Looking ahead to the Currie Cup semi-finals

September 02, 2021
2297
Ultimate Rugby

The Currie Cup semi-finals are on the horizon as South Africa’s best battle it out for the trophy of the oldest domestic rugby competition in the world.

The round will kick off in Pretoria where the Bulls host Western Province at Loftus Versveld and Jake White’s charges will take some beating after a quality season. Last weekend, the Bulls just snuck past the Cheetahs in a very competitive match-up between the two old highveld enemies.

Bulls captain Arno Botha shared his thoughts after the game:

“I won’t say we lost momentum,” he said. “In a game a lot of things happen and we had a few slip-ups. Guys have put their hands up and admitted it was them - so it is quite an easy fix. It is individuals that stood up and accepted responsibility - I was one of them. I don’t think it is a problem - in the game there was perhaps one or two times where there was a lack of game time or lack of effort and it cost us. We are still in a good place and we’re positive.

Blue Bulls

“We knew they would come with everything they have. It just shows rugby isn’t easy every week. If we thought it was, we would lose the game. It was more those moments in the game where you catch a dip and the team doesn’t gel well. Then those things happen and they capitalise from our mistakes. That’s all that happened.”

A determined Western Province travelled to Kings Park with the aim of bagging five points in order to advance to the semis. In an uncharacteristically cold night in Durban, Province executed their plan and put the hosts away by nine points. It’s a Province team who seem to be peaking at just the right time. Attack coach Dawie Snyman is pleased by what he saw last weekend.

“The guys are playing a lot better and working off each other a lot better now,” Snyman said. “We tried a few things at the start of the competition but we weren’t always executing it like we wanted to. Now we are getting a bit of rhythm to our attack and we understand what we are trying to create for each other and it is good to see the players playing so well of each other.

“It’s been a tough season that has been hard fought and there has been pressure all the way through. We feel like we have been playing play-off rugby right from the start,” said the assistant coach.

Western Province

“It is really great to see our players standing up and playing there best rugby when it is most needed, and this week is really no different to last week for us as when we went to Durban to play the Sharks we were also in a play-off situation in the sense that we had to win and score a bonus point try.”

Botha believes that his Bulls are in for a tough encounter but has great faith in the capabilities of his charges.

“WP played well and they came out of their shells to get the bonus point. It is also good for us to see how they played in that game as opposed to previous games,” he said. “We have a great focus as a team and we know what to expect.

“We have a strong leadership group in the team and we are comfortable and divide the responsibility between players. We aren’t looking too far forward. For now it is this weekend and we knew we wanted to be in this position - every team wants to be in this position. It is always great to win - every team wants to win and that’s our first task. We are heading into this game with that mindset and it doesn’t really change no matter who the opposition is.

“It doesn’t change because we are defending champs. We all have the same hunger to defend the title as we did when we won. Our mindset is right. You can’t always decide how a game will go - last year was an amazing experience to win the final in those 100 minutes.

“I wouldn’t want it any other way. This time hopefully if we get there we won’t make it as tough for ourselves, but you can’t always decide what happens in a game. If we get there we will need to focused enough and good enough to win.”

The Sharks will meet Griquas in the second of the semi-final clashes and the former will hope to have shaken off last weekend’s loss as they face a “smaller union” which has proved itself quite troublesome to its bigger counterparts this season. Griquas played to a 13-all draw last weekend against the Pumas but still managed to finish third on the overall log.

Griquas

A noteworthy addition to the Sharks outfit this year has been journeyman Lionel Cronje, who has brought his attacking flair into his new team displaced regular flyhalf Curwin Bosch who has taken up the fullback role. Cronje is looking forward to the challenge this weekend.

Natal Sharks

“The Sharks want to play a captivating brand of rugby, an attacking brand that is different to the rest of the country. They also have a squad made up of exciting and talented young players who will have benefited from being part of last year’s Currie Cup final (in Pretoria).”

The Sharks will look to start strongly in order to stamp their authority on the feisty Griquas outfit, anything less than that and it could well be a long evening for the Durban locals. The Bulls vs Province encounter promises to be a cracking affair between two teams who have put together strong displays of true South African rugby. While one feels that the Bulls have the upper hand going into the fixture, Province showed last week that, when they put their minds to it, they can make render themselves very difficult to put down.

Match information:

Vodacom Bulls v DHL Western Province

Date: Friday, 3 September

Venue: Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria

Kick-off: 19h00

Referee: AJ Jacobs

Assistant Referees: Aimee Barrett-Theron, Cwengile Jadezweni

Television Match Official: Quinton Immelman

TV: SuperSport

Cell C Sharks v Tafel Lager Griquas

Date: Saturday, 4 September

Venue: Jonsson Kings Park, Durban