Currie Cup Review Round 8

In Round 8 Currie Cup action, the Blue Bulls thrashed the hapless Valke in Brakpan, the Sharks downed a spirited Griquas in Kimberley, the Free State Cheetahs scored a narrow win over Boland in Wellington and the Golden Lions beat Western Province at Ellis Park.

Currie Cup Results Round 8

Fri 17 Aug: Valke v Blue Bulls, Brakpan [07-48]
Sat 18 Aug: Griquas v Sharks, Kimberley [14-24]
Sat 18 Aug: Boland v Free State Cheetahs, Wellington [20-22]
Sat 18 Aug: Lions v Western Province, Ellis Park [19-16]

Currie Cup Table (@20 August 2007)

[TABLE=12]

Round 8 Game Reviews

Fri 17 Aug: Valke v Blue Bulls, Brakpan [07-48]

The Bulls played some enterprising rugby to outscore the Valke by eight tries to one. John Mametsa continued his brilliant Currie Cup form for the Bulls, scoring a hat-trick of tries. Pedrie Wannenburg was named man-of-the-match after a commanding performance. The winning margin could have been even larger if the Bulls had finished off some of their attacks more clinically. The Valke seem to have lost all confidence in their abilities as they remain winless in this year’s competition.

Prediction: Bulls by 15
Result: Bulls by 41

Scorers:

Valke [07]:
Try : Bertus Swanepoel
Conversion: Riaan Viljoen

Blue Bulls [48]:
Tries: Derick Kuun, John Mametsa (3), Pedrie Wannenburg, Marius Delport, Derick Hougaard, Johan Roets
Conversions: Derick Hougaard (4)

Sat 18 Aug: Griquas v Sharks, Kimberley [14-24]

The Sharks scored three tries in the opening fifteen minutes of the second half to run out victors against Griquas in Kimberley. The scores were tied at half time.

Prediction: Sharks by 7
Result: Sharks by 10

Scorers:

Griquas [14]:
Tries: Evan Botha, Bobby Joubert
Conversions: Conrad Barnard (2)

Sharks [24]:
Tries: Adrian Jacobs (2), Johan Ackermann, Odwa Ndungane
Conversions: Rory Kockott (2)

Sat 18 Aug: Boland v Free State Cheetahs, Wellington [20-22]

The Free State Cheetahs hung on to their unbeaten record in this year’s competition – but only just. They beat a game Boland in Wellington by two points. The Cheetahs led 19-3 on the half hour and looked to have the game under control. Boland, however, showed great determination to not only contain the Free Staters, but to mount a comeback of their own.

Prediction: Cheetahs by 15
Result: Cheetahs by 2

Scorers:

Boland [20]:
Tries: Dewaldt Duvenhage (2)
Conversions: Isma-eel Dollie (2)
Penalties: Dollie (2).

Cheetahs [22]:
Tries: Heinrich Brussow (2), Tewis de Bruyn
Conversions: Willem de Waal (2)
Penalty: De Waal

Sat 18 Aug: Lions v Western Province, Ellis Park [19-16]

The Golden Lions hung on to eke out a victory against Western Province at Ellis Park. The defeat almost certainly ends Province’s chances of making it to the semi-finals of this year’s Currie Cup.

WP coach Gary Gold spouted the usual clichés after the game.

“We never stopped playing,” said the interim coach. “It was encouraging. It gives us a good foundation to build on and I believe we will still grow. I know people do not want to hear any longer that we are a young team but that is the case. We had to try to change many things, including the WP culture.”

The Lions were counting the cost of  victory as centre Jaco Pretorius sustained a rib injury which may rule him out for the remainder of the season.

Prediction: Lions by 7
Result: Lions by 3

Scorers:

Lions [19]:
Try: Jannie Boshoff
Conversion: Louis Strydom
Penalties: Strydom (4)

Western Province [16]:
Try: Sireli Naqelevuki
Conversion: Naas Olivier
Penalties: Olivier (2), Peter Grant

Next Week’s Fixtures

No games scheduled for next week.