Cape Town – The Currie Cup started with a bang this past weekend with three teams scoring convincing wins away from home against tough opposition and only one home side claiming a victory.
The coming weekend the competition is set to go up a notch, with two action-packed clashes, one in Mbombela and the other in Pretoria.
Reigning champions the Pumas are set to welcome the Lions for a cat fight in the Mbombela stadium. After his side thrashed the Bulls away from home – winning 63-15 – Puma’s coach Jimmy Stonehouse will be looking to them to kick on from that performance.
Being in front of their home crowd for the first time will only motivate the team more.
And playing their natural brand of rugby – with big forwards and a backline full of running – it will be a tough ask for the Lions to stop the Currie Cup champions, especially with the backing of their home crowd.
The Lions on the other hand could lose some of their players who featured against Western Province, with the senior team set to depart for Italy soon ahead of a United Rugby Championship (URC) match.
As a result, it will be a tough ask for the Lions to find form, but coach Mziwakhe Nkosi will do anything possible to get a response from his side after they lost to WP.
Friday's other clash is also a big one, when the Bulls host WP in the first North-South derby in the Currie Cup.
After being humiliated by the Pumas, the Bulls have little time to do a post-mortem, seeing they only have four days between the two matches.
One of these most probably was a rest day after the Pumas mauling, bringing the prep days down to only three. You'd wonder how much fixing a team can do with so little time, and if they'd bring in URC reinforcements for the clash against the old foe.
One thing is for sure though, if the Pumas thrived off turnover and counter-attack possession against the Bulls, the Loftus side can expect the same from WP.
The Capetonians scored a couple of brilliant back line tries, while they mauled and scrummed the Lions into the ground. This is what the Bulls can expect on Friday as well, with the WP Currie Cup team aiming to emulate the running and power game of their Stormers side in the URC.
In Sunday's two fixtures, the Free State Cheetahs face their neighbours and newcomers to the Premier Division, the Griffons, in Welkom.
The Cheetahs have already dispatched their Northern Cape neighbour Griquas in the first round and should find no difficulty in beating the Griffons, although the Griffons showed some fight in their opener against the Sharks in Durban.
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They fought valiantly in the first half but after some sustained pressure and tired legs in the humid conditions, the dam wall broke and the Sharks overpowered them to win convincingly in the end.
Come Sunday, the Sharks will most probably receive their first test of the Currie Cup when they face Griquas in the final match of round two.
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Griquas will be licking their lips to take on this Sharks side in Kimberley when the visitors pitch up with a mix of URC fringe, under 20 and club players for this clash.
The men from Durban will be out to continue their winning start to the competition without being able to call on a host of URC players.
Currie Cup fixtures:
Friday: Pumas vs Lions (Mbombela, 5pm); Bulls vs Western Province (Pretoria, 7.05pm).
Sunday: Griffons vs Free State Cheetahs (Welkom, 2pm); Griquas vs Sharks (Kimberley, 4.05pm).
IOL Sport