It was Currie Cup Semi final day last year in South Africa, as the Sharks hosted the Cheetahs in Durban, and the Bulls travelled to Cape Town to challenge Western Province.
The Bulls won 21-19, thanks to a late Morne Steyn penalty. But do you remember that infamous tackle on Fourie du Preez by Schalk Burger?
Enjoy…
According to statistics the Cheetahs have the recipe to take the excellent penalty kicking of Morne Steyn out of the equation - excellent discipline.
The simple recipe, which none of the All Blacks, Wallabies, British and Irish Lions or other Currie Cup teams could come up with this year, is outstanding discipline.
The Cheetahs have conceded only 129 penalties to date in this year’s Currie Cup, which is fewer than any other team. The Blue Bulls have been penalised 23 more times than the Free Staters.
In fact, the Bulls have conceded the third most penalties in the competition.
Western Province, who ironically lost their semifinal against the Bulls by conceding a late penalty at Newlands, conceded the fewest penalties after the Cheetahs with 135.
The Lions (141), Sharks (157) and Griquas (165) all conceded more penalties than the Cheetahs.
In an ill-tempered Currie Cup semi-final match which at times almost reached boiling point, the Cheetahs shocked the Sharks in the dying seconds to beat them 23-21 in their Absa Currie Cup semifinal in Durban on Saturday. The standout player was undoubtedly Cheetahs flyhalf Jacques-Louis Potgieter who scored the winning drop goal on the stroke of full-time, with the Sharks desperately defending their one-point lead, and scored one of the visitors’ two tries. Potgieter secured 18 of the Cheetahs’ 23 points.
The unerring boot of flyhalf Morne Steyn condemned Western Province to also-rans when he landed seven match-winning penalties in the Bulls 21-19 win in their semi-final at Newlands on Saturday evening. Province enjoyed the distinction of scoring the only try of the match and, late in the second half, they looked like they could score an upset win over the highly-fancied Bulls but the Springbok marksman landed the decider three minutes from the end.
The match marked the end of a woeful day for Province who saw their age-grade sides taste defeat in the Under-19 and Under-21 divisions as well.
Western Province lock Andries Bekker must prove on Saturday that he truly belongs with the best locks in the world if the Blue Bulls are to be stopped from reaching their second consecutive ABSA Currie Cup final.
The Western Province Springbok, although contributing hugely in general play, looked well short of his best in the lineouts in the last two WP matches against the Lions and the Boland Cavaliers. They were Bekker’s first full matches in a while following a long injury layoff which preceded the Springbok international season.
But if the Bulls think that Bekker’s average showing in the lineouts in those games was a reason for optimism, they could be in for a surprise. While WP coach Allister Coetzee stopped short of describing the system used by WP in the last two games as a ruse, he left little to the imagination when asked about it this week.
“Let’s just say that there were reasons for that and it is related to Saturday’s game but I don’t want to talk about it,” said Coetzee.
The Cheetahs again had the Leopards‘ number when they ran in a convincing 60-17 victory over their North Western neighbours in their Currie Cup match in a wet Bloemfontein on Friday night. The Leopards started and finished with a bang, but the fireworks were delivered by a slick Cheetahs side who ran the Leopards ragged in difficult conditions.
Western Province secured a 2009 Currie Cup home semifinal berth in superb fashion with an emphatic 50-7 win over neighbours the Boland Kavaliers in the Absa Currie Cup derby at a sun-drenched Newlands on Saturday afternoon. Admittedly, the Boland side never at any stage looked like posing a threat to the vastly superior Province side, but they provided the ’soft’ sort of opposition that was ideal preparation for the Newlands-based outfit ahead of the semifinal in a fortnight’s time. Province served notice at the outset that they were there to play open rugby, and conditions at Newlands were ideal. At the end of it all, Province matched the sizzling hot weather with seven well-taken tries, against one from Boland.
The Blue Bulls moved to third place on the Currie Cup log when they beat Griquas 61-27 at Loftus on Saturday, and with the win dented their opposition’s hopes of playing in the semifinals. The Blue Bulls ran in eight tries to Griquas’ four, and were in complete control from just after midway through the first half, with Griquas getting little possession. The reality, however, is that the Blue Bulls did not look like possible Currie Cup champions except in spurts, when they were really impressive.
The Sharks were stretched all the way but killed off a determined Lions team to reach the Currie Cup playoffs after a rusty display by narrowly beating them 19-17 in the Absa Stadium on Saturday.
Naka Drotske was not allowed to speak to Australian referee Ian Smith following the match between the Blue Bulls and the Free State Cheetahs on Saturday.
An unhappy Drotské said he had ventured to the dressing room after his side’s 27-30 defeat to quiz Smith about some of his decisions but he was prevented from doing so by touch judge Cobus Wessels.
“I walked to the referee and asked him ‘Ian, may I please ask you a question’, after which he said ‘yes, sure’.
“When I started talking to him about the high kick in which Lionel Mapoe had been involved, Cobus Wessels intervened and said I was not allowed to speak to Smith.”
Wessels said that Drotské should give Smith a chance to shower and return later.
“When I returned 10 minutes later, the door was locked and nobody was there.”
South African referees boss André Watson said it was not correct protocol to go to the referee’s dressing room after the game.
“The unwritten protocol is that teams and referees shower first and thereafter speak on neutral territory. That also allows time for emotion to subside,” he said.
