Weekend predictions

Tank Lanning

There is an absolute Everest of rugby to wade through these days, and sadly, it is killing the game. But no matter how hard those that run the show try to kill the golden goose, when the Boks take on the All Blacks in South Africa, it is a “Jimmy McCracken” of a weekend. Host it at a 90 000 modern day marvel in a party atmosphere, and it just gets better. I missed the last encounter at FNB, so am super excited to be joining the Energade team as their guest on Saturday! Up front, though, a little trip to another classic SA stadium, the Mbombela, to commentate on the 1^st division semi between the Pumas and the Griffons … 1350 people showed up to last week’s encounter. Tale of 2 cities?

Righto, to the rugby weekend then … Use these predictions at your peril my friends. But do a lot better than me, and you stand a chance of winning a 1 for the road membership in the 4 Nations Front Row Grunt Superbru pool, and Reebok vouchers to the value of R 2 300 in the Currie Cup pool … Box on!
Friday:

19:10 Blue Bulls vs Western Province
Referee: Jonathan Kaplan
Assistants: Tiaan Jonker, Pieter de Villiers
TMO: JC Fortuin

Sportingbet odds: Bulls: 4/5. WP: 5/4
 
My prediction: Bulls by 3

Blue Bulls: 15 Jürgen Visser, 14 Akona Ndungane, 13 JJ Engelbrecht, 12 Francois Venter, 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Louis Fouchè, 9 Jano Vermaak, 8 CJ Stander, 7 Jean Cook, 6 Dewald Potgieter (captain), 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Wilhelm Steenkamp, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Willie Wepener, 1 Mornè Mellett/Dean Greyling
Bench: 16 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17 Frik Kirsten, 18 Grant Hattingh, 19 Warwick Tecklenburg, 20 Ruan Snyman, 21 Lionel Cronjè, 22 Ulrich Beyers

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 Nic Groom, 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 JJ Gagiano, 21 Louis Schreuder, 22 Pat Howard

Saturday:
 
14:00 Griquas vs Golden Lions
Referee: Mark Lawrence
Assistants: Marius van der Westhuizen, François de Bruin
TMO: Deon van Blommestein
 
Sportingbet odds: Griquas: 5/2. Lions: 2/5
 
My prediction: Lions by 5

Griquas: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Jannie Boshoff, 13 Jean Stemmet, 12 JP Nel, 11 Rocco Jansen, 10 Francois Brummer, 9 Marnus Hugo, 8 Leon Karemaker, 7 Justin Downey, 6 Marnus Schoeman, 5 Martin Muller, 4 Ligtoring Landman, 3 Lourens Adriaanse, 2 Ryno Barnes (captain), 1 Steph Roberts
Bench: 16. Matthew Dobson, 17. Ivann Espag, 18. Edwin Hewitt, 19. Jaco Nepgen, 20. Jacques Coetzee, 21. Marnitz Boshoff, 22. Walter Venter

Lions: 15 Andries Coetzee, 14 Deon Helberg, 13 Deon van Rensburg, 12 Alwyn Hollenbach, 11 Ruan Combrinck, 10 Butch James, 9 Ross Cronje, 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 Bandise Maku, 17 Caylib Oosthuizen, 18 Willie Britz, 19 Derick Minnie, 20 Guy Cronje, 21 Dylan Des Fountain, 22 James Kamana

17:00 South Africa vs New Zealand
Referee: Alain Rolland (Ireland)
Assistants: Romain Poite (France), Greg Garner (England)
TMO: Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)

Sportingbet odds: Boks: 2/1. All Blacks 4/9
 
My prediction: All Blacks by 7

Springboks: 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Bryan Habana, 13 Jean de Villiers (captain), 12 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 Juan de Jongh, 22 Patrick Lambie

