The Boks are back in action, and with a little tweak at flyhalf, suddenly there is a little more interest in the game on Saturday evening! Not sure how many troops will be making the nasty 01h10 kickoff on Sunday morning, especially given that Saturday has a nice flow of Currie Cup into Bok rugby which will have coolerboxes and Webers round the country very nervous indeed, but it will be good to see the McCaw and Carter show back in action against the passion of the Argies in their own land … It’s getting pretty damn spicy in Currie Cup country … One slip and you are in the mix to take on the Kings in a few weeks time. One win and you are in the mix for a home semi! To the weekend, then …
Friday
19:10 Sharks vs Blue Bulls (Durban)
Referee: Mark Lawrence
Assistant referees: Ben Crouse, Reuben Rossouw
TMO: Johann Meuwesen
Sportingbet odds: 4/9 on the Sharks, 9/4 on the Bulls
My prediction: Sharks by 7
Sharks: 15 Riaan Viljoen, 14 Odwa Ndungane, 13 Paul Jordaan, 12 Tim Whitehead, 11 Louis Ludik, 10 Meyer Bosman, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Keegan Daniel (captain), 7 Jean Deysel, 6 Jacques Botes, 5 Anton Bresler, 4 Steven Sykes, 3 Wiehahn Herbst, 2 Pieter Dixon, 1 Dale Chadwick
Bench: 16 Kyle Cooper, 17 Julian Redelinghuys, 18 Jandre Marais, 19 Lubabalo Mtembu, 20 Charl McLeod, 21 Marius Joubert, 22 S’bura Sithole.
Blue Bulls: 15 Jurgen Visser, 14 Akona Ndungane, 13 JJ Engelbrecht, 12 Francois Venter, 11 Sampie Mastriet, 10 Louis Fouché/Lionel Cronjé, 9 Jano Vermaak, 8 CJ Stander, 7 Arno Botha, 6 Dewald Potgieter (captain), 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Wilhelm Steenkamp, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Willie Wepener, 1 Morné Mellett.
Bench: Bongo Mbonambi, Frik Kirsten, Grant Hattingh, Warwick Tecklenburg, Ruan Snyman, Lionel Cronjé/Willie du Plessis, Ulrich Beyers.
Saturday
14:00 Western Province vs Golden Lions (Cape Town)
Referee: Marius Jonker
Assistant referees: Christie du Preez, Linston Manuels
TMO: Deon van Blommestein
Assessor: Dennis Immelman
Sportingbet odds: 4/9 on WP, 9/4 on the Lions
My prediction: WP by 7
Western Province: 15 Joe Pietersen, 14 Gerhard van den Heever, 13 JP du Plessis, 12. Marcel Brache, 11 Damian de Allende, 10 Demetri Catrakilis, 9 Louis Schreuder, 8 Jebb Sinclair, 7 Tyrone Holmes, 6 Deon Fourie (captain), 5 De Kock Steenkamp, 4 Don Armand, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Scarra Ntubeni, 1 Steven Kitshoff
Bench: 16 Deon Carstens, 17 Brok Harris, 18 Wilhelm van der Sluys, 19 Helmut Lehmann, 20 Nic Groom, 21 Berton Klaasen, 22 Patrick Howard
Golden Lions: 15 Andries Coetzee, 14 Deon Helberg, 13 Lionel Mapoe, 12 Dylan Des Fountain, 11 Ruan Combrinck, 10 Butch James, 9 Michael Bondesio, 8 Warren Whiteley, 7 Jaco Kriel, 6 Cobus Grobbelaar, 5 Franco Van der Merwe, 4 Michael Rhodes, 3 Jacobie Adriaanse, 2 Callie Visagie, 1 JC Janse van Rensburg (captain)
Bench: 16 Martin Bezuidenhout, 17 Ruan Dreyer, 18 Etienne Oosthuizen, 19 Willie Britz, 20 Ross Cronje, 21 Deon van Rensburg, 22 James Kamana
14:00 Free State vs Griquas (Bloemfontein)
Referee: Jason Jaftha
Assistant referees: Marius van der Westhuizen, François de Bruin
TMO: Gerrie Coetzee
Assessor: Arrie Schoonwinkel
Sportingbet odds: 1/2 on the Cheetahs, and 2/1 on Griquas
My prediction: Free State by 9
Free State: 15 Hennie Daniller, 14 Nico Scheepers, 13 Raymond Rhule, 12 Robert Ebersohn (captain), 11 Rayno Benjamin, 10 Sias Ebersohn, 9 Sarel Pretorius, 8 Philip van der Walt, 7 Lappies Labuschagne, 6 Heinrich Brüssow, 5 Izak van der Westhuizen, 4 Francois Uys, 3 Ross Geldenhuys, 2 Hercu Liebenberg, 1 Marcel van der Merwe.
