCAN analyses this weekend’s play-offs.
SEMI-FINALS
SHARKS vs BLUE BULLS, DURBAN, SAT 16:30
These two teams have enjoyed the returns of several Springboks, which contributed to their wins last weekend. However, I think John Plumtree’s management of his Test players will be key in what happens at Kings Park.
Plumtree learnt a hard lesson in last year’s final at Ellis Park as his fatigued Boks, who had returned from the World Cup a fortnight before, were rushed into the starting XV and failed to make an impact. The Lions won that title decider 42-16.
However, this year, the Kiwi coach has eased his Test players back into the team and has rewarded the others who made telling contributions to the Sharks’ run to the top of log with starting spots.
The Sharks have the best backline in the competition, and they have an in-form, young halfback pair in Cobus Reinach and Pat Lambie to spearhead them. The hosts also have a strong pack, and the returns of tighthead prop Jannie du Plessis and flank Marcell Coetzee are valuable promotions to the forwards this weekend.
The Bulls have a near-Super Rugby strength side available, but they can’t afford the start they experienced against the Lions. They’re facing the Sharks, who are the best attacking team of the competition and boast the best defensive record.
The Bulls will need to get early momentum, and this will depend heavily on their forwards and the performance of flyhalf Morné Steyn. Considering their poor domestic run this year, it would be a massive achievement.
However, the Sharks should be good enough to restrict the visitors and end their hopes of a fairytale turnaround in this year’s Currie Cup.
FORM
Sharks WWLWLWLWWW
Bulls WLWLLLWLWW
Sharks – 15 Louis Ludik, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Paul Jordaan, 12 Tim Whitehead, 11 Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Pat Lambie, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Keegan Daniel (c), 7 Jean Deysel, 6 Marcell Coetzee, 5 Anton Bresler, 4 Jandré Marais, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Kyle Cooper, 1 Dale Chadwick.
Subs: 16 Craig Burden, 17 Tendai Mtawarira, 18 Wiehahn Herbst, 19 Steven Sykes/Peet Marais, 20 Willem Alberts, 21 Charl McLeod, 22 Meyer Bosman.
Blue Bulls – 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Akona Ndungane, 13 JJ Engelbrecht, 12 Francois Venter, 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Jano Vermaak, 8 Arno Botha, 7 Jacques Potgieter, 6 Dewald Potgieter (c), 5 Juandré Kruger, 4 Flip van der Merwe, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Willie Wepener, 1 Morné Mellett.
Subs: 16 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17 Frik Kirsten, 18 Wilhelm Steenkamp, 19 CJ Stander, 20 Francois Hougaard, 21 Louis Fouché, 22 Dean Greyling.
Gareth’s prediction: Sharks by 12
GOLDEN LIONS vs WP, JOHANNESBURG, SAT 19:00
Both teams will have fresh memories of the Lions’ 22-9 victory at Newlands a fortnight ago. But this will be a stronger Province team the Johannesburg union will be facing this weekend.
WP cruised to victory against the Cheetahs at home during the last league round, thanks to the return of their seven Springboks. The likes of Tiaan Liebenberg, Andries Bekker, Duane Vermeulen, Bryan Habana, Jean de Villiers and Juan de Jongh added much-needed grunt and bolstered the side.
However, the loss of De Villiers, Liebenberg and Bekker to injury will be telling. I don’t think Marcel Brache and De Kock Steenkamp are good enough to fill the gaps left by the players they’ve replaced. Siyabonga Ntubeni isn’t as imposing as Liebenberg, but he has impressed me during the Currie Cup this season and Allister Coetzee will hope the youngster does a good job on match day.
Province will need their heavies to front their battle as they come up against the strongest pack of the Currie Cup. The Lions rested the likes of JC Janse van Rensburg, Jacobie Adriaanse and Franco van der Merwe last weekend, and will come out firing at Ellis Park.
The strengths of the Lions have been their set-piece execution and their ability to slow down and poach ball at the breakdowns. If they can replicate that form this weekend, they’ll have the platform to beat WP.
Expect both flyhalves to play a vital role with the boot.
FORM
Lions WLWLWWWWLL
WP LWLWWLWLLW
Golden Lions – 15 Andries Coetzee, 14 Ruan Combrinck, 13 Jaco Taute, 12 Alwyn Hollenbach, 11 Anthony Volmink, 10 Elton Jantjies, 9 Michael Bondesio, 8 Warren Whiteley, 7 Jaco Kriel, 6 Cobus Grobbelaar, 5 Franco van der Merwe, 4 Michael Rhodes, 3 Jacobie Adriaanse, 2 Callie Visagie, 1 JC Janse van Rensburg (c).
