Lions look to bounce back after loss
The Sharks will be looking to secure their fourth successive victory in the Currie Cup this weekend, while Western Province, the Pumas and the EP Kings are seeking to register their first victories of the season, writes JACQUES VAN DER WESTHUYZEN.
TODAY IN JOBURG, 5PM Lions v Boland
Following their surprise defeat to Griquas last weekend, Lions boss Johan Ackermann has rung the changes in his team, bringing in 11 new faces in all in his starting team. The defending champions are hurting and will be desperate to set the record straight when they entertain Boland this afternoon. The visitors have won only once in the competition, against the lowly Kings, and go into this fourth round match having copped a hiding from the Sharks.
LIONS: Andries Coetzee, Selom Gavor, Jacques Nel, Howard Mnisi, Anthony Volmink, Marnitz Boshoff, Dillon Smit, Ruaan Lerm, Victor Sekekete, Steph de Wit, Martin Muller, Ruan Ackermann, Pieter Scholtz, Ramone Samuels, Corné Fourie; REPLACE
MENTS: Robbie Coetzee, Dylan Smith, Bobby de Wee, Cyle Brink, Ross Cronjé, Koch Marx, JW Bell
BOLAND: Adriaan Carelse, Sergio Torrens, Christopher Bosch, Ryan Nel, Danwel Demas, Theuns Kotze, Gerhard Jordaan, Wayne Wilschut, Shaun McDonald, Shaun Adendorff, Joubert Horn, Johannes Kitshoff, Basil Short, Francois Esterhuizen, Francois Hanekom; REPLACEMENTS: Clemen Lewis, Enoch Mnyaka, SP Wessels, Ockie van Zyl, Kenan Cronje, Marnus Hugo, Gerrit van Wyk TODAY IN NELSPRUIT, 5PM
Pumas v Griquas
The Pumas are generally tough to beat on their own patch and will be keen to register a first win after going down to the Sharks and Lions. They will, however, face a stern test this weekend when Griquas visit Nelspruit. Now the men from Kimberley wouldn’t normally make the Pumas sweat, but Griquas are coming off a surprise win against the Lions so they’ll be full of confidence ahead of the game. Only problem for them is they’ve never been the best travellers so the Pumas may just sneak this one.
PUMAS: Devon Williams, Bernardo Botha, Hennie Skorbinski, Leighton van Wyk, JP Lewis, Francois Brummer, Emile Temperman, Renaldo Bothma, Nardus van der Walt, Marnus Schoeman, Jannie Stander, Wiehan Hay, Louis Albertse, Frankie Herne, De-Jay Terblanche; REPLACEMENTS: Simon Westraadt, Jacques Kotze, Hugo Kloppers, Carel Greeff, Kevin Luiters, Marlou van Niekerk, Hoffman Maritz
Griquas: ( probable) AJ Coertzen, Ederies Arendse, JW Jonker, Johnathan Francke, Alshaun Bock, Clinton Swart, Poerie van Rooyen, Jason Fraser, RJ Liebenberg (capt), Wendal Wehr, Jono Janse van Rensburg, Mzanele Zito, Stephan Kotze, Marius Fourie, Steph Roberts. Replacements: AJ le Roux, Devon Martinus, Liam Hendricks, Sias Koen, Steph Vermeulen, Renier Botha, Elgar Watts
TOMORROW IN PE, 4PM EP v WP
Western Province will be hurting after going down to the Cheetahs last weekend and also suffering a first round defeat to the Bulls. The much-fancied side are yet to win in the competition, but this is certainly their big chance. Their opponents, the EP Kings, have been woeful up to now, losing to Boland and the Bulls, and have only the tiniest of chances of causing an upset here. For the visitors, Sevens stars Cheslin Kolbe and Werner Kok will play at fullback and wing; their first outings in the competition this season.
EP: Johann Tromp, Siviwe Soyizwapi, JC Greyling, Burton Klaasen, Sampie Mastriet, Kobus Marais, Ricky Schroeder, Christiaan de Bruin, Etienne Oosthuizen, Vince Jobo, Sebastian Ferreira, Tazz Fuzani, Vukile Sofisa, Mike Willemse, Justin Forwood; REPLACEMENTS: Martin Bezuidenhout, Barend Potgieter, Dylon Pieterse, Luke vd Smit, Brandon Brown, Lungelo Goza, Ganfried May
WP: Cheslin Kolbe, Werner Kok, Huw Jones, Dan du Plessis, Leolin Zas, Brandon Thomson, Jano Vermaak, Sikhumbuzo Notshe, Jurie van Vuuren, Kobus van Dyk, Chris van Zyl, JD Schickerling, Wilco Louw, Scarra Ntubeni, JC Janse van Rensburg;
REPLACEMENTS: Neil Rautenbach, Alistair Vermaak, Oli Kebble, Jan de Klerk, Stefan Willemse, Godlen Masimla, Robert du Preez
TOMORROW IN DURBAN, 6.10PM Sharks v Bulls
The big feature match of the weekend takes place in Durban tomorrow and hopefully conditions will be good because the Currie Cup needs something special now to liven it up. The Sharks are the form team having won all their matches to date – against the Pumas, Griquas and Boland – but this is their first proper test. And they’re at home. It’ll be interesting to see how young Curwin Bosch, at fullback, and Inny Radebe, at flyhalf, go in a match where there’s likely to be more pressure than what they faced earlier in the competition. The Bulls are looking for win number three having only lost to the Cheetahs and they should be confident after scoring a big win against the Kings last week.
SHARKS: Curwin Bosch, Odwa Ndungane, Lukhanyo Am, André Esterhuizen, Lwazi Mvovo, Inny Radebe, Stefan Ungerer, Philip van der Walt, Jean-Luc du Preez, Keegan Daniel, Ruan Botha, Etienne Oosthuizen, Thomas du Toit, Franco Marais, Dale Chadwick; REPLACEMENTS: Chiliboy Ralepelle, John-Hubert Meyer, JC Astle, Jean Deysel, Hanco Venter, S’bura Sithole, Rhyno Smith
BULLS: Duncan Matthews, Travis Ismaiel, Dries Swanepoel, Burger Odendaal, Jamba Ulengo, Tian Schoeman, Piet van Zyl, Arno Botha, Jannes Kirsten, Ruan Steenkamp, Marvin Orie, RG Snyman, Jacobie Adriaanse, Jaco Visagie, Lizo Gqoboka; REPLACEMENTS: Bandise Maku, Martin Dreyer, Nic de Jager, Hanro Liebenberg, André Warner, Joshua Stander, Ulrich Beyers