Bench: 16 AJ le Roux, 17 Brummer Badenhorst, 18 Carl Wegner, 19 Hendro Scholtz, 20 Tewis de Bruyn, 21 Philip Snyman, 22 Andries Strauss.
Griquas: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Jannie Boshoff, 13 Jean Stemmet, 12 Walter Venter, 11. Rocco Jansen 10 Francois Brummer, 9 Marnus Hugo, 8 Leon Karemaker, 7 Wesley Wilkins, 6 Marnus Schoeman, 5 Martin Muller, 4 Ligtoring Landman, 3 Lourens Adriaanse, 2 Ryno Barnes (captain), 1 Janro van Niekerk.
Bench: 16 Matt Dobson, 17 Ivann Espag, 18 Edwin Hewitt, 19 Justin Downey, 20 Jacques Coetzee, 21 Marnitz Boshoff, 22 JP Nel
17:00 South Africa vs Australia, Loftus Versfeld
Referee: Alain Rolland (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Romain Poite (France), Greg Garner (England)
TMO: Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)
Sportingbet odds: 2/5 on the Boks, 5/2 on the Aussies
My prediction: South Africa by 5
South Africa: 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Bryan Habana, 13 Jean de Villiers (captain), 12 Francois Steyn/Jaco Taute, 11 Francois Hougaard, 10 Johan Goosen, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Willem Alberts, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Andries Bekker, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Adriaan Strauss, 1 Beast Mtawarira
Bench: 16 Tiaan Liebenberg, 17 Coenie Oosthuizen, 18 Flip van der Merwe, 19 Marcell Coetzee, 20 Elton Jantjies, 21 Jaco Taute/Juan de Jongh, 22 Patrick Lambie
Australia: 15 Berrick Barnes, 14 Dominic Shipperley, 13 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 12 Pat McCabe, 11 Digby Ioane, 10 Kurtley Beale, 9 Nick Phipps, 8 Radike Samo, 7 Michael Hooper, 6 Dave Dennis, 5 Nathan Sharpe (captain), 4 Kane Douglas, 3 Ben Alexander, 2 Tatafu Polota Nau, 1 Benn Robinson
Bench: 16 Saia Fainga’a, 17 James Slipper, 18 Rob Simmons, 19 Scott Higginbotham, 20 Liam Gill, 21 Brett Sheehan, 22 Anthony Fainga’a
Sunday
01:10 Argentina vs New Zealand, Rosario
Referee: Jaco Peyper (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Craig Joubert (South Africa), Pascal Gauzere (France)
TMO: Francisco Pastrana
Sportingbet odds: 10/11 on Argentina, 7/1 on the All Blacks
My prediction: New Zealand by 12
Argentina: 15 Lucas González Amorosino, 14 Gonzalo Camacho, 13 Marcelo Bosch, 12 Santiago Fernández, 11 Horacio Agulla, 10 Juan Martín Hernández, 9 Martín Landajo, 8 Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe (captain), 7 Juan Manuel Leguizamón, 6 Julio Farías Cabello, 5 Patricio Albacete, 4 Manuel Carizza, 3 Juan Figallo, 2 Eusebio Guiñazú, 1 Rodrigo Roncero.