Subs:: 16 Bandise Maku, 17 CJ van der Linde, 18 Hendrik Roodt, 19 Derick Minnie, 20 Ross Cronje, 21 Butch James, 22 Deon Helberg.
Western Province – 15 Gio Aplon, 14 Gerhard van den Heever, 13 Juan de Jongh, 12 Marcel Brache, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Demetri Catrakilis, 9 Nic Groom, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Don Armand, 6 Deon Fourie (c), 5 De Kock Steenkamp, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Siyabonga Ntubeni, 1 Steven Kitshoff.
Subs: 16 Deon Carstens, 17 Brok Harris, 18 Wilhelm van der Sluys, 19 Jebb Sinclair, 20 Louis Schreuder, 21 Damian de Allende, 22 Joe Pietersen.
Gareth’s prediction: Lions by 5
PROMOTION-RELEGATION PLAY-OFF, 1ST LEG
FREE STATE CHEETAHS vs EP KINGS, BLOEMFONTEIN, FRI 19:10
Usually, Free State would’ve been the easy pick to win this contest.
But losing 13 first-choice players is an injury crisis most teams would struggle with. Their inconsistent form on the domestic stage this season is also a concern. However, they still have a team strong enough to beat the First Division champions at home.
Free State will target the forward battle. The return of flanker Lappies Labuschagne is a major boost for the loose trio, while Adriaan Strauss will be a key feature in the front row. If the hosts gain the ascendancy up front, their dangerous backline will cause some problems for EP.
The Kings have lost five players to injury over the last fortnight, with the big blows being in-form skipper Luke Watson and lock Darron Nell. The men from PE also struggled under pressure against a physical Pumas outfit last weekend, and they’ll face a stronger unit in the Cheetahs, who have some hard men up front.
Free State should win the first leg, but the interesting fixture will be the second play-off in PE next weekend.
FORM
Cheetahs LWWLLLLWWL
EP Kings (First Division) WWWWWDWWWWWWDWWWWW
Cheetahs – 15 Hennie Daniller, 14 Nico Scheepers, 13 Robert Ebersohn, 12 Andries Strauss, 11 Raymond Rhule, 10 Sias Ebersohn, 9 Sarel Pretorius, 8 Phillip van der Walt, 7 Lappies Labuschagne, 6 Hendro Scholtz, 5 Izak van der Merwe, 4 Francois Uys, 3 Ross Geldenhuys, 2 Adriaan Strauss (c), 1 Marcel van der Merwe
Subs: 16 Hercu Liebenberg, 17 Schalk van der Merwe, 18 Carl Wegner, 19 Davon Ruabenheimer, 20 Tewis du Bruyn, 21 Phillip Snyman, 22 Rayno Benjamin.
EP Kings – 15 SP Marais, 14 Paul Perez, 13 Wayne Stevens (c), 12 Shane Gates, 11 Michael Killian 10 Wesley Dunlop, 9 Falie Oelschig, 8 Cornell Du Preez, 7 Wimpie van der Walt, 6 Devin Oosthuizen, 5 David Bullbring, 4 Reynier Bernardo, 3 Clint Newland, 2 Hannes Franklin, 1 Jaco Engels.
Subs: 16 Frank Herne, 17 Andre Schlechter, 18 Wayne van Heerden, 19 Mpho Mbiyozo, 20 Scott Mathie, 21 George Whitehead, 22 Norman Nelson.
Gareth’s prediction: Free State by 10
485 Comments
Pages: [1] 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 » Show All
19 Oct 2012, 08:05 am
EP Kings (First Division) WWWWWDWWWWWWDWWWWWW
LOL! EP KINGS ON THE RISE!!!!!! … LIONS ON THE DEMISE!!!
19 Oct 2012, 08:10 am
The perfect final would be The Sharks moles ting western problems at King’s Park.
Go the Black and White Dynamite!
BOOM!
Beyoutifull!!!
19 Oct 2012, 08:12 am
Sharks (sorry Bakkies!)
Lions
Cheetahs
Points difference irrelevant in the first two games.
Third game will be a hiding of note.
19 Oct 2012, 08:14 am
Bulls vs Sharks going to be a cracker!
Lions vs WP probably just as well both teams status to prove/uphold.
Looking forward to the weekend!!
19 Oct 2012, 08:15 am
Sharks by 12
Lions by 8
Cheetahs by 10
NZ by 32
19 Oct 2012, 08:18 am
@BrumbiesBoy-3:
i think the bulls will take it ugly.
sharkies definetly the form team and better on paper overall. they playing some good positive rugby mixing it up and are at home.
whereas the bulls been stop start and not as gelled together as the sharkies squad.
but my gut says they gonna hammer the sharkies right outta town.
