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CURRIE CUP PREVIEW: All eyes on Nelspruit decider

rugby05 September 2024 15:52
By:Gavin Rich
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Ethan Wentzel © Gallo Images

There is the added interest that is provided by Vodacom United Rugby Championship teams using the opportunity to warm up for that competition, but in terms of the destination of this year’s Carling Currie Cup trophy the main focus in the final round of league play will be the Saturday afternoon game in Nelspruit.

Kicking off at 1:30pm to allow fans to both take in the game at the Mbombela Stadium and also watch the big test match between the Springboks and All Blacks later in the day on television, the early afternoon shootout will determine which of the home team Airlink Pumas or the visiting Toyota Cheetahs will advance to the following week’s semifinal round.

The Cheetahs managed to hold onto a slender one-point hold on their fourth place when DHL Western Province denied the Pumas a losing bonus point in last Sunday’s game in Stellenbosch.

That shouldn’t be of any significance though unless there is a draw, for the teams are effectively neck and neck and the winner will advance to the semis and the loser will watch the playoff rounds on television.

The two sides contested last year’s Currie Cup final and in fact are the previous two winners of the competition, the Pumas in 2022 and the Cheetahs in 2023, so there is a lot at stake for the only two sides remaining in the race who don’t play in the URC.

The Pumas played in the last two finals so for them it will be a massive disappointment not to make the playoffs, but the Cheetahs also have plenty to lose in the sense that they don’t play in the URC so this is their big competition outside of the EPCR Challenge Cup.

URC THE FOCUS OF DURBANITES

Two of the aforementioned URC unions clash in Durban on Sunday afternoon and with that competition certainly uppermost in the minds of the Durbanites, it will be interesting to see the team compositions when they are announced in the next few days.

The Sharks started their URC preparations when the URC assistant coaches took over the reins against the Novavit Griffons last Saturday and the individual players would have gained some personal confidence through a thumping win over a team from Welkom that used to be a thorn in their side a few decades ago when they were Natal against Northern Free State.

Of course times have changed dramatically since then, as indeed has the status of a Sharks/Bulls game in this competition.

Sunday’s game certainly doesn’t belong in the league of the historic 1990 Currie Cup final between the teams that saw Natal win the trophy for the first time in their centenary year.

The Bulls were given a bit of a wakeup call when a Fidelity ADT Lions team that was a URC team in all but name thumped them last weekend, but there again, as we mentioned in the preview, the two teams took very different approaches into the game.

While the Lions went full strength, the Bulls stuck to the team that had to that point taken them to top spot on the log.

For Bulls director of rugby, Jake White, the competition appears to have been an opportunity to play his alternative URC/Champions Cup team, the one that he turns to when travel challenges force him to go second string in some URC or Champions Cup games.

Not that it would have been a full strength second string side that lost to the Lions last week anyway, there were players missing, and it will be interesting to see whether in the face of the Lions’ clear intent to win the Currie Cup an adjustment will be made in the selection for Sunday’s game.

SCHICKERLING PLAYS 50TH FOR WP

It would be a good test if the Bulls did decide to use the game as a warmup for the URC as the Sharks are doing.

Warmup for the URC is definitely the agenda of WP as they head to Kimberley on Friday.

WP have made 14 changes, with just fullback Luke Burger remaining from the side that beat the Pumas, although the likes of Springbok prop Steven Kitshoff are on the bench.

So too is Ben-Jason Dixon, who was released from Bok duty this week after playing in the starting team against the All Blacks last Saturday, and hooker Andre-Hugo Venter, who is also now a capped Bok.

Centre Dan du Plessis captains a URC strength team in a game that heralds the return of former stalwart JD Schickerling, who has returned from Japan and will be restarting his career in the blue and white hoops with his 100th game for the union he represented from school level before going overseas.

He is partnered by Ruben van Heerden in what looks like the likely second row combination for the opening URC game against the Ospreys in Swansea on the same day as the final Rugby Championship clash between the Springboks and Pumas at the Mbombela Stadium.

WEEKEND CARLING CURRIE CUP FIXTURES (Round 10)

Suzuki Griquas v DHL Western Province (Kimberley, Friday 3pm)

Fidelity ADT Lions v Novavit Griffons (Johannesburg, Friday 5:15pm)

Airlink Pumas v Toyota Cheetahs (Nelspruit, Saturday 1:30pm)

Hollywoodbets Sharks XV v Vodacom Bulls (Durban, Sunday 3pm)

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