With three rounds to go before the Currie Cup play-offs, six teams in the Premier Division can still qualify for the semi-finals.

The log-leading Golden Lions face the tough prospect of having to take on the Free State Cheetahs in Bloemfontein on Saturday. The Free Staters have recorded comprehensive victories in the last two weeks and will be a difficult opponent on their home ground.

Also on Saturday, Western Province travel to Durban to take on The Sharks and could lose their third consecutive match if the KwaZulu-Natalians come out on top.

In the other two matches this weekend, the Blue Bulls, also on the back of two good victories, host the Pumas in Pretoria and Griquas take on the Platinum Leopards in Potchefstroom.

In the final round of the Currie Cup First Division, the Boland Cavaliers will be aiming to move into the top spot on the log against the SWD Eagles in George, while various permutations mean all six the teams can still qualify for the semi-finals.

Blue Bulls vs Pumas:

The Blue Bulls will be looking to stay on the winning track against the Pumas at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria on Friday evening.

Even though they are still not in the top four, the Blue Bulls have shown they are getting back to their best with victories over WP (28-20) and the Golden Lions (21-18) in the last fortnight. Before that, they scored 10 points in the final minutes of the game against the Free State Cheetahs to secure an unlikely draw (22-22).

But despite these results and the Blue Bulls probably taking the field against their eastern neighbours as favourites, they will not be taking the Pumas lightly. The team from Mpumalanga have also won their last two matches in the Currie Cup Premier Division, away against Griquas (34-31) and at home against the Platinum Leopards (32-19).

And, as Blue Bulls coach Pine Pienaar alluded to this week, the team from Pretoria had to work very hard for their 16-12 victory over the Pumas in Nelspruit earlier this year.

“We had a huge fright against them in Nelspruit earlier in the season and only won 16-12. They are a tough nut to crack as they have showed by beating Griquas in Kimberley, ” said Pienaar.

“We cannot look past this match. We need to run our own race and play our own game if we want to get there and we know there is no such thing as an easy Currie Cup game this season. ”

Blue Bulls vs Pumas
Date: Friday 30 September
Kick-off: 19:10
Venue: Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
Referee: Sindile Mayende
Last three games in Currie Cup:
– 9 July 2010: Blue Bulls won 38-15 in Pretoria
– 27 August 2010: Pumas won 22-21 in Nelspruit
– 12 August 2011: Blue Bulls won 16-12 in Nelspruit

Free State Cheetahs vs Golden Lions:

Can the Golden Lions stifle the Free State Cheetahs’ winning streak when the two teams meet in a crunch Currie Cup match at the Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein?

This question will be answered on Saturday afternoon, but to say the Golden Lions will be approaching the Free State capital with caution would be an understatement.

The Free Staters have been in scintillating form lately. After their home draw against the Blue Bulls three weeks ago, they have smashed the Sharks (53-32) in Bloemfontein and Western Province (34-20) in Cape Town, scoring a combined total of nine tries against last year’s Currie Cup finalists.

The last time the Golden Lions won an Currie Cup match in Bloemfontein, was more than six years ago, on 10 September 2005, when they beat the eventual champions by 31-20.

And while the Cheetahs have proven their try-scoring ability in the last two weeks, the Golden Lions will have to be at their defensive best in Bloemfontein on Saturday. John Mitchell, coach of the team from Gauteng, said they will not try something new against Free State.

“Nothing really changes as we always work hard on our defence. We work a lot on organisation and look at trends of the opposition, but you also have to allow for the element of surprise,” Mitchell said.

“Having said that, the Cheetahs are pretty predictable and we know what to expect. We are just going to have to lift our intensity and we have to become more accurate. I’d like to think that we got a good education from the defeat to the Blue Bulls (last weekend) and that we’ve learnt from that.”

Free State Cheetahs vs Golden Lions
Date: Saturday 1 October
Kick-off: 15:00
Venue: Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein
Referee: Marius Jonker
Last three games in Currie Cup:
– 14 August: Golden Lions won 30-26 in Johannesburg
– 2 October: FS Cheetahs won 43-37 in Bloemfontein
– 13 August 2011: Golden Lions won 17-10 in Johannesburg

Platinum Leopards vs Griquas:

Griquas can still qualify for the Currie Cup semi-finals for the first time since 1998, but then they have to beat the Platinum Leopards in Potchefstroom on Saturday.

After a strong start to the competition, during which time they beat The Sharks and the FS Cheetahs in Kimberley, the men from the Northern Cape have been struggling lately and have lost their last four games.

The Peacock Blues will have the confidence of knowing they’ve not lost to the Platinum Leopards since 2009, when the men from Potch were promoted to the Premier Division, but that doesn’t mean this trip to the North West province will be an easy one.

A lot is at stake for the Leopards as well in their penultimate home game of the 2011 season. They have won only one game in the Currie Cup this year and would like to add to that tally on Saturday.

