[2015 Currie Cup] Round 4

[TRF_heineken]

Venue: Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein
Date: 28 August 2015
Time: 19:10 CAT​

Teams

Free State Cheetahs: 15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Sergeal Petersen, 13 Francois Venter, 12 Rayno Benjamin, 11 Raymond Rhule, 10 Fred Zeilinga, 9 Shaun Venter, 8 Niell Jordaan, 7 Henco Venter, 6 Gerhard Olivier, 5 Francois Uys (captain), 4 Armandt Koster, 3 Luan de Bruin, 2 Jacques du Toit, 1 BG Uys

Substitutes: 16 Elandre Huggett, 17 Caylib Oosthuizen, 18 Reniel Hugo, 19 Freddy Ngoza, 20 Ruan van Rensburg, 21, Tertius Kruger, 22 Sias Ebersohn

Western Province: 15. Cheslin Kolbe, 14. Kobus van Wyk, 13. Johnny Kotze, 12. Jaco Taute, 11. Seabelo Senatla, 10. Demetri Catrakilis, 9. Godlen Masimla, 8. Nizaam Carr (captain), 7. Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 6. Rynhardt Elstadt, 5. Ruan Botha, 4. Jean Kleyn, 3. Wilco Louw, 2. Bongi Mbonambi, 1. Alistair Vermaak

Substitutes: 16. Scarra Ntubeni, 17. JP Smith, 18. Jan de Klerk, 19. Chris Cloete, 20. Louis Schreuder, 21. Kurt Coleman, 22. Dillyn Leyds

---

Venue: Mbombela Stadium, Nelspruit
Date: 28 August 2015
Time: 19:10 CAT​

Teams

Pumas: 15 JW Bell, 14 Bernado Botha, 13 Jerome Pretorius, 12 Stefan Watermeyer (captain), 11 Rosco Spekman, 10 JC Roos, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Jason-Colin Fraser, 7 Uzair Cassiem, 6 Marnus Schoeman, 5 Giant Mtyanda, 4 Rudi Mathee, 3 Khwezi Mona, 2 Frank Herne, 1 Corne Fourie

Substitutes: 16 Francois du Toit, 17 De-Jay Terblanche, 18 Jannie Stander, 19 Jaco Bouwer, 20 Reynier van Rooyen, 21 Justin van Staden, 22 Hoffmann Maritz

Golden Lions: 15 Ruan Combrinck, 14 Sampie Mastriet, 13 Stokkies Hanekom, 12 Howard Mnisi, 11 Courtnall Skosan , 10 Marnitz Boshoff, 9 Ross Cronje (captain), 8 Fabian Booysen, 7 Stephan de Wit, 6 Kwagga Smith, 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Martin Muller, 3 Ruan Dreyer, 2 Robbie Coetzee, 1 Jacques van Rooyen

Substitutes: 16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Julian Redelinghuys, 18 MB Lusaseni, 19 Jano Venter, 20 Jaco van der Walt, 21 Alwyn Hollenbach, 22 Anthony Volmink

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Venue: Griquas Park, Kimberley
Date: 29 August 2015
Time: 15:00 CAT​

Teams

Griquas: 15 Riaan Viljoen, 14 Sandile Ngcobo, 13 Michael van der Spuy, 12 Clinton Swart, 11 Ntabeni Dukisa, 10 Francois Brummer, 9 Tian Meyer (captain), 8 RJ Liebenberg, 7 Jonathan Adendorf, 6 Johan Wessels, 5 Hugo Kloppers, 4 Jaco Nepgen, 3 Ewald van der Westhuizen, 2 AJ le Roux, 1 Steph Roberts

Substitutes: 16 Martin Bezuidenhout, 17 Luxolo Koza, 18 Hilton Lobberts, 19 Carel Greeff, 20 Rudi van Rooyen, 21 Jonathan Francke, 22 Ruhan Nel

Blue Bulls: 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Travis Ismaiel, 13 Dries Swanepoel, 12 Burger Odendaal, 11 Jamba Ulengo, 10 Tian Schoeman, 9 Ivan van Zyl, 8 Arno Botha, 7 Jannes Kirsten, 6 Lappies Labuschagne (captain), 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Jacques du Plessis, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Bandise Maku, 1 Dean Greyling

Substitutes: 16 Corniel Els, 17 Dayan van der Westhuizen, 18 RG Snyman, 19 Nick de Jager, 20 Andre Warner, 21 Louis Fouche, 22 Dan Kriel

---

Venue: Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth
Date: 29 August 2015
Time: 17:05 CAT​

