Round 7 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: Blue Bulls v Griquas
Well, before the start of the season, you might have said that this one was a bit of a no-brainer, but given the woes that continue to beset the poor Bulls, it may not be that clear-cut. Griquas, in fact, hold a three-point lead over the champions on the log and did well to smash the Pumas at home last week. The Bulls were pretty poor against a Western Province that were marginally less poor and are really struggling to find rhythm and form. They have been further disrupted by injury to their skipper, Gary Botha, but I still think they will have too much for Griquas at home. But only just. Blue Bulls by 5 or fewer.
Blue Bulls: 15. Jaco van der Westhuyzen, 14. Gerhard van den Heever, 13. Jaco Pretorius, 12. Stefan Watermeyer, 11. John Mametsa, 10. Jacques-Louis Potgieter, 9. Ruan Snyman, 8. Gerrit-Jan van Velze, 7. Dewald Potgieter, 6. Derick Kuun (Captain), 5. Fudge Mabeta, 4. Petrus Johannes Juandre Kruger, 3. Werner Kruger, 2. Bandise Maku, 1. Dean Greyling
Replacements: 16. Henri James Bantjes, 17. Bees Roux, 18. Wilhelm Steenkamp, 19. Christiaan Johan Stander, 20. Dustin Jinka, 21. Stephan Dippenaar, 22. Jaco Engels
Griquas: 15. Riaan Viljoen, 14. Richard Lawson, 13. Wilmaure Louw, 12. Matthew Rosslee, 11. Bjorn Basson, 10. Naas Olivier (Captain), 9. Sarel Pretorius, 8. Danie Burger Schoeman, 7. Davon Raubenheimer, 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. Johan van Deventer, 20. Marnus Hugo, 21. Barry Geel, 22. Rudi Vogt
Game 2: Cheetahs v Leopards
This one is simple. The Cheetahs aren’t really great this year, but the Leopards are pretty kak. The Cheetahs are at home and will win by 20 pints or more. Bet the farm, as the Punter would say!
Cheetahs: 15. Hennie Daniller, 14. Philip Snyman, 13. Robert Ebersohn, 12. Meyer Bosman, 11. Jongi Nokwe, 10. Sias Ebersohn, 9. Tewis de Bruyn, 8. Ashley Johnson, 7. Christoffel Philippus Van der Walt, 6. Hendro Scholtz, 5. Waltie Vermeulen, 4. Francois (FS) Uys, 3. Kobus Calldo, 2. Adriaan Strauss (Captain), 1. Coenie Oosthuizen
Replacements: 16. Skipper Badenhorst, 17. Willem Petrus (WP) Nel, 18. Kabamba Floors, 19. David de Villiers, 20. Tertius Carse, 21. Louis Strydom, 22. Riaan Smit
Leopards: 15. Jan Van Zyl, 14. Deon Scholtz, 13. Jovan Bowles, 12. Walter Venter, 11. Dumisani Matyeshana, 10. Neill Jacobs, 9. Michael Bondesio, 8. Riaan Swanepoel, 7. Wilhelm Koch (Captain), 6. Christo van Niekerk, 5. Edrich Linde, 4. Bradley Peter Mockford, 3. Os Van der Walt, 2. Gavin Williamson, 1. Bennie Geldenhuys Uys
Replacements: 16. Pellow van der Westhuizen, 17. Johan Coetzee, 18. Anthonie Johannes Gronum, 19. RW Kember, 20. Theo Clyde van Wyk, 21. Clayton Durand, 22. Shuaib Samaai
Game 3: Pumas v Golden Lions
This one again should be easy to call on the face of it. That said, the Pumas beat the Lions in a pre-season game and have been a bit of a handful for some of the bigger sides. The Lions, though, may finally have turned the corner, after beating the Cheetahs last week. This should be a simple win for them, but I don’t have enough faith in them to pick a big score. Lions by roughly 10 points.
Pumas: 15. Nicky Kritzinger, 14. Vainon Willis, 13. Shaun Venter, 12. Tian Carel Meyer, 11. Allistair Kettledas, 10. Elgar Watts, 9. Jacques (Pumas) Coetzee, 8. Christo le Roux, 7. Torsten van Jaarsveld, 6. Corne Steenkamp, 5. Marius Coetzer, 4. Andries Kruger, 3. Ashley Buys, 2. Hannes Franklin (Captain), 1. Ronnie Uys
Replacements: 16. De-Jay Terblanche, 17. Dawie Steyn, 18. Willem Jacob Serfontein, 19. Jaco Bouwer, 20. Ricardo Croy, 21. Ashwin Scott, 22. Duwayne Enslin Smart
Golden Lions: 15. Jaco Taute, 14. Deon van Rensburg, 13. Waylon Murray, 12. Doppies la Grange, 11. Michael Killian, 10. Elton Thomas Jantjies, 9. Jano Vermaak, 8. Warren Roger Whiteley, 7. Derick Minnie, 6. Renaldo Bothma, 5. Franco van der Merwe (Captain), 4. George Earle, 3. Ross Geldenhuys, 2. Edgar Marutlulle, 1. JC Janse van Rensburg
Replacements: 16. Martin Bezuidenhout, 17. Wayne Swart, 18. Johan (Joe) Snyman, 19. Joshua Zac Strauss, 20. JP Joubert, 21. Burton Francis, 22. Jannie Boshoff
Game 4: Sharks v Western Province
The big one between the first and second-placed sides on the log. The Sharks seem to be hitting their straps and have scored some amazing tries of late – but Province have the best defence in the tournament and concede very few. They’re unbeaten so far and will be a tough nut to crack. Home ground advantage and a stronger team (at least on paper) should see the Sharks prevail here, but by no more than 5 points.
