Currie Cup, Round Two - Teams and Predictions
FEELING BULLISH: Round Two of the Currie Cup continues this weekend after a thrilling midweek game between the Lions and Western Province.
After suffering a 10-39 defeat to Pumas last weekend, the men from Joburg hit back in style with a 38-32 win against the Capetonians, which included a few very nervous moments at the end.
The two bonus points that Western Province earned in that match at Ellis Park meant that they returned to Cape Town on top of the standings ahead of the two matches still to be played this weekend.
On Friday, the Pumas travel to Pretoria to face the Bulls. The Bulls suffered a 24-48 defeat to WP in their opening game in Pretoria.
The other game is on Saturday with the Cheetahs getting their campaign going with a match against Griquas in Kimberley.
The Sharks have a bye.
We take a closer look at this weekend's matches below the video!
Friday, June 25:
Bulls v Pumas
(Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria - Kick-off: 19.00; 17.00 GMT)
The Bulls will be looking to bounce back against the Pumas when they meet on Friday.
The Lowvelders will travel to Pretoria full of confidence after hammering the Lions last weekend, while the Bulls are aiming for their first win of the season.
The Pumas won the last Currie Cup clash with the men from Pretoria, by 44-14 at Mbombela Stadium, but the Bulls will be bolstered this week by a host of players who played in the Rainbow Cup Final last weekend and will be determined to get the result at home.
"The Bulls picked a strong team and they have a dangerous backline with Harold Vorster coming in," said Pumas head coach Jimmy Stonehouse.
"If you look at their forwards with Jacques van Rooyen on the bench and with [Lizo] Gqoboka starting, it a great pack which is led by Marcell Coetzee."
He added: "A no-name team is going to Pretoria to face a team with big names and a lot of experience. We will see how we go against the best team in the country."
Meanwhile, Bulls Director of Rugby Jake White is excited about the weekend ahead.
"The young and inexperienced group fought hard last weekend against a quality Province team, and even though the result didn't go our way they still managed to secure a bonus point.
"This weekend is a big game for us, and we will be looking to get back to winning ways.
"The Pumas are coming off the back of a good win and they will be looking to hurt us, but we know what is expected of us."
Last 10 Currie Cup outings:
2011: Bulls won 16-12, Nelspruit
2011: Bulls won 47-12, Pretoria
2014: Bulls won 37-6, Nelspruit
2015: Bulls won 25-24, Nelspruit
2016: Bulls won 41-14, Nelspruit
2017: Pumas won 51-15, Nelspruit
2017: Bulls won 52-32, Pretoria
2018: Bulls won 39-29, Pretoria
2019: Bulls won 25-17, Nelspruit
2021: Pumas won 44-14, Nelspruit
Prediction
@rugby365com: Bulls by 14 points.
Teams:
Bulls: 15 Gio Aplon, 14 Madosh Tambwe, 13 Harold Vorster, 12 Cornal Hendricks, 11 Stravino Jacobs, 10 Chris Smith, 9 Ivan van Zyl, 8 Marcell Coetzee (captain), 7 Ruan Nortje, 6 Nizaam Carr, 5 Janko Swanepoel, 4 Walt Steenkamp, 3 Mornay Smith, 2 Schalk Erasmus, 1 Lizo Gqoboka.
Replacements: 16 Sidney Tobias, 17 Simphiwe Matanzima, 18 Jacques van Rooyen, 19 Muller Uys, 20 WJ Steenkamp, 21 Zak Burger, 22 FC du Plessis, 23 David Kriel.
On standby: 24 Robert Hunt, 25 Ruan Delport, 26 Jaco Labuschagne, 27 Keagan Johannes, 28 Marco Jansen van Vuren.
Pumas: 15 Devon Williams, 14 Tapiwa Mafura, 13 Erich Cronje, 12 Matt Moore, 11 Etienne Taljaard, 10 Eddie Fouché, 9 Chriswil September, 8 Willie Engelbrecht, 7 Phumzile Maqondwana, 6 Francois Kleinhans, 5 Pieter Jansen van Vuren (captain), 4 Darrien Landsberg, 3 Marné Coetzee, 2 Simon Westraadt, 1 Dewald Maritz.
