Currie Cup preview (Final)
26 Oct 2012
GARETH DUNCAN analyses Saturday’s Currie Cup final between the Sharks and Western Province.
WHY THE SHARKS WILL WIN
Most of the odds lie in the Sharks’ favour: home ground advantage, they have the better team on paper, they have settled combinations and the stronger pack. Let’s not beat around the bush, the Sharks are overwhelming favourites to claim the title.
The Sharks have not lost against any South African team at home during Super Rugby and the Currie Cup. Kings Park has been a fortress against their local rivals, and they will carry that confidence into the title-decider. WP will also go into this match knowing they only won once in the last five against the men from Durban in all competitions. The bashing they received in the Super Rugby semi-final at Newlands must still haunt them.
A key advantage for the hosts will be their expected ascendancy among the heavies. While the Golden Lions boasted the strongest pack for most parts of the domestic competition, the Sharks forwards won that reputation during the latter league rounds and in the semi-final win over the Blue Bulls as their Springboks returned.
The Sharks boast brute strength up front, which has been central on attack and defence, their scrumming performances and setting a quality platform for in-form flyhalf Pat Lambie and his dangerous backline. There’s a 60% chance of rain in Durban on Saturday, highlighting the importance of dominance among the forwards.
Kudos must be given to head coach John Plumtree, who mastered the management of his Test players after they came back from Rugby Championship duty. The Kiwi learned his lesson the hard way last season when he rushed all seven of his internationals into the starting line-up when they jetted back from the World Cup in New Zealand. They struggled to make an impact in the 2011 Currie Cup final at Ellis Park, which saw the Lions ease to a 42-16 win. Plumtree will get the best out of his Boks on Saturday.
Lambie’s most outstanding individual performance came in the 2010 Currie Cup final. He’s yet to eclipse that memory over the last two years, but the signs he’s shown over the last fortnight in the No 10 jersey indicate he’ll be an important player on the pitch on Saturday. Even though he struggled to get game time with the Springboks this season, he’s looked confident at flyhalf and will play a vital role with the boot and in marshalling his team-mates on his outside. A strong run this weekend will force Bok coach Heyneke Meyer’s hand in picking him at pivot (and not fullback) during the end-of-year tour.
If the Sharks gain ascendancy, their backline will thrive. Young scrumhalf Cobus Reinach has been Plumtree’s find of the season, the young centre combination of Paul Jordaan and Tim Whitehead has gelled really well (to think Frans Steyn will still jump into the midfield equation next season), and wing JP Pietersen and fullback Louis Ludik are enjoying a purple patch of form.
This is the Sharks’ final to lose.
WHY WP HAVE A CHANCE
It doesn’t look good for the visitors.
They shocked the Lions by scoring a late try for a 21-16 comeback win in Johannesburg last weekend. But the final against the Sharks should be a step too far.
However, head coach Allister Coetzee and optimistic Province fans will say: ‘never rule out the underdogs’.
The main targets the Cape side will aim for are the lineouts, the breakdown battle and the tactical kicking game. If WP can achieve any ascendancy in these facets of play, they’ll have hope.
The Sharks have been poor at the lineouts in recent weeks, while Province have excelled at the set piece throughout the domestic campaign. Province will miss their injured lineout kingpin Andries Bekker, but if they can continue their impressive showings, they have a platform to attack from. Their driving maul has beaten most defences from close range.
The individual performances of No 8 Duane Vermeulen and flank Deon Fourie will be very influential. Both players have been consistent throughout the year, and their team will need big contributions from them. They’ll be key in the breakdown assault and as ball carriers. Fourie will also need to keep a cool head and not concede needless penalties.
The halfback combination of Nic Groom and Demetri Catrakilis will need to fire. The two players know each other well as they’ve played alongside each other ever since the 2011 Varsity Cup with UCT.
Groom provides quick service and will keep the defenders around the fringes on their toes, which takes some pressure off Catrakilis. The Kings-bound pivot has impressed with the boot when his forwards hold their own up front, but he’s known to falter when defences give him no space or time with the ball. The Province pack need to play their part, as Catrakilis will be a vital part of their tactical kicking game.
