Round 4 of the ABSA Currie Cup is upon us and it’s time to gaze into the crystal ball a little and predict what we think will happen.
There’s a lot riding on this one. Getting the result right can help you make serious progress in our Last Man Standing competition, as well as making your way up the log over at SuperBru. For those of you who prefer to take a more direct financial stake in things, perhaps using an online sports betting site, such as Marshalls World of Sport to place a bet on the results will be more your thing. Knowing who’s playing (and who isn’t) is also pretty important for Fantasy League managers.
Game 1: Leopards v Griquas
The round gets off to what will probably be a pretty uninspiring start up in the North West. The Leopards have endured a nightmare start to the season, conceding bonus point victories to all three of their opponents thus far. They have shown the ability to score tires, though, which may prove to be their saving grace. That said, Griquas have now claimed a second Big 5 scalp at home in beating the Lions last week and are well-placed on the log. Their away form in round 2 admittedly wasn’t great, but I simply can’t see them losing to the Leopards on Friday. Griquas to take this by 8-10 points.
Leopards: 15 Danie Dames; 14 Deon Scholtz, 13 Jovan Bowles, 12 Walter Venter, 11 Dumisani Matyeshana; 10 Neill Jacobs, 9 Michael Bondesio; 8 Riaan Swanepoel, 7 Palm Koch (capt), 6 Danie Crous, 5 Draad Linde, 4 Anthonie Gronum, 3 Os van der Walt, 2 Gavin Williamson, 1 Divan Kotze.
Replacements: 16 Pellow van der Westhuizen, 17 Aranos Coetzee, 18 Brad Mockford, 19 Christo van Niekerk, 20 Theo van Wyk, 21 Clayton Durand/Cecil Dumont, 22 Bom Samaai.
Griquas: 15. Riaan Viljoen, 14. Richard Lawson, 13. Wilmaure Louw, 12. Barry Geel, 11. Bjorn Basson, 10. Naas Olivier (Captain), 9. Sarel Pretorius, 8. Davon Raubenheimer, 7. Wesley Wilkins, 6. Rohan Kitshoff, 5. Cecil-John Kemp, 4. Frederik Albertus Spies, 3. Jacobus Petrus Adriaanse, 2. Ryno Barnes, 1. Steph Roberts
Replacements: 16. Simon Westraadt, 17. Jean Botha, 18. Michael John Richard Passaportis, 19. Petrus Gerhardus (Gerhard) Human, 20. Marnus Hugo, 21. Matthew Rosslee, 22. Rocco Reginald Jansen
Game 2: Western Province v Pumas
A simple game to call, but then again, we said the same thing about the Sharks-Pumas game last week and were very nearly left blushing. The Pumas are a halfway decent outfit this year and have given both the Sharks and the Bulls a reasonable run for their money. At the end of the day, though, they haven’t managed to beat either of the big-name sides they’ve faced and I don’t see them toppling Province this weekend either, although my days of predicting runaway victories over the Pumas are behind me! Province to win by around 15 points.
Western Province: 15. Conrad Jantjes, 14. Gio Aplon, 13. Juan de Jongh, 12. Paul Bosch, 11. Frikkie Welsh, 10. Willem de Waal, 9. Conrad Hoffmann, 8. Duane Vermeulen, 7. Rynhardt Elstadt, 6. Pieter Louw, 5. Anton van Zyl (Captain), 4. Adriaan Fondse, 3. Brok Harris, 2. Tiaan Liebenberg, 1. JD Moller
Replacements: 16. Hanyani Shimange, 17. JC Kritzinger, 18. Martin Muller, 19. Pieter Myburgh, 20. Louis Schreuder, 21. Lionel Cronje, 22. JJ Engelbrecht
Pumas: 15. Carl Bezuidenhout, 14. Ashwin Scott, 13. Tiaan Marx, 12. Siviwe Wilmot Magaba, 11. Allistair Kettledas, 10. Elgar Watts, 9. Jacques (Pumas) Coetzee, 8. Christo le Roux, 7. Alwyn Bester, 6. Corne Steenkamp, 5. Marius Coetzer, 4. Andries Kruger, 3. Ashley Buys, 2. Hannes Franklin (Captain), 1. Dawie Steyn
Replacements: 16. Torsten van Jaarsveld, 17. De-Jay Terblanche, 18. Brett Nel, 19. Willem Jacob Serfontein, 20. Tian Carel Meyer, 21. Ricardo Croy, 22. Shaun Venter
Game 3: Cheetahs v Sharks
Game 3 is a very tricky one to call, even if you do have both lineups available. At the time of writing, the Sharks had yet to release their team sheet, although we expect it to include some surprises. There will be a return for some big names up front, which is good for the Durbanites, because one feels the Cheetahs would have too much for them in Bloemfontein up front otherwise. I have a feeling that John Plumtree isn’t going to reveal his full hand here anyway, meaning some late changes to the squad and it remains to be seen whether gambling with continuity and team cohesion is going to pay off for him. The head says that the Cheetahs should have enough at home to handle the Sharks, but I’m going with the heart and giving this one to the visitors by 5 points.
