WP coach Alistair Coetzee has kept the same lineup that beat the Cheetahs in Bloem to take on the Lions at Newlands on Saturday.
The WP squad is
WP -15 Conrad Jantjes, 14 Fabian Juries, 13 Tim Whitehead, 12 Paul Bosch, 11 Frikkie Welsh, 10 Willem de Waal, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Rynhardt Elstadt, 6 Pieter Louw, 5 Anton van Zyl (c), 4 Adriaan Fondse, 3 Brok Harris, 2 Tiaan Liebenberg, 1 Wicus Blaauw.
Subs: 16 Deon Fourie, 17 JD Moller, 18 JC Kritzinger, 19 Martin Muller, 20 Pieter Myburgh, 21 Conrad Hoffmann, 22 Lionel Cronje.

can’t wait to see l.cronje do his thing, can’t believe de waal is better than him, no way
@Megatron (Comment 1) : I think its because De Waal is so accurate with the boot
Hope they give Cronje at least 20 minutes this weekend . . .
Bulls team for the weekend :
Blue Bulls – 15 Jaco van der Westhuyzen, 14 Gerhard van den Heever, 13 Stephan Dippenaar, 12 Stefan Watermeyer, 11 John Mametsa, 10 Jacques-Louis Potgieter, 9 Ruan Snyman, 8 Gerrit-Jan van Velze, 7 Derick Kuün, 6 Deon Stegmann, 5 Fudge Mabeta, 4 Wilhelm Steenkamp, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Gary Botha (c), 1 Dean Greyling.
Subs: 16 Bandise Maku, 17 Bees Roux, 18 Bêrend Botha, 19 CJ Stander, 20 Danie Faasen, 21 Francois Brummer, 22 Hayden Groepes
Now we can analize . . .
@Original Pierre (Comment 4) : we don’t need to.
It’s quite simple… we’re f*cked
@Original Pierre (Comment 4) : Sharks to take this by 10
@robdylan (Comment 5) : Ag no Rob, I thought you`d motivate me?!
They`ve got our number in every single position at the moment, except 9.
If it`s a sell out crowd we should get some sort of advantage there as well. . .
I dunno . . . looks like a hard ask any which way you look at the situation.
@Original Pierre (Comment 4) :
Thanks for posting that on the ONLY WP thread on the site!!
@wpw (Comment 8) : Sorry wp, didn`t want to contaminate a sharks thread with these bulls.
In hindsight I should`ve put it under a bok thread hey?
@Original Pierre (Comment 9) :
Yeah!!
Wrt your comment about Rory having Ruan Snyman’s number??
I don’t agree. I think that Rory was pretty average last week whereas Snyman was quite decent and his clearance at ruck time was superb!!
@Original Pierre (Comment 7) : it’s not that bad actually… they’ve got us properly covered in the front row, but our locks are better than theirs. In terms of experience, the loose trios are about the same. Van Veltze impresses me not at all, but he understands their game and knows how to play it. Steggman and Kuun are simply better as a combo than keegan and botes are, though, cos they understand each other and make sure the job gets done. Keegan leaves Botes to do all the donkey work while he stuffs around making clever flip passes in the backline.
McLeod is a better scrummie than Snyman (due to experience), while JLP edges Meyer.
They have the benefit of a centre combo that knows each other FLIPPING well, having played together for years. We have a makeshift midfield, but Lambie could come off in a big way.
Back 3s are also even. Mametsa and Shadow v Mvovo and Pietersen…. Jaco v Ludik.
I reckon we have the better players in the back three, but probably not as good at the moment form-wise
@wpw (Comment 10) : Rory will be benched this week
@robdylan (Comment 5) : hahhahahaha
that’s an astute analysis robbo!
spot on, can’t wait to see the sharks backline chase van den heever hahahaha carthorse galore
@Original Pierre (Comment 3) : Hope he doesnt try random snap drop goals
@wpw (Comment 8) : Now that you mention it, where the hell is my thread of yesterday
@robdylan (Comment 11) : Shadow?? That guy who pushed innocent Luke into the ad boards next to the field after the whistle ?!
Another walking red card if you ask me . . .
@Megatron (Comment 13) : I don’t reckon he’ll get around JP…
@Original Pierre (Comment 16) : he seems to have calmed down
Apart from Mametsa, though, the Bulls do have a relatively inexperienced 3/4 line
@Original Pierre (Comment 16) : and luke subdued him properly by just pulling his shirt over his head and guess who ended up looking like poeph*l
but serioulsy, though. the back 3 doesn’t matter. If we turn over ball like we did against Griquas, we are finished… it wouldn’t matter if the bulls had picked Wynie Strydom and Steve Hofmeyr on the wing
@Megatron (Comment 19) : I can tell you the words out of our mouths in Cape Town at the time was a lot worse than Poeph*l. . .
You remember the Newlands crowd stopped with the Luke boo-ing after that match as well… Suddenly united again against the common enemy
@robdylan (Comment 5) : very positive dude!!
honestly thoug, if the shark keep ball in hand & spread it wide often enough, they may capitalise on stephan dippenaar’s shoddy defence, van den heever too is no brickwall.
@robdylan (Comment 17) : jpp was flat in the super14 and he’s been out with a knee, so we’ll have to see how quick he still is..
@Original Pierre (Comment 21) : ek weet
remember van den heever dumped lambie on the sign boards this year too and lambie was close to crying *silence of the lambie* i called it
@Megatron (Comment 24) : he needs to find his best form, true… but his defence has typically been very good
is duvenage really better than hoffman or is duvenage starting cause his rassies pet ,hoffman reminds me of ruan pienaar .Really would like to c this lionel cronje play at some point they need to stop hyping him up and play him
@Megatron (Comment 24) :
Seriously dude.
Van der Heever against one of the world’s best defensive wings – Thou shal not pass!
If it’s not broken why change it..
zvision10
Last time I checked Coetzee was coaching the side. Rassie is DOR now and doesn’t coach the team!
He doesn’t even attend every coaching session!
@Big Fish (Comment 28) : we shall see…
@zvision10 (Comment 27) : I’m not really a Duvenage fan, but in about 2 years time he will be seriously good.
@Clayton(PJLD) (Comment 32) : I dunno hey, its decision making that’s his biggest problem, thats not really something you learn. Maybe its just a confidence thing, but geez Hoffman looked so much better last Sat. Fondse had to fall over to get his try, great little build up from Hoffman.
Would love Hoff and Cronje to get alot more time on the park than last weekend.
@molly (Comment 33) :
Hey Mols!
Just a thought: If Hoffman does get more opportunities I’m afraif Ricky is gonna struggle to get his place back (on the bench I mean)
He will have to step up big time and have a brilliant Tri Nations if he wants to be first choice again!!
@wpw (Comment 34) : WP could claim the highest degree of cooperation with national coaches in resting their Bok.
@wpw (Comment 34) : Ricky needs to lose some weight and show some interest in being the best (at WP not the national team). Wonder if he’ll stay post-WC.
@molly (Comment 36) :
I seriously doubt it.
He might cash in and sign for that Welsh team he played for recently!!
@wpw (Comment 37) : Well then, for the greater good (Bokke), we need him to start alot of WP/Stormer games or at least come off the bench. Keep his fitness up, and then next year CC he may be gone.
Just don’t know how we’ll keep him motivated to perform at provincial level, he must know by now he’s definately going to the WC, so he may rest on his laurels again.