If WP can achieve this, they will have the chance to win favourable field positions. If they can milk kickable penalties off the Sharks, the visitors have a sharpshooter to rely on. But I stress, this will be a tough task.
It will be interesting to see how Coetzee’s gamble of starting rookie Damian de Allende at inside centre pays off. Marcel Brache has been inconsistent and many feel JP du Plessis (who’s with the U21s) should’ve been given a go, but Coetzee seems confident De Allende can provide a physical presence. Province can’t afford him to falter.
WP don’t have much running for them, but if they can put the Sharks under pressure in the aforementioned areas, they could find themselves in the position to pull off one of the most unlikeliest upsets of the year.
FORM
Sharks WWLWLWLWWWW
WP LWLWWLWLLWW
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 Willem Alberts, 6 Marcell Coetzee, 5 Anton Bresler, 4 Steven Sykes, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Craig Burden, 1 Beast Mtawarira.
Subs: 16 Kyle Cooper, 17 Wiehahn Herbst, 18 Jandre Marais, 19 Jean Deysel, 20 Charl McLeod, 21 Meyer Bosman, 22 Odwa Ndungane.
WP – 15 Gio Aplon, 14 Gerhard van den Heever, 13 Juan de Jongh, 12 Damian de Allende, 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 Scarra Ntubeni, 1 Steven Kitshoff.
Subs: 16 Deon Carstens, 17 Brok Harris, 18 Wilhelm van der Sluys, 19 Jebb Sinclair, 20 Louis Schreuder, 21 Marcel Brache, 22 Joe Pietersen.
Gareth’s prediction: Sharks by 15
567 Comments
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26 Oct 2012, 09:50 am
@Heavens Game-98:
Welcome back china…
Now that is how we know you…
26 Oct 2012, 09:51 am
@wp. winning nothing never looked so easy-89: You gupsters have years of vaseline stockpiled…..Bulk buying for the annual (bi-annual) PK from the Lions?
Sharing is caring. We ain’t bringing our own.
26 Oct 2012, 09:51 am
its disgusting that no wpian currently playing has ever won a cc.
unless they play for another union of course.
26 Oct 2012, 09:52 am
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food-80: Yup a molest fest at the Chiefs after the Gangb.ang at SharkTank B field otherwise known as Newlands…
Suppose what goes around comes around…
And its 5 times round and counting for the Sharks with their Blue and White fuckbuddies…
26 Oct 2012, 09:52 am
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-97: Waardiefokvaljyuitbakkies?
26 Oct 2012, 09:54 am
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-97:
are you related to kd lang?
26 Oct 2012, 09:55 am
ticket sales and vaseline.
thats just dandy.
wpians must make sure they continue to make losing look easy tomorrow.
once a union becomes like liverpool you know they are sadly never going to satisfy their supporters.
occasional blips will happen (not tomorrow, tomorrow wpians are ground to dust for sharkie bread) but fact is that organisational freezing has occurred and they are destined to be perpetual losers.
26 Oct 2012, 09:56 am
Maybe they need to hand out vaseline and poppers to them Blue and White mountain goats when they get to Dynamite cathedral…
Oh wait… they already got… plenty for the bus ride there
WP will bend
Sharks will send
26 Oct 2012, 09:57 am
It was pretty wet in the semi against the Bulls. We all called a close game but the Sharks smashed the Bulls by 17 points.
Even if it is wet this Saturday I am calling the Sharks to assream the Poeftas by 20.
26 Oct 2012, 09:58 am
More appropriate sponsors…
The Dynamite Sharks
vs
The Vaseline WePee
Hubbada hubbada hubbada
26 Oct 2012, 09:58 am
@Liewe Luiperd-109:
20 supporters at the game and poeftas at that…
26 Oct 2012, 09:58 am
5 victories to 1 in a single year?
pity the sharks didnt clean sweep the wpians but after the brainshagging tomorrow its unlikely wpians will be able to get out of bed let alone onto the podium.
taute wants to compete for trophies, thats fine, go to the wpian side. lucky he didnt say win trophies because then he may end up in the second division getting 50 point smacks.
26 Oct 2012, 09:59 am
@wp. winning nothing never looked so easy-103: short term memory? pray tell what the sharks/’team of the nineties” won from 97 to 2007?
