Following a successful return to the Currie Cup Premier Division last weekend, Pumas coach Jimmy Stonehouse has opted for continuity in his selections for Friday’s match against defending champions the Sharks in Durban.

Stonehouse made a single change to the run-on side that beat the Free State Cheetahs 28-21 in Mbombela over the weekend.

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Lock forward Marius Coetzer will move to the bench, with Giant Mtyanda earning a starting berth.

Further good news was that Pumas flyer Rosco Speckman, who was a late withdrawal for the Cheetahs clash, has fully recovered from a groin injury and will play off the bench.

Pumas assistant coach MJ Mentz said his charges were buoyed by past performances in Durban and they would be looking to return with some points in the bag.

“We’ve come away with bonus points before and if we beat them it would be good, but if we can get bonus points we would also consider it a job well done,” Mentz said.

While Stonehouse was not completely satisfied with his side’s performance, he was nevertheless encouraged by the winning start.

“For the first game back in the Currie Cup it wasn’t too bad, but I would like to see us make better use of our opportunities,” he said.

“We should be better on Friday evening. We will face a much stronger team but we hope it will go better.”

Stonehouse said although the Sharks will post a tougher challenge than the Cheetahs, his team will stick to their game plan instead of playing low-risk rugby.

Pumas: 15 JW Bell, 14 Ruwellyn Isbell, 13 JW Jonker, 12 Stefan Watermeyer, 11 Rosco Speckman, 10 Justin van Staden, 9 Reynier van Rooyen, 8 Renaldo Bothma, 7 Jaco Bouwer, 6 Corne Steenkamp (Captain), 5 Giant Mtyanda, 4 Frikkie Spies, 3 DeJay Terblanche, 2 Francois du Toit, 1 Vincent Koch
Replacements: 16 Frankie Herne, 17 Corne Fourie, 18 Marius Coetzer, 19 Uzair Cassiem, 20 Snake Nyoka, 21 JC Roos, 22 Jerome Pretorius.

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Describing their opening loss to Western Province as “first game jitters”, EP Kings coach Carlos Spencer named an unchanged starting line-up for their second Currie Cup premier division rugby match against the Lions in Johannesburg on Saturday.

In their return to the top flight domestic rugby, the Kings lost 35-16 to WP in Port Elizabeth on Friday and Spencer said they were expecting another tough challenge against the Gauteng outfit.

“We did miss some opportunities against Western Province and I guess there were some first game jitters,” Spencer said on Tuesday.

“So we have shown faith in the players by sticking with the same XV and hopefully they will be over any nervousness.”

The Kings coach said they had spoken at length about the crucial errors they made against WP and were intent on getting it right against the Lions.

“We didn’t take control of certain phases of play against WP and rushed things at times.”

“We need to rectify that against the Lions to have any chance of winning.”

After the Johannesburg side’s convincing win over the Blue Bulls at the weekend, Spencer said the Lions would be one of the teams to beat this season.

“Lions are a very good team, with a strong scrum and a strong driving lineout, plus a very good loose forward trio.”

“We understand it will be a tough game but we don’t believe the Lions are unbeatable.”

The only change to the Kings squad is the inclusion of lock Steven Sykes on the bench in place of Darron Nell.

Spencer said Sykes, one of the Kings’ more experienced players, would come off the bench during the match.

“We don’t think Steven has had quite enough game time after two to three months off at this stage, but we will definitely use him off the bench.”

EP Kings: 15 Scott van Breda, 14 Ronnie Cooke, 13 Tim Whitehead, 12 Shane Gates, 11 Siviwe Shakes Soyizwapi, 10 Gary van Aswegen, 9 Tobies Botes. 8 Luke Waton (Captain), 7 Stefan Willemse, 6 Thembelani Bholi, 5 David Bulbring, 4 Steven Cummins, 3 Tom Botha, 2 Edgar Marutllule, 1 Lizo Gqoboka
Replacements: 16 Albe de Swardt, 17 CJ van der Linde, 18 Steven Sykes, 19 Aidon Davis, 20 Kevin Luiters, 21 George Whitehead, 22 Ntabeni Dukisa.

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Dean Greyling

Vodacom Blue Bulls prop Dean Greyling was cited following the ABSA Currie Cup Premier Division match between the Xerox Golden Lions and the Blue Bulls at Ellis Park on Saturday and will appear before a SARU disciplinary hearing on Wednesday.

Citing commissioner Freek Burger cited him under law 10.4 (b), that states ‘a player must not stamp or trample on an opponent’. Greyling is alleged to have committed the transgression in the 69th minute against Golden Lions prop Jacques van Rooyen.

The hearing on Wednesday will begin at 16:30 in Cape Town and advocate André Oosthuizen is the Judicial Officer.