RECAP: Bulls v Lions

READERS' FORUM: Welcome to our coverage of the Currie Cup Round Five encounter between the Bulls and Lions in Pretoria.

A victory for the Bulls – the only team with two games remaining – will catapult them into a favourable position to wrap up the pool stage as the top team for a semifinal and possibly a final in Pretoria.

Should they win this match they may need only a bonus point from their clash against the Pumas in Nelspruit on Sunday to guarantee them top spot on the log if Western Province – who are also on 35 log points, but with an inferior points’ difference – defeat the Sharks on Saturday.

The Lions, who edged the Sharks into third place on the standings thanks to a favourable points’ difference despite being tied on 33 points with the Durbanites, meanwhile, will throw everything at the men from Pretoria in their final round-robin match in the hope of putting them in line for a home semifinal.

* To read our pre-match predictions, CLICK HERE!

* Our live blog will appear below, it might take a little while to load, please be patient. We apologise for the inconvenience!

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Teams:

Bulls: 15 David Kriel, 14 Jade Stighling, 13 Marnus Potgieter, 12 Jay-Cee Nel, 11 Stravino Jacobs, 10 Chris Smith, 9 Embrose Papier, 8 Duane Vermeulen (captain), 7 Elrigh Louw, 6 Marco van Staden, 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 Jan Uys, 3 Trevor Nyakane, 2 Schalk Erasmus, 1 Lizo Gqoboka.

Replacements: 16 Johan Grobbelaar, 17 Jacques van Rooyen, 18 Marcel van der Merwe, 19 Janko Swanepoel, 20 Ivan van Zyl, 21 Morné Steyn, 22 Arno Botha, 23 Tim Agaba.

Lions: 15 Tiaan Swanepoel, 14 Stean Pienaar, 13 Burger Odendaal, 12 Dan Kriel, 11 Courtnall Skosan, 10 Elton Jantjies (captain), 9 André Warner, 8 Len Massyn, 7 Vincent Tshituka, 6 Marnus Schoeman, 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Willem Alberts, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Jaco Visagie, 1 Dylan Smith.

Replacements: 16 Jan-Henning Campher, 17 Ruan Dreyer, 18 Carlü Sadie, 19 Reinhard Nothnagel, 20 Wilhelm van der Sluys, 21 Ross Cronje, 22 Wandisile Simelane, 23 Francke Horn.

Referee: Cwengile Jadezweni

Assistant Referees: Paul Mente, Morne Ferreira

TMO: Marius van der Westhuizen