19 Oct 2012, 08:19 am
Prob miss the EP vs Cheetas clash.. Work… Would have been perfect Friday unwinder & Saturday warmup!
19 Oct 2012, 08:21 am
In form skipper our client Luke Watson.
Cough.
19 Oct 2012, 08:23 am
Going to be an exciting weekend of rugby. I am backing the Sharks to go all the way. They will be tough to beat at home. But even though the Bulls had a reasonably poor Currie Cup, they always become a major threat when it comes to knock out rugby. They have been the most successful side when comes to playing in play-off games. So the Sharks certainly need to be wary of that.
I like the look of this Sharks side, certainly the best side we can field at the moment, the most exciting bit is the Sharks backline. With Reinach in sublime form and Lambie looking good at 10, it is going to be a great battle against Vermaak and Steyn. The most mouth watering prospect for me, and maybe it is just me, but the combination of Whitehead and Jordaan is an exciting one.
All in all its going to be great battle between two very good sides. cant wait!!!
GO SHARKS!!!!
19 Oct 2012, 08:29 am
The sharks are a circling.
~~~~~~~^~~~~~~^~~~~~~~
19 Oct 2012, 08:30 am
Sharks looks the best team at the moment. Can’t see anybody beating them in the next two games. Unless the opposing teams can offer something different than what has previously been the case.
19 Oct 2012, 08:31 am
@Fern-2: Province beating the guppies at the fish bowl would make my year. But don’t think it will happen.
19 Oct 2012, 08:34 am
Sharks already tasted defeat in a final once this year, and that would have hurt them, i am sure they dont want to go through that again. They will be motivated.
Go Sharks!!
19 Oct 2012, 08:36 am
@trupisero-10:
that looks like Plums ECG after the whistle goes for full time.
19 Oct 2012, 08:37 am
That’s quite a tough looking Sharks scrum with bench. Bulls will be machines if they pull this one out of the tank.
19 Oct 2012, 08:42 am
ahhh the pre match ritual
the animals strutting about
attempting to intimidate their rivals with shows of mock agression
feigning dominance through posture and loud grunts and growls
welcome to the jungle
watch the bulls bring you to your knees
19 Oct 2012, 08:42 am
Province – Bulls final, easy is that ! watch this space !
19 Oct 2012, 08:43 am
Sharks lions final
19 Oct 2012, 08:44 am
Easy 2 beat the sharks : upset crybaby Lambie – he is good, but a few “jou ma se p’s” from J Potgieter will upset him….. Keegan is a hardegat – a walking yellow if he gets upset ….. give him a few klaps and Bulls will walk this
19 Oct 2012, 08:45 am
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-16: mock charging again bakkies?
19 Oct 2012, 08:45 am
@Andre_WP-17:
3rd/4th playoff lol
19 Oct 2012, 08:45 am
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-6: Hey Boet, worry not, a good thing in your favour is that that certain species of shark which always seems to surface off Durban around this time of the year.
It’s called a choker…
19 Oct 2012, 08:47 am
@suffer_guy-19: Snotgieter is so thick he will probably give himself a PK.
Macguyver to screw his own team over once again.
19 Oct 2012, 08:48 am
@Andre_WP-17: Thats the problem with those teams – they can only watch space, not use it.
19 Oct 2012, 08:49 am
Damn I am chuffed the WP aren’t being given any chance at all. It makes a helluva pleasant change from being touted as ‘definites’ and ‘favourites’
Finally, we WP fans can sit back with zero expectations, no hope, no chance, no future an enjoy watching the ‘form teams’ and title hopefuls do their thing 
For the 1st time in a good few years – there is zero pressure (expectation) on our WP boys to actually win a playoff game…..fanbloodytastic
19 Oct 2012, 08:49 am
@BrumbiesBoy-22: voetsek!
19 Oct 2012, 08:51 am
Also i dont know who the refs are ….
Kaplan is a BIG SHARK!!!!!
Lawrence : Decent Fair Ref
Jonker : always a upset when he is ref – wonder if he’s a betting man
Joubert : Always the home team
Other Quota Refs : f knows ….
19 Oct 2012, 08:51 am
i think the only thing that might keep the bulls in the game is the weather
looks like some rain might be around
regardless, the sharks are way too classy and skillful for the dom skop en jag bulle
if it stays dry, sharks by 15+
rain, sharks by 5
19 Oct 2012, 08:53 am
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food-25: There hasn’t been any expectation for them to win a KO game for a while now. #rugbyversionofproteas
19 Oct 2012, 08:57 am
Wp / Sharks final
19 Oct 2012, 08:57 am
Sharks by 12?! Thats a bit rich for me guv’nor.
It’ll be much closer than that in the wet.