26 Oct 2012, 09:59 am
@Heavens Game-104: You are correct, what goes around, comes around. Which is why I guess after 100 years of everyone else kicking you in the n uts, your time had to come.
No-one begrudges you success and happiness….I promise you.
26 Oct 2012, 10:00 am
i agree with leopard.
20 points.
win for the good guys.
lets see if the wpians can control their tempers when the game is gone, maybe it will be 40 points after they end the game with 10 men?
26 Oct 2012, 10:00 am
@shebeen-113:
Is that a trick question?
26 Oct 2012, 10:00 am
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food-105:
hehe
more se,
ek is baie besig hondkossharkie
@Gumboots-106:
morning boets,
sjoe! that one’s gone right over my head?
no, no i am not..?..
break it down for me
26 Oct 2012, 10:01 am
@shebeen-113: 100 fuckingyears of rugby isolation will do this to you (Don’t be too unkind to them)
26 Oct 2012, 10:01 am
Do I sense nervousness amongst our Guppy supporters… No one gives us a chance anyway…
It is a win win situation after all…
26 Oct 2012, 10:02 am
@shebeen-113: everyones respect unlike the wpians.
1998 relegation baby yeah.
do you sell quarts or only skemiaan?
26 Oct 2012, 10:02 am
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-117:
More Whits… sy skryf alles in kleinlettertjies…
26 Oct 2012, 10:03 am
we are here, saying the wpians will get ground to dust but we are nervous?
oh gomskoene jy’s regtig baie snaaks!
26 Oct 2012, 10:03 am
@shebeen-113:
didn’t they win the sport pienaar???
26 Oct 2012, 10:04 am
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food-114: @The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food-114: Of Course… And you are right…
WePee are the past… The dumbfuck, closed minded traditional past…
Sharks are the future… The Total Rugby future…
And the future continues on Saturday…
Now go get yourself a handy big bottle of vaseline… and spread liberally my dumbfuck little darling…
26 Oct 2012, 10:05 am
ok brokebacks.
i must work now.
get those man nappies on and plan something nice like a trip to the mountain for sunday because your hangovers will not help.
26 Oct 2012, 10:06 am
@Gumboots-121:
o nou sien ek
nee, ek’s net ****** lui vir grammatika en sulke kak
26 Oct 2012, 10:07 am
Wonder who’s first for their rogering come Sat…
Maybe Fatfuck Vermeulen to start… Rumpy pumpy
Bendover Duanne… And take it like a man…
26 Oct 2012, 10:07 am
seriously people!
sharkies should win this one.
moerse fokop if they dont.
26 Oct 2012, 10:08 am
@Heavens Game-127:
i’m looking forward to the battle of the locks, personally.
26 Oct 2012, 10:09 am
@Heavens Game-124: It’s a pity the Sharks (by virtue of their rugby isolation) ended up with having to scrape the barrel in terms of supporters. All the good ones had already been taken by the time youe team “arrived”.
And stop lying to your followers. You’re like that fuckwitprophet who keeps on postponing the ‘end of the world’. You told us the future would continue in NZ against the Chiefs?
26 Oct 2012, 10:09 am
heavens game is right.
wpians are the past.
ancient history. the glory days of unprofessional conduct.
the sharks are the flag bearers of rugby, the heroes of the underdog, the giant killers become giants.
we are the powerhouse, along with the bulls.
thats the truth as hard as it may be.
26 Oct 2012, 10:09 am
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-128:
Yeah they are going to massacre us Whits… BOOM
26 Oct 2012, 10:10 am
@Gumboots-119: Hmmm I hope and pray my Sharkies take it tomorrow but phew I don’t buy this whole underdog tag. That’s still a quality WP side…sharks might be favoured but in my opinion not by that much.
26 Oct 2012, 10:10 am
Unlucky for Broken Harris on the Bench…
He misses out on being ripped a brand spanking new ar.sehole by Beast… in Cape Town this would be a bonus…
Sorry for him…
26 Oct 2012, 10:12 am
@wp. winning nothing never looked so easy-131:
I live in Pretoria. The bulls larf at you guys. You are under the impression they like you but beleive you me – they think differently… You like their b itches…
26 Oct 2012, 10:13 am
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food-130: Wrong… wrong and wrong again…
Poor little dumfuck doggy darling… Far too overexcitable my deary dear…
Yes… I know… being ripped a new one after years of frigidity must be exciting… but just try wait for tomorrow, Kay?
