1 August 2018, by: Quintin van Jaarsveld

CURRIE CUP PREDICTIONS – ROUND 4

The only unbeaten teams remaining in this year’s Currie Cup competition will face-off on Friday night with the Free State Cheetahs hosting the Golden Lions in a much-anticipated match-up.

The battle in Bloemfontein is the pick of the fourth-round clashes and promises to be a cracker as both teams look to establish themselves as the dominant force of the 2019 competition.

On Saturday, the Pumas square off with the Sharks in Nelspruit before the Blue Bulls tackle Griquas in Pretoria, with Western Province having a bye.

The traditional Currie Cup catfight rarely fails to entertain and this should be a particularly compelling contest. With dominant wins over the Bulls (43-17) and Griquas (68-14), the Cheetahs have shown what a classy side they are when they’re not stretched thin by PRO14 commitments and sit atop the table.

The Lions, on the other hand, had to claw their way back from the brink of defeat in both of their fixtures to emerge victorious. The first, they came back from 16 points down to pip the Pumas 38-37 and then, even more impressively, overturning a 14-point deficit to edge Western Province 30-28.

Last weekend’s win was their first at Newlands since 2012 and will give them confidence that they’ll be able to pull off another upset in Bloemfontein. Despite not firing on all cylinders just yet, the Lions should be the Cheetahs’ toughest test to date. That said, the Free Staters appear to be a cut above the rest and look set to hand the Lions their first loss.

Prediction: Free State Cheetahs by 10. 

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Winless in their first three fixtures, the Pumas are stuck at the bottom of the log. It’s not that they haven’t played good rugby; they have, but only in patches. It’s long been the Pumas’ main problem – the inability to make that final step up to upset the bigger unions, like Griquas did when they surprised the Sharks in Round One. They’ve also been guilty of conceding far too many penalties this season.

The Durban side responded from the aforementioned shock loss with an impressive win over Western Province and are coming off a bye. So they’ll be the fresher of the teams and will be keen to push on at the Pumas’ expense. The hosts could hang tough in the first half, but they’ll be unable to keep up with the defending champions, who should win rather comfortably in the end.

Prediction: Sharks by 12.

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For both of these teams, last weekend seemingly marked a turning point in their respective campaigns. The Bulls broke their duck after two heavy defeats, while Griquas crashed to the biggest defeat of the season after having bagged back-to-back bonus-point wins. The 68-14 hammering against the Cheetahs cost them top spot on the log and exposed the defensive structure that had started to crack over the opening fortnight.

That the Bulls happened to find their attacking mojo – flavoured with a healthy dose of “Specmagic” – in the 25-17 win over the Pumas spells trouble for the men from Kimberley. Aside from hat-trick hero Rosko Specman, Johnny Kotze and Dylan Sage were potent in midfield – both as strike runners and playmakers – and they’ll want to continue where they left off.

After turning down several penalties against the Cheetahs early on, before the dam wall burst, and failing to round off a couple of try-scoring opportunities, Griquas will feel they have the attacking ability to put the hosts under pressure. As mentioned, though, it’s their defence that’s the real issue. Bank on the Bulls to gore Griquas.

Prediction: Blue Bulls by 15.

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