With 3 games left the great predictors are in a tense battle for top honors.  The top 10 all have a good chance.

Need help?  Read Superbru’s Preview and history at the end of this article.

A lot will change this week because players at the top will probably pick their own favorite team who are playing their other top contenders team.

Winston and 4man vs EEE

King Paul vs CheetahJ and Koos

But watch out there might be others from lower down who might seize this opportunity and catch up fast.

For full Superbru standing  go to – http://www.rugby-talk.com/?page_id=14545

1		Winston Champ	61.0	2.50	63.50
2		EEE	61.0	2.33	63.33
3		KingPaul	62.0	0.50	62.50
4		4man	59.5	2.00	61.50
5		CheetahJ	58.5	2.50	61.00
6		Koos	60.5	0.25	60.75
7		Snoek	57.0	1.75	58.75
8		onerb	56.5	2.00	58.50
9		Blouste	56.0	2.50	58.50
10		carol	55.5	1.58	57.08

Excitement is building for the two Currie Cup semi-finals taking place this weekend in Durban and Cape Town. The online chatter suggests most pundits are expecting a WP v Bulls final at Newlands next week… but we always like to take a look at recent history to see what the mindset of the teams will be as they take the field.

How familiar does this sound?

The Sharks and Western Province finish at the top of the Currie Cup standings and go on to host semi-finals in Durban and Cape Town respectively. They both face up-country teams, and they both lose to them by just 2 points. Not a prediction, but history: this is exactly what happened last year. The Sharks lost their semi-final to the Cheetahs 21 – 23 and WP went down to the Bulls 19 – 21. The Bulls went on to win the final 36 – 24.

What other history can we look at?

Sharks v Bulls (Sat 16th 0ct 14:30, Durban)

The teams have met twice this year in the Currie Cup and the results are perfectly even: the Bulls won by 6 at home, and the Sharks won by 6 at home. But of course, that was when the Bulls were missing more Springboks than the Sharks. Looking back to when SuperBru first ran a Currie Cup game in 2006, covering both Currie Cup and Super 14, the Sharks have won 10 of the 17 (59%) games played between the teams.

At the ABSA Stadium, where the semi-final will be played, the Sharks have won 6 of their 9 games (67%) against the Bulls in the last five years (and bitter Sharks fans like the General will say technically one of the 3 losses was actually a win – the notorious Bulls by 1 Super 14 final in 2007…)

Head to head, here’s how it has looked:

Tournament Venue Home Score Away Outcome
Currie Cup 2010 Pretoria Blue Bulls 40 – 34 Sharks Blue Bulls by 6
Currie Cup 2010 Durban Sharks 34 – 28 Blue Bulls Sharks by 6
Super 14 2010 Pretoria Bulls 27 – 19 Sharks Bulls by 8
Currie Cup 2009 Pretoria Blue Bulls 23 – 29 Sharks Sharks by 6
Currie Cup 2009 Durban Sharks 19 – 13 Blue Bulls Sharks by 6
Super 14 2009 Durban Sharks 26 – 27 Bulls Bulls by 1
Currie Cup 2008 Durban Sharks 14 – 9 Blue Bulls Sharks by 5
Currie Cup 2008 Durban Sharks 34 – 25 Blue Bulls Sharks by 9
Currie Cup 2008 Pretoria Blue Bulls 35 – 14 Sharks Blue Bulls by 21
Super 14 2008 Pretoria Bulls 15 – 29 Sharks Sharks by 14
Currie Cup 2007 Pretoria Blue Bulls 18 – 26 Sharks Sharks by 8
Currie Cup 2007 Durban Sharks 29 – 10 Blue Bulls Sharks by 19
Super 14 2007 Durban Sharks 19 – 20 Bulls Bulls by 1
Super 14 2007 Durban Sharks 17 – 3 Bulls Sharks by 14
Currie Cup 2006 Durban Sharks 32 – 50 Blue Bulls Blue Bulls by 18
Currie Cup 2006 Pretoria Blue Bulls 28 – 37 Sharks Sharks by 9
Super 14 2006 Pretoria Bulls 34 – 27 Sharks Bulls by 7

If you’ve made your picks already, check out the community stats to see how the bru community thinks it’s going to go this time round.

Western Province v Cheetahs (Sat 16th 0ct 17:00, Cape Town)

The streeptruie have faced the Cheetahs 15 times in Currie Cup and Super 14 rugby since 2006. In their two meetings this year, the away team has triumphed: the Cheetahs won by 5 in Cape Town and WP won by 14 in Bloemfontein.

Overall WP/Stormers have won 9 of the 15 matches (60%), and at home at Newlands they have triumphed in 6 out of 8 games (75%).

Tournament Venue Home Score Away Outcome
Currie Cup 2010 Cape Town WP 24 – 29 Cheetahs Cheetahs by 5
Currie Cup 2010 Bloemfontein Cheetahs 11 – 25 WP WP by 14
Super 14 2010 Cape Town Stormers 21 – 8 Cheetahs Stormers by 13
Currie Cup 2009 Bloemfontein Cheetahs 33 – 31 WP Cheetahs by 2
Currie Cup 2009 Cape Town WP 19 – 13 Cheetahs WP by 6
Super 14 2009 Bloemfontein Cheetahs 22 – 28 Stormers Stormers by 6
Currie Cup 2008 Bloemfontein Cheetahs 17 – 35 WP WP by 18
Currie Cup 2008 Cape Town WP 9 – 3 Cheetahs WP by 6
Super 14 2008 Cape Town Stormers 34 – 22 Cheetahs Stormers by 12
Currie Cup 2007 Cape Town WP 34 – 20 Cheetahs WP by 14
Currie Cup 2007 Bloemfontein Cheetahs 45 – 13 WP Cheetahs by 32
Super 14 2007 Bloemfontein Cheetahs 27 – 9 Stormers Cheetahs by 18
Currie Cup 2006 Bloemfontein Cheetahs 28 – 13 WP Cheetahs by 15
Currie Cup 2006 Cape Town WP 20 – 13 Cheetahs WP by 7
Super 14 2006 Cape Town Stormers 25 – 31 Cheetahs Cheetahs by 6

If you’ve made your picks already, check out the community stats to see what fans are expecting this weekend.

Conclusion

We can analyse the numbers all we like, but we all know that on a given day anything can happen, especially in these South African derby games. In addition, Springbok duty has a distorting impact on the Currie Cup when some teams are heavily depleted of their top players for the Tri-Nations, meaning the Bulls and WP are stronger now than they were mid-way through the tournament. Time will tell – enjoy the weekend!