Traditional Absa Currie Cup rivalry resumes at Newlands
The two most successful Absa Currie Cup teams, DHL Western Province and the Vodacom Blue Bulls, will resume their fierce rivalry on Friday evening in Cape Town as they cross paths at 19h00 at DHL Newlands.
Last month in Pretoria, the Blue Bulls’ young guns put their huge attacking potential on display in a 47-29 dismantling of the 2014 champions at fortress Loftus Versfeld. However, the Bulls will be travelling to Cape Town wary of the fact that they have lost all the encounters against their South rivals since 2010 at the famous Newlands ground.
The Bulls’ youth brigade, however, showed in Pretoria that they have scant regard for reputation and they will be especially determined to return back to winning ways after suffering their first defeat of the season last weekend at home to the Xerox Golden Lions.
With three more pool rounds remaining after this weekend’s action, the teams will have their eyes fixed firmly on the four available Semi-final spots, which will be staged on 17 October.
In the other clash on Friday, the Eastern Province Kings travel to Nelspruit for their showdown against the Steval Pumas at the Mbombela Stadium. The Kings showed great character to register their first win of the season with a 32-24 victory against the Toyota Free State Cheetahs in Port Elizabeth, despite playing with 14 men for much of the second half.
Only two points separate the teams on the log, and the Pumas (9 points) will in turn be looking to secure their third win of the campaign.
Log leaders, the Xerox Golden Lions, meanwhile, will be looking to consolidate their top spot when they meet the Cell C Sharks in an early 14h30 kick-off on Saturday in Johannesburg, while the Cheetahs host ORC Griquas in Bloemfontein.
The available team news in brief:
DHL Western Province coach, John Dobson, made only one change to the starting team that beat the Cell C Sharks 37-27 in Durban last weekend. The change sees Bongi Mbonambi start at hooker, with Scarra Ntubeni moving down to the bench, where he will be joined by No8 Nizaam Carr, who is fit-again. Carr, who took over the captaincy earlier this season from injured squad leader Juan de Jongh, missed the Sharks game with a hamstring injury and will be eased back into action off the bench. That means scrumhalf Nic Groom retains the captaincy and earns a second successive start with Junior Springbok Robert du Preez in the No 10 jersey.
Vodacom Blue Bulls – Following last weekend’s home defeat against the Xerox Golden Lions, Blue Bulls coach Nollis Marais named flyhalf Louis Fouché in his starting team to face WP. Fouché swaps places with Tian Swanepoel, and is one of three tweaks to the team. The other changes see Burger Odendaal swapping places with Jan Serfontein in the midfield and Deon Stegmann replacing Arno Botha, who moves to the bench. Stegmann will play flank though, with captain Lappies Labuschagne moving to No8, where Botha started last weekend. Former SA Schools captain Pierre Schoeman was named at loosehead prop, while Dean Greyling drops out of the match-day squad.
Steval Pumas – MJ Mentz, the Steval Pumas coach, has made a number of changes to his side that went down 32-15 last weekend to ORC Griquas in Kimberley. Springbok training squad member Faf de Klerk will play in his 50th outing for the Pumas. Up-front, hooker Frank Herne, prop Vincent Koch, lock Marius Coetzer and flanker Jaco Bouwer all return to the starting team. Jerome Pretorius will play right wing as a replacement for Bernado Botha (concussion). Stefan Watermeyer (inside centre) and Wilmaure Louw (outside centre) are also back.
Eastern Province Kings – Coach Brent Janse van Rensburg has made only one rotational change for the visit to Nelspruit. Following their win over the Free State Cheetahs last weekend, the coach has kept changes to a minimum, with the only switch seeing prop Schalk Ferreira taking Lizo Gqoboka’s spot in the front row, with Gqoboka named on the bench.
Xerox Golden Lions – Coach Johan Ackermann has given 22-year-old lock Lourens Erasmus a start, while Kwagga Smith will partner captain Jaco Kriel at flank. Erasmus replaces Martin Muller, who is sidelined with an ankle injury. Upfront Julian Redelinghuys and Malcolm Marx will start, while Ruan Dreyer moves from tighthead to loosehead prop. Regular skipper Warren Whiteley has still not recovered sufficiently from a calf injury, which sees Kriel retains the captaincy.
Cell C Sharks – Director of Rugby Gary Gold has made one change to the starting team that went down to Western Province in Durban last week. The change is at hooker, with Franco Marais and Monde Hadebe swapping jerseys, with the former getting his first start this season. On the bench, Daniel du Preez also returns from a brief injury layoff.
Toyota Free State Cheetahs – Coach Franco Smith has shuffled a few positions in the team that went down 32-24 to the EP Kings in Port Elizabeth last Friday. Francois Uys is back to lead the side, with Reniel Hugo moving to the bench. Henco Venter will wear the No7 jersey, with Freddy Ngoza on the bench, meaning no place in the match-day squad for loose forward Oupa Mohoje, who captained the Cheetahs last week. Among the backs, Sergeal Petersen moves from the left wing to the right, replacing Cornal Hendricks, while Raymond Rhule slots back in at left wing. On the bench, Theunis Nieuwoudt replaces Elandre Huggett, while Niel Rautenbach, Zee Mkhabela and Tertius Kruger are back on the bench.
ORC Griquas – Coach Hawies Fourie has kept changes to a minimum, with only one change to the starting team. No6 flanker RJ Liebenberg comes in for Johan Wessels on the side of the scrum. On the bench prop Ewald van der Westhuizen falls out of the squad while utility back Ntabeni Dukisa is added to the replacements.
Absa Currie Cup Premier Division fixtures:
Friday, 18 September 2015
Steval Pumas vs Eastern Province Kings
Venue: Mbombela Stadium, Nelspruit
Kick-off: 17h00
TV: SS1
DHL Western Province vs Vodacom Blue Bulls
Venue: DHL Newlands, Cape Town
Kick-off: 19h00
TV: SS2
Saturday, 19 September
Xerox Golden Lions vs Cell C Sharks
Venue: Emirates Airline Park, Johannesburg
Kick-off: 14h30
TV: SS2
Toyota Free State Cheetahs vs ORC Griquas
Venue: Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein
Kick-off: 15h00
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