The second of the Currie Cup semi-finals takes place at Kings Park in Durban on Saturday with the Sharks hosting Griquas. The hosts will be looking to book their place in the final for the second consecutive year, while the visitors have the opportunity to rewrite the union’s history books and book their first Currie Cup final spot since 1970!
Sharks
Last week the Sharks started off their match knowing that win or lose it would make no difference to their position on the log. A draw between Griquas and the Pumas meant that their semi-final opponents had already been confirmed and that they would finish in second place with a home semi-final secured regardless of the result. This more than likely affected their performance against WP and they ended up losing the match 35-24 and let WP sneak in through the back door to finish fourth on the log.
A loss last week put an end to a three match winning streak for the Sharks which included wins against the Lions, Cheetahs and Bulls and it will be interesting to see if this will affect their momentum going into this match. It’s interesting to note that the Sharks did lose 37-27 at home to Griquas earlier this season back in Round 8 and they will certainly need to put in a much bigger effort than what they did last week to avoid being embarrassed on their home turf by Griquas once again.
Griquas
Griquas went into their match with the Pumas last week as slight favourites after a promising win against WP the week prior to that. However, it was a disappointing match from the men in Kimberly to say the least and ended up drawing 13-13 with the Pumas. This meant that they ended the season in third place on the log thanks to a slightly better points difference than WP.
Out of their 12 matches this season they managed to win five and lose five, while one match was cancelled and one drawn. Three out of their five wins this season came away from home which suggests that they are performing better on the road which is certainly a promising stat as they head into this match. They will look to continue their decent away form on Saturday and keep one of their best ever Currie Cup season’s alive with a win in Durban. The men from Kimberly have a lot to play for and don’t often have a chance at playing in a Currie Cup final so you can be sure that they won’t be taking this clash lightly and putting in a massive performance.
Prediction
The handicap for this match has been set at -8.5 in favour of the Sharks and it’s a difficult one to call. Normally I would be all over the Sharks for this one, but their performance last week leaves me hesitant. There have only been two changes to the team that lost to WP last week and too often I have seen a side put in a sub-par performance in a dead rubber match only for it to impact them the week after. On the other side of the field, Griquas hardly ever get a chance to play in a Currie Cup semi-final and this is a huge opportunity for them. Yes there performance in Kimberly last week was dreadful, but with their decent away form this season and them having so much to play for this week I will rather back them at +8.5. I’m not confident that they will be able to win the match but they certainly have the ability to keep things close. For tryscorers I am backing Werner Kok to draw first blood in the match, while there is some great value to be had for a try in the match by the Griquas’ captain Ruan Steenkamp. He really has led by example this season and had an excellent game against WP two weeks ago which included a try.
BetOlimp Best Bets
Griquas +8.5 – 1.89
First Tryscorer: Werner Kok – 13.00
Anytime Tryscorer: Ruan Steenkamp – 6.00