Cheetahs: 15. Hennie Daniller, 14. Philip Snyman, 13. Robert Ebersohn, 12. Corné Uys, 11. Jongi Nokwe, 10. Louis Strydom, 9. Tewis de Bruyn, 8. Ashley Johnson, 7. Juan Smith (Captain), 6. Hendro Scholtz, 5. Barend Pieterse, 4. Izak van der Westhuizen, 3. Willem Petrus (WP) Nel, 2. Adriaan Strauss, 1. Coenie Oosthuizen
Replacements: 16. Skipper Badenhorst, 17. CJ van der Linde, 18. Waltie Vermeulen, 19. Kabamba Floors, 20. Tertius Carse, 21. Sias Ebersohn, 22. Meyer Bosman
Sharks: 15 Louis Ludik, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Stefan Terblanche (capt), 12 Patrick Lambie, 11 Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Steve Meyer, 9 Charl McLeod, 8 Ryan Kankowski, 7 Keegan Daniel, 6 Jacques Botes, 5 Ross Skeate, 4 Steven Sykes, 3 Wiehahn Herbst, 2 Craig Burden, 1 Pat Cilliers
Replacements: 16 Kyle Cooper, 17 Tendai Mtawarira, 18 Eugene van Staden, 19 Willem Alberts, 20 Jean Deysel, 21 Ruan Pienaar, 22 Andries Strauss
Game 4: Lions v Blue Bulls
Ah yes, the Northern derby always throws up unexpected results. Both of these teams are in pretty desperate territory here, having lost two of their opening three games. The Bulls have been boosted by the return of a number of Springboks, though, while the Lions, um, haven’t. That’s cos they don’t have any , see… because they lost every game in the Super 14. So anyway, not to put too fine a point on it, I reckon the Lions are kak and are going to get stuffed. Not because this is a great Bulls team, but rather because the Lions are kak. See where I’m going with this? Bulls by 7.
Lions: 15 Jaco Taute, 14 Deon van Rensburg, 13 Waylon Murray, 12 Doppies la Grange, 11 Michael Killian, 10 Elton Jantjes, 9 Jano Vermaak, 8 Warren Whitely, 7 Trevor Hall, 6 Derick Minnie, 5 Franco van der Merwe (capt), 4 George Earle, 3 JC Janse van REnsburg, 2 Martin Bezuidenhout, 1 Kevin Buys
Replacements: 16 Edgar Maratlulle, 17 Ross Geldenhuys, 18 David Bullbring, 19 Jaco Kriel, 20 Chris Jonck, 21 Carlos Spencer, 22 Marius Delport.
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 Francois Hougaard, 8 Gerrit-Jan van Velze, 7 Dewald Potgieter, 6 Derick Kuün, 5 Juandré Kruger, 4 Flip van der Merwe, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Gary Botha (capt), 1 Jaco Engels.
Replacements: 16 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17 Bees Roux, 18 Fudge Mabeta, 19 CJ Stander, 20 Ruan Snyman, 21 Francois Brummer, 22 Hayden Groepes.

I wish the Sharks would just release the team already…hey, I don’t think the Cheetahs would have necessarily beaten the Sharks had we not had our Boks back. I think we have a pretty good team without them and now if we lose this game I’ll even blame them for it. 😆
@Letgo (Comment 1) : I’m not so sure. I think the players returning from injury and those that didn’t get much gametime for the Boks will be hungry for this game and I think they will make a differance. One thing I know for sure is that the Sharks will not underestimate the Cheetah’s
Pretty much the same as I picked them except for 1 😎
Yeah our game by far the most difficult to call.
Sharks with boks back could have enough for the FS, but we`ve lost so many times against FS in the recent past and this is an away game as well . . .
If they start Ruan I think FS will take it, but with Meyer and Charl we might edge them. FS without Naas, Riaan and Basson just isn`t the same threat.
Since we won`t have the sharks team untill saturday afternoon I guess we`ll either have to postpone our predictions or just flip a coin for this one . . . 🙄
Hold up! Chiliboy on the BENCH for the bulls?!
Surely this is not in the right spirit for SA rugby? Snorman should have a word with Ludacris about this! We had to play John Smit out of position, to accommodate SA rugby but the Bulls just don`t give a toss about national interest.
Typical of those Diesel bakkie drivin` pt short wearin` Snor City dwellers! 👿 👿
@Original Pierre (Comment 5) : That’s one opinion… or you could just argue that they know there rugby (and know the real abilities of their players)… 🙄
@CS (Comment 6) : That`s true CS, but why didn`t the sharks show any backbone then? We could`ve ignored the national coach` request as well but then the whole country would`ve cried foul.
When the bulls does it, everyone conveniently turns a blind eye.
@Original Pierre (Comment 7) : Sharks played Smit at 3 to accomodate Bismarck, pretty much the same as the Boks did…
I see Marius Jonker is the ref in Jhb this saturday as well.
My advice to you all : Go High on the bulls 😈
Go Sharks GO
Call me a conspiracy theorist, but why is Mitchell playing teenagers? is he scoping out the young talent for future contracts?
Never know with the cheetahs! sort of like the Blues in the Super14!!
OH Shit me went with Cheetahs on LMS 😳 against our guys what a fault so me dead and stone dead if our guys win shit Chaz what were u think 😳 😥
Rob please change me to sharks on LMS pressed the wrong team in 🙄 😥
@chaz (Comment 13) :
Sorry girl no changes wcan be made. 😛
Shame Chaz.. Just think, either way you will be happy with the result!! If the sharks win, we all happy, if we lose then you nailed it on LMS!!
@KSA Shark © (Comment 14) : 👿 😥 😉
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 15) : well then me must shout for Cheetahs just for LMS
And SHARKS just for CC win
eeeaaaahhhhh
@KSA Shark © (Comment 14) : @robdylan (Comment 8) :
Can one of u help my smileys take ages to appear when after i comment and so slow is there a problem again or is it me that jinx because me chose the Cheetahs above the Sharks
Well had a look at the LMS picks and my nt 1 person on SW picked Sharks now why is that so now i don’t f eel so shit anymore
@chaz (Comment 19) : You have a very good chance of still being alive after this weekend!