This weekend’s Currie Cup rugby results probably presented most pundits and supporters with one or two unexpected results.
Currie Cup Rugby Week 10 Wrap Up
Eastern Province Kings 26 Steval Pumas 25
The Pumas lack of discipline certainly cost them in this game as they had to contend with two yellow cards in the first half. To be fair to the Kings they played with an intensity and pace that caught the Pumas by surprise, which was nearly their own downfall as they butchered a number of scoring opportunities in their hast to get the ball to their backline filled with exciting runners. It has been a hard first season back in the Premier Division for the Kings as this was their first year back in the top flight and this was the team’s first year together, but they did show that they can be competitive. For the Pumas, it was a bitter sweet season. They started with a bang and claimed a number of big scalps, but they did lose momentum at the end. The Currie Cup is going to be very competitive in 2015 as these two teams will improve.
Golden Lions 47 Toyota Free State Cheetahs 7
What can we really say about this game? The Lions hammered the Cheetahs from the outset and the Cheetahs were pretty much in disarray for most of the game. The Lions regularly had the Cheetahs scrum running in reverse gear and was indicative of the tough afternoon they experienced. With this win the Lions secured a home semi-final against the Cell C Sharks next weekend. It is unfortunate to have to point out that the Cheetahs were dire and it was not for a lack of talent, with the number of capped Springbok and fringe Springbok players in their squad. Things are not well in Bloemfontein!
DHL Western Province 20 Cell C Sharks 28
Western Province fielded a side well short of their best for this fixture as they had already secured a home semi-final and gave the bulk of their squad the weekend off. It seemed to back fire on them as early as the 56th second of the game when they conceded an early try. They came back fast and used their backline filled with youngsters and 7’s stars to run the Sharks off their feet and it looked certain that the weakened Province team would beat the full strength Sharks team. To their credit, the Sharks played championship rugby and chipped away at the deficit through penalties and eventually took the lead with a lineout maul that lead to a try. Province host the Bulls in next weekend’s semi-final in Cape Town and it will be interesting to see if they would be able to pick up their momentum immediately after a weekend off, as the Bulls played their full strength team against Griquas in Pretoria.
Vodacom Blue Bulls 46 GWK Griquas 12
The Bulls beat the Griquas as expected and assured themselves of a semi-final spot which they have not seen for a while. They were not as convincing as they should have been and were adequate at best. The Bulls were frantic in the beginning and allowed the Griquas to be more competitive than they should have been. The Bulls won this game purely on experience and not necessarily on anything else special that would lead them to the final and the title.
For what it is worth, I see Western Province easily beating the Bulls in semi-final one and the Golden Lions narrowly edging out the Sharks in semi-final two.
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