Absa Currie Cup Preview – Week 12
Sarel Pretorius captured on camera by Gerhard Steenkamp
The Xerox Lions will have to continue their recent form at Coca-Cola Park and defeat The Sharks on Saturday (17h05) when these sides meet up in this crucial Absa Currie Cup week 12 clash in Johannesburg in order to remain in the semi-final race.
The hosts enjoyed a successful four-match winning streak at home during the last few weeks in this season’s competition. Their last defeat in Johannesburg was back in week four when the Vodacom Blue Bulls recorded a 32-18 victory at Coca-Cola Park.
However since then, the Xerox Lions clawed their way back into semi-final contention following a string of home results against the Vodacom Western Province (46-28), Vodacom Free State Cheetahs (30-26), GWK Griquas (40-49) and the Platinum Leopards (45-22).
The Johannesburg side are currently in fifth position on Absa Currie Cup log with 31 log points. This match against the log-leading The Sharks is their second last home game of the season. They travel to Bloemfontein next weekend for their Friday evening clash against the Vodacom Free State Cheetahs who are also in the hunt to qualify for next month’s playoffs. The Xerox hosts the Barloworld Toyota Pumas in their final league fixture of the season.
The Vodacom Free State Cheetahs are at home this weekend and will be aiming to secure maximum points from their clash against the Barloworld Toyota Pumas at Vodacom Park on Friday at 19h00.
The Bloemfontein side (32) are currently one point clear of the Xerox Lions on the Absa Currie Cup Premier Division log. They are however also one point behind the third-placed Vodacom Blue Bulls who are on the road this weekend.
The defending champions like the Free State side will also be intending to maximise their opportunity to achieve crucial log points when they take on the bottom of the log Platinum Leopards in Potchefstroom on Saturday at 15h00. The Platinum Leopards has conceded the most points in the 2010 Absa Currie Cup – 474; and have also conceded the most tries – 67.
Meanwhile The Sharks could cement their right to host an Absa Currie Cup semi-final while Vodacom Western Province could go one step closer to book themselves a home playoff match if both these sides secure victories in the 2010 competition this weekend.
Vodacom Western Province host the GWK Griquas, who are also still in contention to compete for a final-four spot, at Newlands in Cape Town on Friday at 19h10.
The Sharks and Vodacom WP have been the best attacking sides in the 2010 Absa Currie Cup. Both these sides have scored 47 tries. The Cape outfit has accumulated 407 points from their 11 games this season while the log-leaders have notched up 388 from the same number of games.
Province though will have to defeat either the Vodacom Blue Bulls (Pretoria) or The Sharks (Newlands) to claim that vital home semi-final game. The defending champions, pending on Vodacom WP results could easily still host a semi-final if they secure a hat-trick of victories against the Platinum Leopards, Vodacom Western Province and the GWK Griquas.
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