19 Oct 2012, 08:58 am
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-16:
Hey Bakies, referring to your post on the other thread last nght:
“My team sometimes looks like the real thing
The play like the real thing
in my fake plastic…world
But they wear me out…
They wear me out…
they wear me out…
and if they could be what I wanted
if they could be what I wanted
all the time
all the time”
With apologies to Thom and Radiohead.
19 Oct 2012, 09:00 am
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food-25:
Oh the mating call of the Lesser Striped Under Dog.
You not going to get away with that Pedders. Both these semis are very evenly matched. Your Provvas have a very good chance of making it through to the final.
19 Oct 2012, 09:04 am
I will look at this as a s15 game.
which sharks player has been the thorn in the bulls side?
freddie M.
And he’s not there.
Bulls by 7
It appears to be too conviently forgotten that the bulls are the only side domestically to have beaten the sharks twice this year.
19 Oct 2012, 09:05 am
I really hope the TMO’s get the same footage we get at home when they make their decisions this weekend.
19 Oct 2012, 09:05 am
these matches are 50/50 calls.
It is simply on the day which team wants it the most, takes their chances and the bounce of the ball, and to a degree the refs handling of the game.
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food-25: woahhhhhhhhhhh you not getting off so easy missy, wait till JC and Keo and Ryan get their articles up, stormers will be firm favourites
19 Oct 2012, 09:08 am
@Brigadier Van Zyl-34: YOu also forget to mention it was never in Durban, HERE IS A LITTLE FACT OLD TIMER, WHAT HAPPENED BEFORE MEANS ZERO,NADA, FOKALL, NIKS,LUTHU, MAFI, GELAS BOGGERALL
and in good old english?? NOTHING
19 Oct 2012, 09:09 am
Is this a Kings thread
19 Oct 2012, 09:09 am
@trupisero-20:
ja, and grinning like one of those cape b.aboons thats just stolen a stupid tourists lunch while i do
@BrumbiesBoy-22:
hehe
something tells me you’re a kenner
@Robzim-32:
nice
definetly better than my attempt.
19 Oct 2012, 09:09 am
@John Galt-33: What you say is just not true.
Most of the WP faithful are hoping for, rather than expecting a win…..
The journos have no confidence in the WP.
The punters have no confidence in the WP.
Sigh – I guess we deserve this lack of faith, due to our playoff splattered recent history.
Had de Villiers, Bekker and Liebenberg been playing, it might have been a little different in terms of the ‘experts’ predictions, but they aren’t, and we have been firmly placed (along with the Bulls) in the nofuckinghopeinhell category.
19 Oct 2012, 09:11 am
@Robzim-32:
an ode for the sharkies broken hearts
flip, even i feel like crying
19 Oct 2012, 09:11 am
@sharks_lover-36: I’m afraid this is the Keo.co.za prediction it seems. Gareth’s prediction: Lions by 5 (It’s an “and so say all of us” one…)
19 Oct 2012, 09:12 am
@Brigadier Van Zyl-34: That would suit the WP, as we are the only side who have swatted you lot 3 times on the trot this year
19 Oct 2012, 09:12 am
@sharks_lover-37: and while we are talking about the past, don’t think the bools won a CC game at the tank since 2006….
19 Oct 2012, 09:13 am
Not to place to much expectancy on Lambie, but i certainly hope he can show Morne Steyn what playing at flyhalf is all about. Lambie Showed his hunger to play last week as HM had him on the bench for two months. So now its time for Lambie to shine.
19 Oct 2012, 09:16 am
@trupisero-44: Hell not sure trappi, LOL I know they say sharks have only lost 1 game in Durban this year and 1 CC game in the last 3 years, so yeah obviously it is pretty tough to go win there, but these games are 50/50 boet, like i said “all about who wants it most”
19 Oct 2012, 09:18 am
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food-42: well for what it’s worth, I have voted a Sharks/WP final. Thats just my gut feel, although my Sharks prediction is very much heart based, MInd is nervous as hell.
19 Oct 2012, 09:21 am
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food-40:
Kevin the Clot has said that the Lions will use the oportunity to show that the decision to kick them out of super rugby was wrong and they will therefore be motivated more then ever before.
The young inexperienced WP team (4 from the tight 5 are still under 21) have not much chance against the relentless wounded hungry angry Lions team. If they win it will be an upset of note., so they can go out and throw the ball around with a *** abandon not seen before this season.
19 Oct 2012, 09:29 am
Marius Jonker for Lions Wp game so Wp have no chance!!
Mark Lawrence for Sharks So will be tuff…
19 Oct 2012, 09:30 am
@Robzim-32:
They play like a broken team
A cracked overhyped team
Who just crumble in the knock-outs
Pages: [1] 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 » Show All
Have your say
You must be logged in to post a comment.