Replacements: 16 Ruan Kramer, 17 Eduan Swart, 18 Ignatius Prinsloo, 19 Brandon Valentine, 20 Kwanda Dimaza, 21 Ginter Smuts, 22 Wayne van der Bank, 23 Jade Stighling.
Referee: Marius van der Westhuizen
Assistant referees: Local
TMO: Cwengile Jadezweni
(Article continues below video ...)
Saturday, June 26:
Griquas v Cheetahs
(Griqua Park, Kimberley - Kick-off: 13.00; 11.00 GMT)
The Cheetahs will get their first taste of action in this tournament when they travel up the N8 to Kimberley to face Griquas in a Central Derby on Saturday.
The Peacock Blues recently won a warm-up clash between the two sides, but the Free Staters are known for putting their best foot forward in the Currie Cup and the hosts in Kimberley will take nothing for granted.
The last time they met, in January, the Cheetahs won thanks to the irrepressible boot of Springbok Frans Steyn, even though Griquas outscored their neighbours by two tries to one in Kimberley.
Steyn is currently in camp with the national team, but the Cheetahs will have their other Springbok talisman, Ruan Pienaar, back on duty for this clash.
There are plenty of new faces in the Cheetahs' matchday squad for Saturday's match.
"We got to find that balance between the excitement from the new guys and the execution of the plan," said Cheetahs head coach Hawies Fourie.
"We trained well this week, so I am positive that everything will come together on Saturday.
"There are 13 players making their debuts for the Cheetahs in the Currie Cup. Some of them played for other unions like Jacques Potgieter and Jean Droste.
"There are a lot of guys who played Varsity Cup that will get a taste of Currie Cup as well as a few of our Under-20 players."
Griquas have made a few changes after their 16-30 defeat to the Sharks in Round One. In the forwards, Ewald van der Westhuizen takes over the No.3 jersey from Andries Schutte, while Jeandre Leonard replaces Mzwanele Zito in the second row.
Hanru Sirgel comes in for Ruan Steenkamp at No.8 and in the backline Jay-Cee Nel replaces Ederies Arendse in the midfield.
Last 10 Currie Cup outings:
2014: Cheetahs won 34-27, Bloemfontein
2014: Cheetahs won 36-25, Kimberley
2015: Cheetahs won 31-9, Kimberley
2015: Cheetahs won 44-24, Bloemfontein
2016: Cheetahs won 63-26, Bloemfontein
2017: Griquas won 30-25, Bloemfontein
2017: Griquas won 59-24, Kimberley
2018: Griquas won 52-24, Kimberley
2019: Cheetahs won 68-14, Bloemfontein
2021: Cheetahs won 22-18, Kimberley
Prediction
rugby365com: Griquas by four points.
Griquas: 15 Masixole Banda, 14 Daniel Kasende, 13 Jay-Cee Nel, 12 Andre Swarts, 11 Eduan Keyter, 10 George Whitehead, 9 Stefan Ungerer (captain), 8 Hanru Sirgel, 7 Sibabalo Qoma, 6 Gideon van der Merwe, 5 Cameron Lindsay, 4 Jeandre Leonard, 3 Ewald van der Westhuizen, 2 Janco Uys, 1 Andrew Beerwinkel.
Replacements – from: 16 HJ Luus, 17 Andrew Kuhn, 18 Janu Botha, 19 Mzwanele Zito, 20 Henco Beukes, 21 Raegan Oranje, 22 Theo Boshoff, 23 Ederies Arendse, 24 Ashlon Davids, 25 Enver Brandt, 26 Tijde Visser.
Cheetahs: 15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Duncan Saal, 13 Evardi Boshoff, 12 Howard Mnisi, 11 Tian Meyer, 10 Reinhardt Fortuin, 9 Ruan Pienaar (captain), 8 Gideon van Wyk, 7 Jacques Potgieter, 6 Jean Droste, 5 Rynier Bernardo, 4 Victor Sekekete, 3 Aranos Coetzee, 2 Wilmar Arnoldi, 1 Cameron Dawson.
Replacements: 16 Janus Venter, 17 Aluluthu Tshakweni, 18 Hencus van Wyk, 19 Reinier Viljoen, 20 Luan Potgieter, 21 Mihlali Mosi, 22 David Brits, 23 Cohen Jasper.
Referee: AJ Jacobs
Assistant referees: Local
TMO: Cwengile Jadezweni