Week 10 of the 2009 Currie Cup is on the doorstep, with 2 matches today (Friday) and 2 matches tomorrow (Saturday). The 2 easy matches to predict is scheduled for today, the 2 difficult matches for tomorrow.

The following matches are scheduled:

Boland Cavalliers vs Griquas, 11 September at 15:00, Boland Park, Wellington

Golden Lions vs Leopards, 11 September at 19:10, Coca-Cola Park, Johannesburg

Free State Cheetahs v Western Province, 12 September at 15:00, Vodacom Park, Bloemfontein

Blue Bulls v Sharks, 12 September at 17:05, Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria

The race to the semi-finals are hotting up and the 2 matches on Saturday will be important in defining the chances of the Blue Bulls and also the Cheetahs.

So, let’s look at the matches individually and make some bold predictions…. 

Friday 11 September:

Boland Cavaliers v Griquas

It’s been a hard season for the Boland Cavaliers, whereas the Griquas have surprised all and sundry, being right up there and seriously contending for a semi-position.

In the second round of this competition the bottom dwellers have stepped up a gear though and last week saw the Griquas barely beating a determined Leopards Team. The question is now, can Boland emulate that or will Griquas be lax again ?

I cannot see Griquas letting up, they will be motivated, and although the match is played on Boland soil, the Griquas will be far too strong for the Boland (maybe not initially, but definately as the game wears on).

My prediction is a comfortable 5-pointer for Griquas…. and a winning margin of 25 PLUS

Teams:

Boland Cavaliers: 15 Hayden Groepes, 14 Cornal Hendricks, 13 PJ Vermeulen, 12 Dandré Gerber, 11 Justin Peach, 10 Elgar Watts, 9 Charlie King, 8 Junior Bester, 7 Rito Hlungwane (captain), 6 David Hendricks, 5 Nico Esterhuyse, 4 George Earl, 3 Jacobie Adriaanse, 2 Harry Vermaas, 1 Janro van Niekerk.
Replacements: 16 Conrad Burke, 17 Jané du Toit, 18 Wendal Wehr, 19 Zolani Mofu, 20 Denzil Willemse, 21 Dewey Swartbooi, 22 Alvin Hugo.

Griquas: 15 Riaan Viljoen, 14 Trompie Nontshinga, 13 Wilmaure Louw, 12 Barry Geel, 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Naas Olivier, 9 Sarel Pretorius, 8 Jonathan Mokuena (captain), 7 Davon Raubenheimer, 6 Rohan Kitshoff, 5 Cecil-John Kemp, 4 Jacques Lombaard, 3 Albertus Buckle, 2 Rayno Barnes, 1 Zane Killian.
Replacements: 16 Simon Westraadt, 17 Ruaan du Preez, 18 Nolan Clarke, 19 Sean Plaatjies, 20 Dewald Pretorius, 21 Jaco Bekker, 22 Gavin Passens/Richard Lawson.

Referee: Stuart Berry
Assistant referees: Mlungiseli Mdashe, Marc van Zyl

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Golden Lions v Leopards

This match should be a routine practise run for the Lions, apart from the fact that the Leopards have steadily improved and ran the Griquas close last weekend.

With Earl, the Pearl, Rose back in the mix and the Lions playing with more freedom, we might see a high scoring game and it would be foolish to think the Lions will not gather 5 Log Points.

In addition, the fact that Oregan Hoskins yesterday poured some water over the fires of the bottom 3 Provinces in the Premier Division, by announcing that in 2011 they will be relegated… it might just take some of the passion out of the Leopards.

No doubt the Lions must secure maximum points against the Leopards to keep their semifinal aspirations alive.

My prediction is a comfortable 5-pointer for the Golden Lions…. and a winning margin of 30 PLUS

Teams:

Golden Lions: 15 Earl Rose, 14 Dusty Noble, 13 Alwyn Hollenbach, 12 Doppies La Grange, 11 Johan Jackson, 10 Ruan Boshoff, 9 Jano Vermaak, 8 Willem Alberts (captain), 7 Todd Clever, 6 Derick Minnie, 5 Franco van der Merwe, 4 Nico Luus, 3 Kevin Buys, 2 Hans van Dyk, 1 Wayne Swart.
Replacements: 16 Derek Harwood, 17 Gert Muller, 18 Johan Snyman, 19 Johan Van Deventer, 20 Chris Jonck, 21 Walter Venter, 22 Pieter Engelbrecht

Leopards: 15 Russell Jeacocks, 14 Danie Dames, 13 Jovan Bowles, 12 Basil de Doncker, 11 Shuaib Samaai, 10 Cecil Dumont, 9 Michael Bondesio, 8 Christo van Niekerk, 7 Thabo Mamojele, 6 Wilhelm Koch (captain), 5 Edrich Linde, 4 Rynard Landman, 3 Philip Lemmer, 2 Marthinus van der Westhuizen, 1 Gerhardus Lombard.
Replacements: 16 Gavin Williamson, 17 Barend van der Walt, 18 Bennie Adams, 19 Riaan Swanepoel, 20 Jean Tiedt, 21 Clayton Durand, 22 Deon van Rensburg.

