Bulls and Province hunting Currie Cup playoff spots against table toppers

The Bulls and Western Province will be hunting spots in the Currie Cup playoffs on the final weekend of pool action when they host the Cheetahs and Sharks respectively in Pretoria and Cape Town on Saturday afternoon.

It is set to be an emotional match between the Bulls and Cheetahs at Loftus (kick-off 3pm) with it possibly the final home match for Morne Steyn and Bismarck du Plessis.

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Steyn retires at the end of the season, while Du Plessis will be leaving the Bulls and both players will be keen to help their side secure a semi-final place with a win over the Cheetahs.

However, the second on the log visitors will have other ideas and they will be keen to build on their good win over the Pumas last weekend and try and claim top spot on the log.

“The week has been good. We are coming off a good win against the Pumas which always helps. It was a tough month before that results wise but there is a good vibe in the camp at the moment and we have a lot of confidence going into the Bulls match,” said Cheetahs stalwart Ruan Pienaar, who unfortunately misses the match due to a family bereavement.

Always tough

“It is always tough. There is never an easy game when you go to Pretoria. A lot of their URC guys are back in the Currie Cup mix which makes it a lot more challenging. They have been playing at a really high level over the past few weeks and have performed really well.

“So it is a level up for us and we will have to be at our best on Saturday if we want to come out on top come the 80^th minute.”

In the final game of the 2023 Currie Cup pool phase Province know that a full house of points over the table topping Sharks will be their only chance of making it into the knockouts, so they will be going all out in their match at the Cape Town Stadium (kick-off 5:05pm).

The Sharks are however in terrific form having won their last seven matches on the trot and they will want to make sure of top spot on the log while also taking good momentum into the competition semi-finals.