Western Province stormed into the Currie Cup play-offs with a rousing 43-3 win over Griquas in the Absa Currie Cup Premier Division match at Newlands on Saturday afternoon. Province crowned their victory with a bonus point after they managed five tries against a side that scored a shock victory over them in first-round competition. A heavy downpour and a soggy pitch greeted the teams as they ran out. As a result of the heavy underfoot conditions play was frequently punctuated by knock-ons, dropped passes and spilt
catches.
The Sharks beat the lowly Leopards 34-20 in their match in Durban on Friday night and also added a bonus point to their log tally, but the Leopards would have been the happier of the two teams at full-time. Without six of their regulars, who were either injured or rested, the North West side - second from last with only one win from 11 matches before the game - tackled their hearts out and really took it to the Sharks, who had a number of their Tri-Nations Springboks back on the field.
The Blue Bulls started off at a tremendous tempo and obviously intent on getting a bonus point fifer, but in the end they had to pull out all the stops to prevent the Free State Cheetahs from scoring the winning try at Loftus on Saturday. Both sides scored three tries in the Blue Bulls’ 30-27 Currie Cup win.
Source + Pic: sarugby.com
Potchefstroom’s main road through town on the way to Cape Town could aptly be renamed Luke Watson Drive after the Western Province captain set up his team’s 37-3 Currie Cup victory over the Leopards on Friday night. Watson scored two vital tries in the second half, tailing behind the Western Province drives, and set up a third in similar fashion for centre Juan de Jongh. Province scored five tries, three as a result of their forward drives and two by their quick backs Joe Pietersen and Gio Aplon, but the Leopards deserve much more credit than their single penalty goal might indicate.
Griquas came from behind in a hard-fought match on Saturday to beat the Lions 36-31 and keep their Currie Cup playoff hopes alive with flyhalf Naas Olivier contributing 26 points in a faultless display of goal kicking. It was a tough encounter on the hard field of Hoërskool Diamantveld where the match had to be moved because of the GWK Stadium being used for a soccer fixture. Although the commitment of the two sides cannot be faulted, too many handling mistakes and some poor options distracted from making it an outstanding match.
The Blue Bulls ran the Boland Kavaliers off their feet on Saturday, beating the home team 72-16 after leading 22-16 at halftime. The Bulls, who took total control in the second half, scored 10 tries to one and got their bonus point try in the 49th minute when replacement flanker Derick Kuun dotted down his first of three tries. With a well-deserved victory and an easy five points the Bulls are firmly in contention for a place in the play-offs. The Bulls scored 50 unanswered points in the last 40 minutes and destroyed the Boland defence.
The Sharks returned to the top of the Currie Cup log when they beat the Free State Cheetahs 24-13 in a fast-moving match in Durban on Saturday, also bringing an end to the Cheetahs’ six-match winning streak.
Griquas kept their Currie Cup hopes alive with a five pointer at Wellington on Friday. The visitors from Kimberley beat the Boland Kavaliers 31-23 after leading 21-9 at halftime. The match was by no means a spectacle, but Griquas did enough to win more comfortably than the final score suggests. For the Kavaliers it was an improved effort, but still not good enough at this level. The Griquas pack was solid throughout with No 8 Jonathan Mokuena, flanker Rohan Kitshoff and lock Jacques Lombaard prominent.
The Lions stayed on course to reach the semi-finals of the Currie Cup with a solid 31-13 win over the Leopards at Coca-Cola Park on Friday night. The Lions scored five tries to one against a Leopards side which seemed strangely subdued before the break. The visitors were disappointing in the first half - especially considering their two good performances in trouncing the Boland Cavaliers and then losing 34-33 to Griquas last weekend.
The Free State Cheetahs rounded off a magnificent second-half fightback to run-out close-shave 33-31 victors over Western Province in Bloemfontein on Saturday afternoon. Just when it seemed the Cape Town visitors would sneak in with a 31-26 win, the Cheetahs were awarded a penalty try in the final minute of the match to level scores at 31-all. However, Cheetahs flyhalf Jacques-Louis Potgieter added the conversion to secure a thrilling 33-31 victory in a match which was a brilliant advertisement for South African rugby.
The Sharks scored eight tries to nil as they thrashed a gallant Boland Cavaliers side 48-3 in a Currie Cup rugby
match in Wellington on Friday. The Sharks led 19-3 at halftime with flanker Jacques Botes going on to score a hat-trick of tries. Botes was all over the show and scored his second try after a lone sprint when he picked up a loose ball on his side’s own 25-metre line. The visitors, however, battled to get their rhythm back after the interval and could score only in the 59th minute via a try by scrumhalf Charl McLeod. The damwall then burst and the Sharks managed four more tries. Stefan Terblanche had an excellent game for the visitors and had a hand in most of their movements.
The GWK Griquas squeaked passed a game Leopards outfit 34-33 (half-time 13-19) in a thrilling match at Olen Park in Potchefstroom on Friday evening.
The Free State Cheetahs won their fifth consecutive Currie Cup match after starting the season with four losses when they beat a gutsy Golden Lions side 20-16 in Bloemfontein on Saturday. After an uninspiring but very, very tough first half, there was more life and expansion after halftime, and also plenty of excitement after the Lions had crept back to be within one score of winning the match. The lasting impression, however, is that neither of the two sides is likely to be a strong contender for the Currie Cup title.
Table-topping Western Province had a championship look about them in their 25-19 victory over the Blue Bulls in the North-South derby at Newlands on Saturday evening.
The victory was a fitting reward for Province who managed to overturn a 16-12 first-half deficit with a spirited second-half display to clinch another fine victory and avenge their first-round 30-22 defeat at Loftus.
Source + Pic: sarugby.com
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