Well there you have it! Almost done with the round robin phase, with just three games left and still all to play for. The Sharks and Lions have the home semis sewn up, but the final finishing order it still very much up in the air.
Sharks v Griquas
The Sharks really only need any sort of win here and with the Lions fielding a weakened side against the Bulls, even a narrow loss should probably see them home. They’ll need to get over a bit of initial disruption, one fancies, with Pat Lambie sure to be a bit rusty, but once the second-half “Bok injection” takes hold, it should end up being a comfortable win for them. Sharks by 15.
Sharks: 15 Louis Ludik, 14 Odwa Ndungane, 13 Paul Jordaan, 12 Tim Whitehead, 11 JP Pietersen, 10 Pat Lambie, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Keegan Daniel (captain), 7 Jean Deysel, 6 Jacques Botes, 5 Anton Bresler, 4 Jandre Marais, 3 Wiehahn Herbst, 2 Kyle Cooper, 1 Dale Chadwick.
Replacements: 16 Craig Burden, 17 Jannie du Plessis, 18 Peet Marais, 19 Marcell Coetzee, 20 Charl McLeod, 21 Meyer Bosman, 22 Lwazi Mvovo.
Griquas: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Jannie Boshoff, 13 Jean Stemmet, 12 Walter Venter, 11 Rocco Jansen, 10 Francois Brummer, 9 Marnus Hugo, 8 Leon Karemaker, 7 Justin Downey, 6 Marnus Schoeman, 5 Martin Muller, 4 Rynard Landman, 3 Lourens Adriaanse, 2 Ryno Barnes (captain), 1 Steph Roberts.
Replacements: 16 Matthew Dobson, 17 Ivann Espag, 18 Edwin Hewitt, 19 Wesley Wilkins, 20 Jacques Coetzee, 21 Marnitz Boshoff, 22 Richard Lawson.
Western Province v Cheetahs
Both of these sides are fighting for their lives, with the winner assured of a semi and the loser facing the spectre of last place. Province are at home and despite some poor form in recent weeks, must surely be fancied to take this; after all, they’ve been able to include a swathe of Boks in their side, against just two for the visitors. Western Province should prevail by around 8 points.
Western Province: 15 Joe Pietersen, 14 Gerhard van den Heever, 13 Juan de Jongh, 12 Jean de Villiers (captain), 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Demetri Catrakilis, 9 Nic Groom, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Don Armand, 6 Deon Fourie, 5 Andries Bekker, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Tiaan Liebenberg, 1 Steven Kitshoff.
Replacements: 16 Scarra Ntubeni, 17 Brok Harris, 18 De Kock Steenkamp, 19 Jebb Sinclair, 20 Louis Schreuder, 21 Marcel Brache, 22 Gio Aplon.
Free State Cheetahs: 15 Hennie Daniller, 14 Nico Scheepers, 13 Robert Ebersohn, 12 Andries Strauss, 11 Raymond Rhule, 10 Sias Ebersohn, 9 Sarel Pretorius, 8 Philip van der Walt, 7 Francois Uys, 6 Hendro Scholtz, 5 Izak van der Westhuizen, 4 Carl Wegner, 3 Coenie Oosthuizen, 2 Adriaan Strauss (captain), 1 Marcel van der Merwe.
Replacements: 16 Hercu Liebenberg, 17 Ross Geldenhuys, 18 Waltie Vermeulen, 19 Davon Raubenheimer, 20 Tewis de Bruyn, 21 Philip Snyman, 22 Ryno Benjamin.
Lions v Blue Bulls
The Lions decision to field a B team has unfortunately taken the sting out of what should have been the match of the round. It’s hard not to see the strengthened Blue Bulls running all over this young combination to power their way into the knock outs. Blue Bulls to win by 14.