Bench: 16 Agustín Creevy, 17 Marcos Ayerza, 18 Tomás Vallejos, 19 Tomás Leonardi, 20 Nicolás Vergallo, 21 Martín Rodríguez, 22 Juan Imhoff.
New Zealand: 15 Israel Dagg, 14 Cory Jane, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma’a Nonu, 11 Julian Savea, 10 Dan Carter, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Kieren Read, 7 Richie McCaw (captain), 6 Liam Messam, 5 Sam Whitelock 4 Luke Romano, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Andrew Hore 1 Tony Woodcock
Bench: 16 Keven Mealamu, 17 Charlie Faumuina, 18 Brodie Retallick, 19 Sam Cane, 20 Piri Weepu, 21 Aaron Cruden, 22 Ben Smith
There is a 1 for the road membership up for grabs in the FRG Rugby Championship Superbru pool, and R 2300.00 in Reebok vouchers going in the Currie Cup pool, so head on over and make your predictions!
Other weekend fixtures:
Currie Cup 1st division:
Friday
16:00 Boland vs Border
17:00 Pumas vs Griffons
17:05 SWD vs Valke
19:00 Leopards vs Eastern Province
U21’s:
Friday
14:30 – Pumas vs Griffons
15:00 – SWD vs Valke
16:45 – Sharks vs Western Province
17:00 – Leopards vs Blue Bulls
Saturday
11:45 – Free State vs Lions
15:30 – Griquas vs EP
Bok Stats and facts:
- Saturday’s Test will be the 76th between South Africa and Australia. Of these, the Springboks have won 41, lost 33 and drawn one.
- The two teams have played 37 Tests against each other in The Castle Rugby Championship. The Springboks won 17, lost 19 with one match drawn. Points for: 796; Points against: 865; Tries for: 73; Tries against: 86; Average score: 22-23.
- Since 1933 the Springboks have played only five test matches against Australia at Loftus Versfeld and were triumphant in all five. In 1997 South Africa scored their highest ever total number of points against Australia (61) at this venue.
- South Africa’s record against Australia at Loftus: Played 5; Won 5; Points for 161; Points against 87; Tries for 17; Tries against 9; Average score 32-17.
- Bryan Habana is the most capped Springbok wing with 80 Tests and also holds the records for most tries in all Tests by a Springbok (43) and most tries by a Springbok in this competition (10).
- Bryan needs one try to equal Breyton Paulse’s record of seven career tries in tests against Australia.
- Jean de Villiers, the most capped Springbok centre with 64 Tests in this position, will become only the seventh Springbok to reach 80 Tests for South Africa. This will also be his 20th Test against Australia.
- Johan Goosen, who made his Bok debut in Perth earlier this month aged 20 years, 1 month and 12 days, is the fourth youngest player to play Test rugby for the Springboks since readmission in 1992. The youngest was Frans Steyn (19 years, 5 months, 28 days), followed by Chiliboy Ralepelle (19 years, 11 months, 15 days) and Pat Lambie (20 years and 20 days).
- The referee for this Test is Alain Rolland (Ireland), who has refereed in 14 Tests involving South Africa. The Springboks won eight of those tests and lost six. Rolland, together with Steve Walsh of Australia, are currently the two referees who have refereed the most Test matches involving South Africa.
Springbok Test match records at Loftus Versfeld:
- Most points – 31 by Percy Montgomery (2t, 9c, 1p) in 1998 against Wales.
- Most tries – 3 by Danie Gerber in 1982 against South America and by Pieter Rossouw in 1998 against Wales.
- Most conversions – 9 by Percy Montgomery in 1998 against Wales.
- Most penalty goals – 6 by Gerald Bosch in 1975 against France and by Braam van Straaten in 2000 against England.
- Most drop goals – 1 by each of five players.