Referee: Jaco Peyper
Assistant referees: Archie Sehlako, Peet Badenhorst
TMO: JC Fortuin

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Saturday 12 September:

Free State Cheetahs v Western Province

This game is a difficult one to call…

On the one hand it is a home-game for the Cheetahs, who are clearly on an upward curve in their performances.

On the other hand we have a confident WP Team, who have shrugged the weak tight-five bogey and who are fellow log leaders in the tournament.

The importance of this match for both Teams is obvious and will have a direct bearing on where the Teams will end in the race for semi-spots.

The Cheetahs are the only Team, with the Bokke players still missing in other Teams, who seem capable of matching WP in the scrums. The battle between Blaauw and WP Nel will be interesting, so too the battle of the hookers.

WP will have extra motivation with Chris Jack playing his last match for WP, on his sojourn to South Africa.

My prediction is a narrow 4-pointer for WP…. and a winning margin of 6 Points, simply because WP seem to be the Cheetahs bogey Team.

Teams:

Free State Cheetahs: 15 Hennie Daniller, 14 Lionel Mapoe, 13 Corné Uys, 12 Meyer Bosman, 11 Jongi Nokwe, 10 Jacques-Louis Potgieter, 9 JP Joubert, 8 Ashley Johnson, 7 Frans Viljoen, 6 Johan Wessels, 5 David de Villiers, 4 Nico Breedt, 3 WP Nel, 2 Adriaan Strauss (captain), 1 Coenie Oosthuizen.
Replacements: 16 Richardt Strauss, 17 Wian du Preez, 18 Izak van der Westhuizen, 19 Chris Dry, 20 Tertius Carse, 21 Louis Strydom, 22 JW Jonker.

Western Province: 15 Joe Pietersen, 14 Tonderai Chavhanga, 13 Frikkie Welsh, 12 Juan De Jongh, 11 Gio Aplon, 10 Peter Grant, 9 Dewaldt Duvenhage, 8 Luke Watson (captain), 7 Duane Vermeulen, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Anton van Zyl, 4 Chris Jack, 3 Brok Harris, 2 Deon Fourie, 1 Wicus Blaauw.
Replacements: 16 Hanyani Shimange, 17 JD Moller, 18 De Kock Steenkamp, 19 Pieter Louw, 20 Conrad Hoffmann, 21 Paul Bosch, 22 JJ Engelbrecht.

Referee: Marius Jonker
Assistant referees: François Veldsman, Reuben Rossouw
TMO: Gerrie Coetzee

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Blue Bulls v Sharks

This game is the most difficult yet to pick this season.

Last week we knew that WP would win with so many Bulls players amongst the Bokke, in fact considering that their scrum was monstered on the Bulls tight head side, the Bulls did pretty well in gathering a bonus point from the game, denying WP to score 4 tries and losing by a mere 6 points.

This week both the Blue Bulls and the Sharks are in the same boat… lots of players away on Bokke duty.

Neither Team has a wonderful front row, although the Sharks seem to have the edge here.

All four locks are iffy, with Sykes probably the best of a dour bunch.

The Looseforward battle is going to be huge though, with Stegmann, Pedrie and Potgieter pitted against Botes, Deysel and Daniel.

The scrummies should match each other but in Hernandez the Sharks have a superior fly half.

In the centres you have the crash and bash predictability of Watermeyer on the Bulls side and the similar crash and bash of  Riaan Swanepoel at the Sharks.

At full back, Stefan Terblanche is miles ahead compared to an off-form Zane Kirchner.

Balie Swart has also assisted the Bulls in attempting to rectify some scrumming woes, so it will be interesting to see if indeed there is some improvement there.

The Bulls have home ground advantage and for this reason, and this reason only, I give the Bulls a slight mark above 50%.

My prediction is a sqeeckily narrow 4-pointer for the Blue Bulls…. and a winning margin of 5 or less

Teams:

Blue Bulls: 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Gerhard van den Heever, 13 Jaco Pretorius, 12 Stefan Watermeyer, 11 Francois Hougaard, 10 Burton Francis, 9 Heini Adams, 8 Dewald Potgieter, 7 Pedrie Wannenburg, 6 Deon Stegmann, 5 Wilhelm Steenkamp, 4 Flip van der Merwe, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Derick Kuün (captain), 1 Jaco Engels.
Replacements: 16 Bandise Maku, 17 Rossouw de Klerk, 18 Fudge Mabeta, 19 Jacques Burger, 20 Dean Greyling, 21 Francois Brummer, 22 Tiger Mangweni.

The Sharks: 15 Stefan Terblanche (captain), 14 Chris Jordaan, 13 Andries Strauss, 12 Riaan Swanepoel, 11 Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Juan Hernandez, 9 Charl McLeod, 8 Keegan Daniel, 7 Jean Deysel, 6 Jacques Botes, 5 Albert van den Berg, 4 Steven Sykes, 3 Patric Cilliers, 2 Craig Burden, 1 Deon Carstens.
Replacements: 16 Skipper Badenhorst, 17 Julian Redelinghuys, 18 Alistair Hargreaves, 19 Michael Rhodes, 20 Rory Kockott, 21 Monty Dumond, 22 Waylon Murray.

Referee: Jonathan Kaplan
Assistant referees: Gareth Lloyd-Jones, Christie du Preez
TMO: Shaun Veldsman