Teams

EP Kings: 15 Scott van Breda, 14 Siyanda Grey, 13 Ronnie Cooke (vice-captain), 12 JP du Plessis, 11 Luther Obi, 10 Karlo Aspeling, 9 Enrico Acker, 8 Tim Agaba, 7 Thembelani Bholi, 6 Luke Watson (captain), 5 Cornell Hess, 4 Steven Sykes, 3 Tom Botha, 2 Martin Ferreira, 1 Lizo Gqoboka

Substitutes: 16 Schalk Ferreira, 17 Edgar Marutlulle, 18 Simon Kerrod, 19 Stefan Willemse, 20 Paul Schoeman, 21 Dwayne Kelly, 22 Hansie Graaff

Natal Sharks: 15. Joe Pietersen, 14. Odwa Ndungane, 13. Paul Jordaan, 12. Andre Esterhuizen, 11. S'bura Sithole, 10. Lionel Cronje, 9. Michael Claassens, 8. Philip van der Walt, 7. Daniel du Preez, 6. Francois Kleinhans, 5. Marco Wentzel (captain), 4. Etienne Oosthuizen, 3. Gerhard Engelbrecht, 2. Monde Hadebe, 1. Dale Chadwick

Substitutes: 16. Kyle Cooper, 17. Thomas du Toit, 18. JC Astle, 19. Jean-Luc du Preez, 20. Stefan Ungerer, 21. Wandile Mjekevu, 22. Garth April

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

4 away wins this time? WP again in the mix in the one that might go to the home team.

 

[TRF_heineken]

4 away wins this time? WP again in the mix in the one that might go to the home team.

Pumas at home are a difficult prospect. And the Lions wasn't that convincing against the Sharks...

I say 1 home win and 3 away wins...

 

[TRF_Ezequiel]

Pumas are a strong candidate to make the play-offs this year. They are amazingly strong at home

 

[TRF_heineken]

I just realised that some teams play each other twice while others play each other only once.

Seems like there are 2 "Conferences".

Group A
Blue Bulls
Western Province
Free State Cheetahs
Griquas

Group B
Golden Lions
Natal Sharks
Pumas
EP Kings

Group A's teams play each other twice and the teams in Group B only once, and vice versa...

 

[TRF_Ezequiel]

Same format as last years Currie Cup, Hein.

2014 conferences and their ranking the previous year.

X conference:
Blue Bulls (5th)
EP Kings (promoted)
Golden Lions (4th)
Western Province (1st)

Y conference:
Free State Cheetahs (3rd)
Griquas (6th)
Natal Sharks (2nd)
Pumas (promoted)

2015 conferences and their ranking the previous year.

X conference:
Blue Bulls (4th)
Griquas (7th)
Free State Cheetahs (5th)
Western Province (1st)

Y conference:
Natal Sharks (3rd)
Pumas (6th)
Golden Lions (2nd)
Eastern Province Kings (8th)


Before looking into this, I thought teams were paired and moved conferences together...

Bulls and WP
Kings and Lions
Sharks and Pumas
Cheetahs and Griquas

The way I look at it now, it seems the conferences are determined based on the standings and sorted something like this:


1st, 4th, 5th and 7th in X
2nd, 3rd, 6th and 8th in Y

They split the play off teams the way they are set up in the semis (1st and 4th compared to 2nd and 3rd) and then divide the remaining teams 1 by 1.

 

[TRF_heineken]

Just shows you how little I watched last year.

Interesting idea though...

Anyways, back to the weekend's rugby. Hanro Liebenberg had an emergency operation after he ruptured a small intestine in the weekend's match. He will be out for a while for the Bulls. But the good news is that Arno Botha is back after yet another lengthy injury lay-off.

 

[TRF_Ezequiel]

It gets worse. In the new format, the 6 provinces which are the main feeder to Super Rugby franchises are protected from relegation.

 

[TRF_heineken]

So there has been already 2 teams announced. I will edit the OP as they annouce the others.

I see Leyds has been relegated to the bench. Probably for his dance antics, which I think is good move by the coach. Showboating before the game is won is just stupid.

I'm very glad to see Jan De Klerk getting a shot for WP. I used to date his sister and his dad is a family friend.

 

[Sker]

Happy for Masimla, was in the same school as him. Never knew he was that into rugby.

 

[TRF_heineken]

Okay, so all teams have been announced and added to the OP.

Bulls will be without Hougaard as his sister is getting married.

So here's my picks for the weekend.

WP to win by 12 vs. Cheetahs
Lions to win by 4 vs. Pumas
Blue Bulls to win by 15 vs. Griquas
Sharks to win by 20 vs. Kings

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

WP by 3
Lions by 7
Bulls by 20
Sharks by 15