Gauteng neighbours hunt successive Absa Currie Cup wins

XEROX Golden Lions and Vodacom Blue Bulls will play in their first home matches of the Absa Currie Cup season on Friday evening, against the Steval Pumas and ORC Griquas, respectively, as the favourites, as they hunt successive victories in SA’s premier domestic competition.

The Golden Lions, who are in joint first position on the Premier Division log table, with DHL Western Province, after their 51-14 opening round win over the Eastern Province Kings, will host the Steval Pumas in a 19:10 kick-off, on Friday, August 14, at Emirates Airline Park, in Johannesburg.

The Nelspruit side, however, opened their campaign with a deserved 33-24 win over the Cell C Sharks, and the Mpumalanga visitors will be no pushovers.

Further north, in the capital city of Pretoria, the Blue Bulls entertain the ORC Griquas in what is expected to be a bruising encounter, as the Kimberley side will be looking to bounce back from their 43-19 defeat at home, against DHL Western Province. Kick-off is also scheduled for 19:10, on Friday.

Defending champions DHL Western Province will also play their first home match of the season on Saturday, against the Toyota Free State Cheetahs.

The Free State side faltered in their first match, in Bloemfontein, against the Blue Bulls, and new coach, Franco Smith, has made a number of changes to his side in a bid to get the desired result in Cape Town.

WP coach John Dobson will be in charge of his first Absa Currie Cup match at the famous ground in Newlands and his charges will no doubt be highly motivated to keep their momentum going against the youthful looking Free State Cheetahs.

In the final fixture of the weekend, the Cell C Sharks face the EP Kings at Growthpoint Kings Park.

Sharks starting loose forward Jean Deysel and centre Paul Jordaan (bench) will make a welcome return to the team. The pair has been out of action for months due to injury, but their experience will be important as the Durban side go in search of their first victory.

Despite suffering a heavy loss in their opening match against the Xerox Golden Lions, EP Kings coach Brent Janse van Rensburg showed faith in the players who did duty last week, by keeping changes to a minimum.

In the only change to his starting 15, Siyanda Grey, who was on the bench last week, comes in for Sylvian Mahuza on the right wing.

The Xerox Golden Lions have made just one change for their first home match against the Steval Pumas. Sampie Mastriet, the former Springbok Sevens and Vodacom Blue Bulls wing, was bracketed alongside Anthony Volmink. The rest of the team who beat the Eastern Province Kings on Saturday, in Port Elizabeth, were left unchanged.

Steval Pumas coach MJ Mentz, a former Springbok Sevens international and now in his first season as head coach of the Nelspruit-based side, has named an unchanged side for their meeting with the Xerox Golden Lions in Johannesburg. The Steval Pumas, who also won the Vodacom Cup competition earlier this year, scored a deserved 33-24 win over the Sharks, in Nelspruit, last weekend and they will be looking to build on the momentum they have built up this season.

Vodacom Blue Bulls coach Nollis Marais retained the same starting line-up who won in Bloemfontein, last weekend, for their next clash against ORC Griquas, in Pretoria. Marais made only one change to the bench, where fit-again prop Dayan van der Westhuizen replaces Mox Mxoli, who returned to the u.21 side.

Springbok Sevens utility back Ruhan Nel moves from the midfield to the wing for the ORC Griquas after he made a scoring debut last weekend, against WP, in Kimberley. Jonathan Francke comes in at centre while Nel replaces Ederies Arendse. The Griquas also welcome back fit-again flankers Hilton Lobberts and RJ Liebenberg.

DHL Western Province coach John Dobson has named an unchanged starting line-up, but lock Jan de Klerk and back Kobus van Wyk come in on the bench against the Cheetahs. De Klerk replaces Chris van Zyl in a rotational switch, while van Wyk comes in for Johnny Kotze, who took a blow to his head during training.

New flyhalf recruit Fred Zeilinga will make his first start for the Toyota Free State Cheetahs after taking over the No 10 jersey from rookie Niel Marais. Marais, meanwhile, drops out of the match squad completely. Former Western Force flyhalf Sias Ebersohn is back in Bloemfontein and he will provide cover for Zeilinga. The other change in the backline sees AJ Coertzen replace Coenie van Wyk at fullback. Among the forwards, Neil Jordaan will be starting at No 8, with Gerhard Olivier now on the bench, while Armandt Koster will start at lock in place of Willem Serfontein and Niel Raubenheimer makes way for Jacques du Toit at hooker.

Loose forward Jean Deysel returns to the Cell C Sharks starting team, with centre Paul Jordaan also making a welcome return to the team. Sharks director of rugby Gary Gold has made just one change to the backline that started in the 33-24 loss to the Pumas. Fit-again Odwa Ndungane is back on the right wing and replaces the injured S’bura Sithole. Powerful midfielder Andre Esterhuizen, meanwhile, switches from the right to the left wing, with Jordaan named on the bench. Injured flank Jean-Luc du Preez makes way for Deysel, while his twin brother, Dan, comes in for Khaya Majola. Juan Schoeman will scrum at loosehead and Thomas du Toit at tighthead.

Wing Siyanda Grey received an early birthday present when he was included in the EP Kings’ match 23 for the Durban clash. Grey, who turns 26 on Sunday, replaces Sylvian Mahuza on the wing and is the only change to the PE-based side that lost 51-14 at home, to the Golden Lions, last weekend.