Primed for heat of battle
Teams count down to Currie Cup semifinals
SOME of the best players in the land have the chance to brighten the mood of the despondent South African rugby fraternity when they strut their stuff in today’s Currie Cup semifinals.
It is vital that the knockout stage of the competition injects much-needed quality and spark after the disappointing showing by the Springboks in the Rugby Championship.
Hopefully the eagerlyawaited semis between the Cheetahs and Lions and the Blue Bulls and Western Province are reason for hope rather than further concern.
Much of the rugby on display in the Currie Cup this season has not been of the highest quality and that must be of deep concern to South African rugby bosses.
More mediocrity in the semis will not be what South African rugby chiefs will be wanting to see on the eve of their big coaching indaba scheduled for next week.
Much interest will centre of the first game of the day between the unbeaten Cheetahs and a resurgent Lions side who some are tipping to go all the way. Game kicks off at 3pm.
After a slow start, the Lions are building up a head of steam and this does not bode well for their opponents.
So far the Cheetahs have been unstoppable winning all eight of their league matches and going over for an impressive tally of 49 tries.
Ironically the Lions have managed to run in the same number of tries, which suggests that the crowd at the Free State Stadium could be in for a high-scoring spectacle.
The men from Bloemfontein, have also shown impressive defensive qualities and have conceded fewer tries (18) than any side on the competition.
Former EP Kings player Paul “Tier” Schoeman has been one of the players at the coal-face for the Cheetahs and he will prove a handful for the Lions today.
Another former Kings player Sergeal Petersen, will provide much needed pace on the outside when the Free Staters stretch the Lions defence.
Despite his team romping into the semi-finals, Cheetahs coach Franco Smith knows that the real battle starts today against an inventive Lions team.
No doubt the name of giant Lions centre Rohan Janse van Rensburg has cropped up at Cheetahs strategy meetings this week.
Before the Kings played the Lions, Eastern Province head coach Barend Pieterse had this word of advice on how his team should deal with the rampaging midfielder.
“I told my players that they must tackle a guy like Rohan as though he is a forward, because he does not run like a normal back,” Pieterse said.
If the Cheetahs can win this one then the smart money will be on them going all the way.
Smith has emphasised that his team will be sticking to the same game plan that brought them success at the league stage of the competition.
“There might be one or two things we do differently, but we have worked on winning every game and the semifinal is the same,’’ he said.
The Cheetahs will be at full strength for today’s day’s semifinal. Wing Petersen and flank Schoeman have both recovered from injuries they suffered in the round eight encounter with the Pumas last month.
Prop Danie Minnie will also come into the selection frame after his injury-enforced lay-off.
“All the Currie Cup regulars will be available," Smith said.
In the second semi-final, which kicks off at 6pm, Western Province will have their backs to the wall when they face the Blue Bulls in Pretoria.
“It will only be natural given the size of that Blue Bulls team and it is basically a Super Rugby pack of forwards, that are going to try and beat us physically,” Province coach Dobson said.
“I am not saying that they are going to revert to the laager but I do expect contestables and a physical approach.”
WP suffered a 26-45 defeat when they visited Loftus Versfeld in round one of the tournament and Dobson believes that the home side will be favourites once again. “I have seen the odds and we have been written off everywhere for this game already. There is no pressure on us, nobody expects us to win.
“They are playing in front of their home crowd. They are playing with the favourites tag. We beat them at the end of Super Rugby and in the Currie Cup qualifiers, so there will be a lot of pressure on them to beat us.”
Bulls coach Nollis Marais was pleased to have scrumhalf Rudy Paige back in his starting line-up.
“We all feel for Piet van Zyl, who has been playing great rugby only to miss out through injury," the coach said.
“Fortunately for us, Rudy is fit and ready to go.”
Bulls skipper Arno Botha, who will play in his third semifinal in the competition, said they have many reasons to deliver a good performance.
“We want to play in the final,” Botha said.
“"We realise WP is a dangerous opponent with a number of match-winners but we really need to do this for ourselves and of course, for our fans.
“We expect a good crowd and we are motivated not to lose.”