Sharks scrumhalf Rory Kockott might be heading for Western Province next season.
Mercury columnist Mike Greenaway indicated last week that the Sharks No 9 was in talks with Western Province with a view to joining them next year.
Given that his shares in Durban have fallen dramatically over the course of the 2010 season, the news may not come as a shock to fans. Charl McLeod has been Sharks coach John Plumtree’s preferred choice in the Currie Cup this season.
The Sharks have already lost the services of Ulster-bound Ruan Pienaar, and should Kockott leave too, the Durban-based outfit would find themselves short of options in the scrumhalf position with the inaugural Super 15 looming.
Conrad Jantjes makes his long awaited return to trugby for Western Province as they take on the Griffons in a friendly match.
The 30-year-old Jantjes has been out of action since May last year, when he fractured his leg while playing for the Stormers against the Chiefs in the Super 14.
The recovery process has been a slow and arduous one for the fullback who has been training with the Western Province U21 squad to regain some match fitness.
Jantjes will be thrust straight back into the Western Province starting XV, as coach Allister Coetee’s hand was somewhat forced by the departure of regular fullback Joe Pietersen to France and wing-cum-fullback Gio Aplon away with the Springboks.
“Connie’s [Jantjes] position is a tough one because we lost Joe [Pietersen] and Gio [Aplon] has gone to the Boks, so he has got to swim now,” Coetzee told rugby365.com.
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?
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.
Xerox Lions hooker Hans van Dyk has been cited for allegedly biting Vodacom Western Province flanker Francois Louw on the forearm during the first half of an Absa Currie Cup Premier Division match in Johannesburg on Saturday.
Van Dyk was cited by commissioner, Attorney Mr Andy Prior of Durban, after reviewing video and other evidence.
Van Dyk is currently on leave and out of the country. A date for the hearing will be set on his return.
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.
The arbitration hearing between the Golden Lions Rugby Union (GLRU) and Springbok centre Jaque Fourie (regarding his move to Western Province) has been postponed until 12 October.
The hearing, which started on Monday, was adjourned on Tuesday after no conclusion had been reached.
“In reference to the arbitration between Jaque Fourie and the Golden Lions Rugby Union, no finality has been reached at this stage.
“As such, the hearing has been adjourned to reconvene on Monday, 12 October 2009,” read a brief statement by the GLRU.
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.
In an ill-tempered 
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The arbitration hearing between the Golden Lions Rugby Union (GLRU) and 