Platinum Leopards vs Griquas
Date: Saturday 1 October
Kick-off: 16:00
Venue: Profert Olen Park, Potchefstroom
Referee: Pro Legoete
Last three games in Currie Cup:
– 30 July 2010: Griquas won 41-27 in Potchefstroom
– 17 September 2010: Griquas won 29-20 in Kimberley
– 12 August 2011: Griquas won 32-18 in Kimberley

The Sharks vs Western Province:

Western Province travel to Durban with their backs to the wall to face The Sharks in a very important Currie Cup game at Kings Park on Saturday.

Having lost their last two games – in Pretoria against the Blue Bulls and at home against the Free State Cheetahs – the team from Cape Town will be desperate to get back on the winning track against the defending champions, with spots in the semi-finals still looming for both teams.

WP assistant coach Matt Proudfoot is aware it won’t be easy against The Sharks: “They are the Currie Cup champions, so we know it is going to be a tough game. The aim for us is that we make sure we start better. We can’t af to give so many turnovers in the first 20 minutes and we must assert ourselves more on the game from the get-go. ”

With the Golden Lions slipping last week, The Sharks have set their sights on the top spot on the log, but if they are to achieve that, victory against WP is non-negotiable this weekend. Sharks coach John Plumtree realises his team will have to improve from their performance against Griquas last weekend.

“The players have trained hard this week, we had a pretty tough day on Monday. The standards and expectations of playing for The Sharks are pretty high and we’re not at that required level, ” said Plumtree.

“When you’re in a competition like the Currie Cup and it’s coming to the business end, and you see how tough that competition is, you can’t put your head in the sand when it comes to performance because you know what’s required and at the moment, we’re not there yet. Whether we can get there is up to us to prove, that’s been the message. ”

The Sharks vs Western Province
Date: Saturday 1 October
Kick-off: 17:05
Venue: Kings Park, Durban
Referee: Mark Lawrence
Last four games in Currie Cup:
– 21 August 2010: The Sharks won 27-16 in Durban
– 9 October 2010: WP won 33-21 in Cape Town
– 30 October 2010: The Sharks won 30-10 in Durban ( Currie Cup Premier Division Final)
– 13 August 2011: The Sharks won 21-19 in Cape Town

Remaining fixtures after this weekend:

7 October
Pumas vs FS Cheetahs (Witbank)
8 October
Griquas vs Blue Bulls (Kimberley)
Golden Lions vs WP (Johannesburg)
Platinum Leopards vs The Sharks (Phokeng)
14 October
Blue Bulls vs Platinum Leopards (Pretoria)
15 October
FS Cheetahs vs Griquas (Bloemfontein)
WP vs Pumas (Cape Town)
The Sharks vs Golden Lions (Durban)

Currie Cup First Division:

The final round of the Currie Cup First Division is a mathematician’s dream, with various permutations meaning any of the six teams can still qualify for the semi-finals.

The only certainties are that the EP Kings and Boland Cavaliers will finish in the top two, but their final positions depend on the result between the Cavaliers’ match against the SWD Eagles in George on Friday afternoon.

In the only other game this weekend, the two teams at the bottom of the log, the Valke and Border Bulldogs, take on each other in East London on Friday evening.

The Kings and the Griffons completed their league matches last weekend.

When two teams finish on the same amount of log points, the team with the better points’ difference will be placed in the higher position on the log.

The permutations:

– EP Kings (currently on 42 log points) will finish top of the Currie Cup First Division log if the Cavaliers lose and don’t get any bonus points from their match against SWD, otherwise they will be second.

– Boland Cavaliers (41) will finish top of the log if they beat SWD (with or without a bonus point) or lose but score one bonus point (for losing with fewer than eight points or scoring four tries). If they lose without scoring a bonus point, they will be second.

– Griffons (18) will finish fourth on the log if SWD lose without scoring two bonus points and the Valke and Bulldogs draw and they don’t score four or more tries each.

– SWD Eagles (16) will finish third on the log if they beat the Cavaliers or score two log points, either from a draw or two bonus points. If they lose, they will be out of the semi-finals.

– Valke (16) will be third on the log if they beat Border and SWD lose to Boland, or fourth if they beat Border and SWD beat Boland. They will be fourth on the log if they draw with Border and SWD lose, but they will not make the semi-finals if they lose.

– Border (15) will finish third if they beat the Valke and SWD lose to Boland.

Weekend’s fixtures:

SWD Eagles vs Boland Cavaliers:
Date: Friday 30 September
Kick-off: 17:05
Venue: Outeniqua Park, George
Referee: Rasta Rashivenga
Last three games in Currie Cup First Division:
– 6 August 2010: SWD won 45-36 in George
– 17 September 2010: Boland Cavaliers won 38-33 in Wellington
– 19 August 2011: Boland Cavaliers won 49-24 in Wellington

Border Bulldogs vs Valke:
Date: Friday 30 September
Kick-off: 19:00
Venue: Buffalo City Stadium, East London
Referee: Jason Japtha

Last three games in Currie Cup First Division:
– 20 August 2010: Valke won 38-37 in East London
– 2 October 2010: Border Bulldogs won 56-49 in Kempton Park
– 19 August 2011: Valke won 57-42 in Kempton Park