All Blacks: 15 Israel Dagg, 14 Cory Jane, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma’a Nonu, 11 Hosea Gear, 10 Dan Carter, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Kieran Read, 7 Richie McCaw (captain), 6 Liam Messam, 5 Sam Whitelock, 4 Brodie Retallick, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Andrew Hore, 1 Tony Woodcock
Bench: 16 Keven Mealamu, 17 Ben Franks, 18 Luke Romano, 19 Adam Thomson, 20 Piri Weepu, 21 Aaron Cruden, 22 Tamati Ellison

19:15 Free State vs The Sharks
Referee: Jason Jaftha
Assistants: Joey Salmans, Marc van Zyl
TMO: Gerrie Coetzee

Sportingbet odds: Free State: 8/5, Sharks: 5/8
 
My prediction: Sharks by 5

Free State: 15 Hennie Daniller, 14 Nico Scheepers, 13 Robert Ebersohn (captain), 12 Andries Strauss, 11 Raymond Rhule, 10 Sias Ebersohn, 9 Sarel Pretorius, 8 Philip van der Walt, 7 Francois Uys, 6 Lappies Labuschagne, 5 Izak van der Westhuizen, 4 Carl Wegner, 3 Ross Geldenhuys, 2 Hercu Liebenberg, 1 Marcel van der Merwe.
Bench: 16 AJ le Roux, 17 Brummer Badenhorst, 18 Waltie Vermeulen, 19 Davon Raubenheimer, 20 Tewis de Bruyn, 21 Philip Snyman, 22 Rayno Benjamin.
 
Sharks: 15 Louis Ludik, 14 Odwa Ndungane, 13 Paul Jordaan, 12 Tim Whitehead, 11 JP Pietersen, 10 Meyer Bosman, 9 Charl McLeod, 8 Keegan Daniel (captain), 7 Jean Deysel, 6 Jacques Botes, 5 Anton Bresler, 4 Jandre Marais, 3 Wiehahn Herbst, 2 Pieter Dixon, 1 Dale Chadwick
Bench: 16 Kyle Cooper, 17 Allan Dell, 18 Peet Marais, 19 Lubabalo Mtembu, 20 Cobus Reinach, 21 Riaan Viljoen, 22 S’bura Sithole
 
Sunday:
 
01:10 Argentina vs Australia
Referee: Craig Joubert (South Africa)
Assistants: Jaco Peyper (South Africa), Pascal Gauzere (France)
TMO: Francisco Pastrana (Argentina)

Sportingbet odds: Both sides 19/20!
 
My prediction: Australia by 5

Argentina: 15 Lucas Amorosino, 14 Gonzalo Camacho, 13 Marcelo Bosch, 12 Santiago Fernandez, 11 Horacio Agulla, 10 Juan Hernandez, 9 Martin Landajo, 8 Juan Lobbe (captain), 7 Juan Leguizamon, 6 Julio Farias Cabello, 5 Patricio Albacete, 4 Manuel Carizza, 3 Juan Figallo, 2 Eusebio Guinazu, 1 Rodrigo Roncero
Bench: 16 Agustin Creevy, 17 Juan Orlandi, 18 Leonardo Senatore, 19 Tomas Leonardi, 20 Nicolas Vergallo, 21 Nicolas Sanchez, 22 Juan Imhoff

Australia: 15 Mike Harris, 14 Nick Cummins, 13 Ben Tapuai, 12 Pat McCabe, 11 Digby Ioane, 10 Kurtley Beale, 9 Nick Phipps, 8 Radike Samo, 7 Michael Hooper, 6 Sitaleki Timani, 5 Nathan Sharpe, 4 Kane Douglas, 3 Ben Alexander, 2 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 1 James Slipper
Bench: 16 Saia Fainga’a, 17 Benn Robinson, 18 Dave Dennis, 19 Scott Higginbotham, 20 Liam Gill, 21 Brett Sheehan, 22 Dominic Shipperley

 
Currie Cup 1st division semi finals:
Friday: 16:30 Pumas vs Griffons
Friday: 19:10 Eastern Province vs Leopards