Lions: 15 Ruan Combrinck, 14 Deon Helberg, 13 Deon van Rensburg, 12 Alwyn Hollenbach, 11 Anthony Volmink, 10 Butch James (captain), 9 Ross Cronje, 8 Willie Britz, 7 Derick Minnie, 6 Jaco Kriel, 5 Ruan Botha, 4 Michael Rhodes, 3 Pat Cilliers, 2 Callie Visagie, 1 CJ van der Linde.
Replacements: 16 Bandise Maku, 17 Jacobie Adriaanse, 18 Paul Willemse, 19 Warren Whiteley, 20 Whestley Moolman, 21 Elton Jantjies, 22 Lionel Mapoe.
Blue Bulls: 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Akona Ndungane, 13 JJ Engelbrecht, 12 Francois Venter, 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Jano Vermaak, 8 Arno Botha, 7 Jacques Potgieter, 6 Dewald Potgieter (captain), 5 Flip van der Merwe, 4 Juandré Kruger, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Willie Wepener, 1 Morné Mellett.
Replacements: 16 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17 Frik Kirsten, 18 Wilhelm Steenkamp, 19 CJ Stander, 20 Francois Hougaard, 21 Louis Fouché, 22 Dean Greyling.
Tweet
Adrew James … 😯
10 Andrew James (captain)
Who is that? 😯
Sharks
Wp
Bulls
@Zibbie (Comment 1) : @Die Kriek (Comment 3) : what u people talking about 😆
Haha, lions playing with the bulls, Bulls over convedent and loosing in the tin 🙂
@Franshark (Comment 5) : The EDIT button, the blogger’s best friend
WP has serious worries with both captain and coach not positive about playing this game…
@Die Kriek (Comment 7) : 🙂
Rugby365 have got a stupid bee in their bonnet and insist on referring to Butch as “Andrew”… not sure why. That will teach me to copy and paste team sheets from their site without checking.
@robdylan (Comment 10) : 😆
@robdylan (Comment 10) : Well, it’s not like you’re an actual journalist, so we can’t complain. And frankly the journalism here is a few notches above what most other sites try to pass off as “real journalism”
@Die Kriek (Comment 12) : thank you sir… I’m buying the next round for those kind words!
Sure looks like a Sharks vs Bulls and Lions vs WP semi final. Would be lovely for the Lions to beat the Bulls and the Cheetahs to beat the WP.
@Bite me (Comment 14) : you want to play WP in the semi?
@robdylan (Comment 15) : Well they do seem to be in the habit of imploding spectacularly against the Sharks in knock-out games 😈
Bulls to win by two converting tries?? 😯 Not with Morne Steyn as flyhalf!! 😈
No Rob. We will then play Freestate and Lions will play Kwas. WP and Bulls will mow their lawns those 2 weekends.
@Bite me (Comment 18) : WP are currently ahead of Kwas, though? Not sure how your permutation works… means Kwas need to get a bonus point against us, but WP not get one against the Cheetahs?
Not sure if this new format of top 6 has worked. IF, the results go according to the form book, the normal suspects will all contest the semi’s. That being Sharks, Bulls, WP and Lions. Unfortunately it could mean that a Bok laden Bulls team meets the Sharks in the semi’s. Am I right in my permutations?
Maybe Sharks need to lose against Griquas?
@Amateur (Comment 20) : you are right in all but one thing…
It doesn’t matter who the Bulls send to Durban. We’ll beat them anyway
@Amateur (Comment 20) : BUT… I must agree with you that semi-finals make no sense whatsoever in a 6-team competition. Bulls should be playing their last match of the season tomorrow, regardless of the result.
@robdylan (Comment 19) : For a sharks/cheetahs and Lions/griquas semi scenario, that could work, province lose without a bonus point, and griquas get a bonus point, (or two), but bulls would have to lose as well.
Sorry Rob. Long time no school or maths. My scenario could happen if the Griquas gets a bonus point and Province don’t. 😯
@Amateur (Comment 21) : If we knew the Lions won`t change their side tomorrow I`d definately consider it but we can`t take that chance.