Sharks: TBC
Western Province: 15. Conrad Jantjes, 14. JJ Engelbrecht, 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 (Captain), 4. Adriaan Fondse, 3. Brok Harris, 2. Tiaan Liebenberg, 1. Wicus Blaauw
Replacements: 16. Deon Fourie, 17. Buhle Mxunyelwa, 18. De Kock Steenkamp, 19. Nick Koster, 20. Conrad Hoffmann, 21. Lionel Cronje, 22. Morgan Newman
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Waiting patiently 4 da release of da sharks team. Loosies and front row should be interesting.
Hey I don’t know hey, the Bulls haven’t been themselves but I still believe they will run these guys to a margin of 20plus.
My SB says 26.
Spot on with the Cheetahs IMO
22 on SB
@RuckingFun (Comment 1) : expect Bis and Beast to start.
After every prediction I marvel at how intelligent you are. 😉
i have the lions by 5 on SB.
holding my breath with sheer excitement to see what the sharks team is going to look like! we did it in 2008 and we can better it in 2010 and have 16 un beaten games 🙂 come on the sharks!!!!!!!!!1
Once again you show how bright you are.
Sharks by 4 for me on SB.
GSP coming up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
@KSA Shark © (Comment 5) : haha… superbru doesn’t necessarily agree.
I got Lions Cheetahs wrong. One of only 2 games I’ve picked wrong so far
@richzed (Comment 6) :
16 unbeaten games ??
@KSA Shark © (Comment 9) : best we can do is 15…
@robdylan (Comment 8) : 😛 😛
I’m sitting on 22/24 as well.
i see you’ve also gone for the lions. 🙂
@robdylan (Comment 8) : I’m lying. I’ve had 4 wrong so far 🙁
@KSA Shark © (Comment 11) : ja… too much of a chicken to pick the Pumas. VERY nearly went for a Griquas upset, though. I won’t be surprised if that comes off
@robdylan (Comment 13) :
Nah i will be SHOCKED if that comes off. the Bulls are not in THAT big a slump. 😳
Top 5 on Superbru CC pool.
1 Nick 30.75
2 Volstruis 30.50
3 Sandshark 30.25 🙄 😛
4 Wallywong 30.25
5 Patman 29.75
@KSA Shark © (Comment 15) :
I think we should have a weekly SB pool status update, with the top 3 players getting extra SW points. ❓ What do the rest of you think. 🙄
So the Sharks team will be announced when?? 🙄
I am pretty sure I went for a Sharks win on SB. 😥
Thats cos I’m sure they’ll beat us on Saturday!
@wpw (Comment 17) :
Yes you did. Sharks by 8.
So at least you are sticking to your conversion to being a sharks fan from last season. 😛
@KSA Shark © (Comment 18) :
SHURRUP!!
FJELN!! 👿
@wpw (Comment 19) :
loop koop a Sharks trui! 😛
How the Hell are we supposed to have any good banter going this week if even the WP supporters believe the Sharks are gonna win? 🙄 🙄
Just a slight correction, Rob. The Golden Lions are in fact the Vodacom Cup Side. The Currie Cup side is officially known as The Xerox Lions.
Bulls by 7
Cheetahs by 17
Lions by 6
Sharks by 8
Thus far I’m not doing very good 😳 Manage only 1 GSP so far 😳
@KSA Shark © (Comment 21) : I think it’s by no means clear cut.
However, if you guys knew what I knew you would bet the farm on the Sharks 🙂
@Greg (Comment 22) : oh really?
Jeez, that team changes names slightly more often than I change my undies.
Fact!
@Jarson (Comment 23) :
I’ve got 4 from 6 with the last 3 being on the trot. i hope it continues in this fasion.
And if it does then you should get one as well this week. 😉
@robdylan (Comment 24) :
What do you know?
@robdylan (Comment 24) :
The’ve replaced Deysel’s knee with a bionic one and he’s playing?
@robdylan (Comment 25) : Eish! Dude! 😉
@robdylan (Comment 25) : Not really, VC – Golden Lions, CC – Xerox Lions, S14 – Auto & General Lions. Been that way a while now. VC side is sometimes referred to as the Young Lions, with the current CC squad, they could also be called the Young Lions!
WP vs Sharks the game of the weekend!
Province by 18!
What a clash the Sharks/WP game will be!! Cant wait to see how age is going to do against experience… flyhalfs
@Greg (Comment 30) : But their Top Performers are the FElions 😈
@KSA Shark © (Comment 16) :
I reckon that is a good idea Andre..
I was thinking of doing a weekly roundup that included the Currie Cup, ITM Cup and whatever other rugby pool there might be..
What do you think?
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 34) : This weekend I`m making some ITM cup bets. Stuff the soccer!
When does the punting article come out again?? 😈
@Original Pierre (Comment 33) : Can’t argue with that!
@Original Pierre (Comment 35) :
Tomorrow morning Pierre..
I will have to work on it between friggin midnight and sunrise.. I have so much on my plate at work at the moment.
@Original Pierre (Comment 35) : Are you playing the premier league game on supersport?
Again the Sharks team will be announced last….
@Greg (Comment 38) : No Greg my soccer knowledge sucks!