All or nothing as Currie Cup reaches semi-final stage

Aug 29 • Currie Cup, General News, National, South Africa • 1521 Views • Comments Off on All or nothing as Currie Cup reaches semi-final stage

It will be a case of all or nothing for the four teams in the Currie Cup semi-finals on Saturday, with final berths at stake and an invaluable home final for the one of the teams.

The Xerox Golden Lions and Tafel Lager Griquas will meet in the first semi-final at Emirates Airline Park in Johannesburg at 14h00 in the DirectAxis Financial Services-sponsored competition, with log-leaders, the Toyota Free State Cheetahs, hosting the Cell C Sharks in the other match at Toyota Stadium in Bloemfontein at 17h00.

A victory for the Toyota Free State Cheetahs would guarantee them a home final in Bloemfontein on Saturday, 7 September, as they finished the pool stages as the top team on points’ difference, but a defeat for the Free Staters could see either the Xerox Golden Lions or Tafel Lager Griquas secure a home final.

The match in Johannesburg will mark the second week in a row the Xerox Golden Lions and Tafel Lager Griquas meet after they crossed paths in the final round in Kimberley last week, and judging by the close result – the Jozi outfit won 27-26 – it is expected to be a cracker of a match.

The last time Tafel Lager Griquas played in the Currie Cup final was back in 1970 and they won that match 11-9 against the Vodacom Blue Bulls (then known as Northern Transvaal), and that is expected to be a huge motivational force for the team going into the clash.

The home side, meanwhile, will be hunting their first final appearance since 2015. To do that, the men from Jozi will have to overturn their home-ground odds.

The Xerox Golden Lions have won only one of their three games at Emirates Airline Park this season, which will motivate them to put up a good show in front of their home crowd, but Tafel Lager Griquas will have enough motivation of their own as their last Currie Cup victory in Johannesburg in 2012.

Adding to this, the margins between the teams on attack and defence this season have been small, with the Gauteng outfit having scored only two tries more and conceding two points fewer in the pool stages, which points to an epic clash.

The Xerox Golden Lions named an identical match-day squad to last week for the clash, while Tafel Lager Griquas made three personnel changes to their starting team with Khwezi Mona (prop), Zandre Jordaan (No 8) and Christiaan Meyer (scrumhalf) taking over from Mox Mxoli, Neill Jordaan and Chriswill September, who have all been named among the replacements.

The match will mark special milestones in the careers of Xerox Golden Lions captain and scrumhalf Ross Cronje, and Marnus Schoeman (flanker), as both will earn their 70th Currie Cup caps.

In Bloemfontein, the Toyota Free State Cheetahs will go in search of their first final berth since 2016, while defending champions, the Cell C Sharks, will have their sights on their third consecutive appearance in the final when the teams meet in their semi-final.

The last time they crossed paths, the Cell C Sharks won by a narrow seven points in Durban. Interestingly, the KwaZulu-Natalians last suffered a defeat against the Toyota Free State Cheetahs in Bloemfontein in 2013, and while this is expected to serve as inspiration for the visitors, it will also fuel the Free Staters’ motivation to win.

The hosts have been more effective on attack this season, with 40 tries scored to 26 by the Cell C Sharks, but they have been fairly closely matched on defence, with the home side conceding 24 points fewer in their six matches this season.

The Toyota Free State Cheetahs made three changes and one positional switch to the side that defeated DHL Western Province last week, with Dries Swanepoel (centre), and Erich de Jager and Ox Nche (both props) earning starts, while William Small-Smith moves from centre to the right wing.

Cell C Sharks coach Sean Everitt made only one change to his squad, with experienced flyhalf Curwin Bosch returning from injury, which sees him take over from Henry Chamberlain, who drops out of the match-day squad.

Currie Cup semi-final fixtures (Saturday, 31 August):

Xerox Golden Lions v Tafel Lager Griquas
Kick-off: 14h00
Venue: Emirates Airline Park, Johannesburg
Referee: Cwengile Jadezweni
Assistant Referees: Rasta Rasivhenge and Quinton Immelman
TMO: Christie du Preez
TV: SS1

Xerox Golden Lions – 15 Tyrone Green, 14 Madosh Tambwe, 13 Wandisile Simelane, 12 Duncan Matthews, 11 Stean Pienaar, 10 Shaun Reynolds, 9 Ross Cronje (capt), 8 Hacjivah Dayimani, 7 Cyle Brink, 6 Marnus Schoeman, 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Ruben Schoeman, 3 Jacobie Adriaanse, 2 Pieter Jansen, 1 Sti Sithole. Replacements: 16 Jan-Henning Campher, 17 Dylan Smith, 18 Johannes Jonker, 19 Wilhelm van der Sluys, 20 Len Massyn, 21 Dillon Smit, 22 Jan-Louis la Grange, 23 Jamba Ulengo.

Tafel Lager Griquas – 15 Anthony Volmink, 14 Ederies Arendse, 13 Michal Haznar, 12 Andre Swarts, 11 Eduan Keyter, 10 George Whitehead (captain), 9 Christiaan Meyer, 8 Zandre Jordaan, 7 Sias Koen, 6 Gideon van der Merwe, 5 Victor Sekekete, 4 Ian Groenewald, 3 Ewald van der Westhuizen, 2 AJ Le Roux, 1 Khwezi Mona. Replacements: 16 Wilmar Arnoldi, 17 Mox Mxoli, 18 Johan Momsen, 19 Neill Jordaan, 20 Chriswill September, 21 Chris Smit, 22 Bjorn Basson, 23 Ruan Kramer.

Toyota Free State Cheetahs v Cell C Sharks
Kick-off: 17h00
Venue: Toyota Stadium, Bloemfontein
Referee: AJ Jacobs
Assistant Referees: Marius van der Westhuizen and Paul Mente
TMO: Joey Klaaste-Salmans
TV: SS1

Toyota Free State Cheetahs – 15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 William Small-Smith, 13 Benhard Janse van Rensburg, 12 Dries Swanepoel, 11 Tian Meyer (capt), 10 Tian Schoeman, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Henco Venter, 7 Abongile Nonkontwana, 6 Junior Pokomela, 5 Walt Steenkamp, 4 Sintu Manjesi, 3 Erich de Jager, 2 Joseph Dweba, 1 Ox Nche. Replacements: 16 Jacques du Toit, 17 Schalk van der Merwe, 18 Reinach Venter, 19 JP du Preez, 20 Gerhard Olivier, 21 Jasper Wiese, 22 Louis Fouche, 23 Darren Adonis.

Cell C Sharks – 15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Kobus van Wyk, 13 Jeremy Ward (co-captain), 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Curwin Bosch, 9 Sanele Nohamba, 8 Tera Mtembu (co-captain), 7 Jacques Vermeulen, 6 Phepsi Buthelezi, 5 Hyron Andrews, 4 Ruben van Heerden, 3 Coenie Oosthuizen, 2 Kerron van Vuuren, 1 Thomas du Toit. Replacements: 16 Dylan Richardson, 17 Mzamo Majola, 18 John-Hubert Meyer, 19 Gideon Koegelenberg, 20 Andisa Ntsila, 21 Cameron Wright, 22 Rhyno Smith, 23 JP Pietersen.