26 Oct 2012, 10:13 am
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-129: That Etzebeth is a beast of a kid! For me he will be better than….erm…..I can’t say it……
26 Oct 2012, 10:13 am
@wp. winning nothing never looked so easy-131:
“we are the powerhouse along with the bulls”
undercover blou bul.
26 Oct 2012, 10:15 am
@wp. winning nothing never looked so easy-131: Are you Zoomer’s speech writer?
I am seeing disturbing similarities between the drivel you write here and the drivel Zooomer reads from his flashcards?
26 Oct 2012, 10:15 am
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food-130: How did vaseline come into it this morning……lively banter today!
26 Oct 2012, 10:15 am
Yup, heavensgayme, sharks are a great CC team. No doubt.
Plus when you consider the key players missing from WP, and the amount of inexperience in the WP team, sharks should take it by 15 plus, what do you think?
(When you coming to Cape Town to teach me a thing or 2? All those promises by you to come down here and educate me have never materialized. July was it?
Are you just a brave keyboard cowboy?)
26 Oct 2012, 10:18 am
@wp_boytjie-138:
They are more in awe of the Bulls than their own team and the Bulls thrive on it…
My mates say the Sharks suffer inferiority complexes and only once they have won the Super trophy will they ever be considered anything else but wannabees…
26 Oct 2012, 10:18 am
@Heavens Game-136: Be honest with me – what REAL rugby team did you support while growing up? Every guppie of your age did not start out supporting Natal – they grew up supporting a real team.
So what were you pre-guppie?
A NTVL fan?
A TVL fan?
A OFS fan?
A WP fan?
26 Oct 2012, 10:19 am
@wp_boytjie-138:
…on the other hand we have so many supporters we don’t have to rally other provinces to assist us…
26 Oct 2012, 10:20 am
@Skeppie-140: Morning
HG is on the vaseline run ….. Hope he doesn’t get bogged down in it 
26 Oct 2012, 10:21 am
I always get nervous when the Sharks get the favourites tag. I am sure it doesn’t bother the players much. But Somewhere along the line some players may have this thought in their subconscious, and face the possibility to fail under the pressure of carrying the favourites tag.
I am very confident in this Sharks side playing at home, but in a game of this magnitude, nothing is set in stone, and upsets can happen. Besides being tagged as favourites, the players will know they have gained immense expectancy from their fans and the fear of disappointing them again after losing in the Super Rugby final will play on their minds. These guys are only human, and they will experience these sorts of feelings and emotions, even if it doesn’t show.
WP on the other hand have nothing to lose, and will feel less pressure, yes they have waited something like 12 years to win the Currie Cup and will also feel the pressures of that. But they have the opportunity to capitalise on the pressures felt by the Sharks players.
All i can hope for is a repeat performance of 2010, as the Sharks on that day played like a side that completely ignored the pressure, the expectancy, all the press talk and just played their natural game.
That is what the Sharks need to do. We have the players and we are at home, Black & White Nothing Else Matters!!!
Go Sharks.
26 Oct 2012, 10:24 am
@Gumboots-132:
sorry boots
@Skeppie-137:
its gonna be a cracker
26 Oct 2012, 10:25 am
@Stawm-141: ah, things take an ominous turn with the arrival of a blog hero ready to hand out violence
dont be pathetic man, just accept your team is headed for a posklap ok?
26 Oct 2012, 10:26 am
@Gumboots-142: It’s basic psychology.
WP don’t have to win a thing for another decade……but the legend will live on. As it has for the past 10 years
Even we LOSE, we win….
Guppies are trying to build a future, but the North/South history keeps them in a past where they are insignificant (regardless of how many trophies they win etc etc etc)
We just have work harder at making them feel ‘part of SA rugby’. It’s up to us
26 Oct 2012, 10:27 am
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-147:
No probs Whits… we are used to it… It gets easier each year… LOL
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