Currie Cup crunch time in the Kraal
Fri, 03 Sep 2010 00:48
The Bulls will be hoping for a similar scenario against the Sharks. (c) Gallo
Blue Bulls coach Frans Ludeke put it in a nutshell this week when he said: "It is time for us to stamp our authority on the competition."
Last year the Bulls lost five of their 14 games and still managed to make the semifinals. Then they "stamped their authority" on the play-offs.
However, the defending Currie Cup champions have not looked like the authoritative side of recent years, having already lost four times this year and still have six rounds to go.
The table-topping Sharks will arrive in Pretoria on Saturday knowing they have a real opportunity of knocking the men in light blue out of the top four.
As Ludeke said at a media gathering this week, they simply cannot afford another defeat.
The Sharks, after losing their opening match of the competition, have continued to raise the bar and are definitely the team to beat.
They now play a more structured game and showing greater patience on attack - their 36 tries in eight games (almost five a game) well clear of the next best attack.
Ludeke admitted that this is a very important match for his side.
"The Sharks have their tails up and deserve to be on top of the log at the moment," Ludeke told the media.
"We cannot afford to drop a home game and it is time for us to stamp our authority on the competition."
While the Bulls are hurting, especially after last week's loss to the Pumas, the Sharks' biggest concern would be to avoid a drop in standards.
Sharks coach John Plumtree this week warned his team to avoid the media hype that has marked their seven-match winning streak.
"I've been in this situation heaps of times in my coaching career and not got the ultimate prize at the end," Plumtree said in an interview on the Sharks website.
"Our greatest challenge is to make sure we don't get distracted by outside influences, about believing what's written in the media."
Plumtree pointed to Western Province as a prime example of a team buying into the hype and getting distracted.
Province, before playing the Sharks in Week Seven, enjoyed an unbeaten run and were sitting pretty at the top of the table.
"Western Province possibly got derailed by their own press and our players have been warned that if they get distracted and come up with poor performances, they will pay with selection," Plumtree said.
"This is professional sport and we do have choices - players are paid to do a job and we're pretty determined to refocus after each performance.
"Everyone writes teams up, then shoots them down, it is only the mature heads that don't get distracted by that."
The wily New Zealander said his team had "won nothing yet" at this stage of the season.
Recent results:
2007: Sharks won 29-10, Durban
2007: Sharks won 26-18, Pretoria
2008: Blue Bulls won 35-14, Pretoria
2008: Sharks won 34-25,
Durban
2008: Sharks won 14-9, Durban (Final)
2009: Sharks won 19-13, Durban
2009: Sharks won 29-23, Pretoria
2010: Sharks won 34-28, Durban
rugby365.com Prediction: This game has all the ingredients to be a classic. A Sharks team in good form and playing an attractive brand of controlled rugby. A Blue Bulls team in desperate need of a win and playing at home. Expect the blue-clad, flag-waving fans to be out in their thousands. A desperate Bulls team is a dangerous animal and Frans Ludeke will hope his senior players - Springboks Zane Kirchner, Jaco Pretorius, Wynand Olivier, Jaco van der Westhuyzen, Dewald Potgieter and Bandise Maku - stand up to be counted. They will need to. It is not impossible for the Bulls to end the Sharks' victory run, but it will take a very special performance. The Sharks to win by about 10 points.
The teams:
Blue Bulls: 15 Zane Kirchner,
14 Gerhard van den Heever, 13 Jaco Pretorius, 12 Wynand Olivier, 11 Jaco van der Westhuyzen, 10 Jacques-Louis Potgieter, 9 Ruan Snyman, 8 Gerrit-Jan van Velze, 7 Dewald Potgieter, 6 Derick Kuün (captain), 5 Fudge Mabeta, 4 Juandré Kruger, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Bandise Maku, 1 Dean Greyling.
Replacements: 16 Henry Bantjes, 17 Frik Kirsten, 18 Jaco Engels, 19 Wilhelm Steenkamp, 20 CJ Stander, 21 Dustin Jinka, 22 Stefan Watermeyer.
Sharks: 15 Louis Ludik, 14 Odwa Ndungane, 13 Stefan Terblanche (captain), 12 Andries Strauss, 11 Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Patrick Lambie, 9 Charl McLeod, 8 Keegan Daniel, 7 Willem Alberts, 6 Jacques Botes, 5 Alistair Hargreaves, 4 Steven Sykes, 3 Wiehahn Herbst, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements: 16 Craig Burden, 17 Eugene van Staden, 18 Michael Rhodes, 19 Skholiwe Ndlovu, 20 Rory Kockott, 21 André Pretorius, 22 Riaan Swanepoel.
Date:
Saturday, September 4
Venue: Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
Kick-off: 19.10 (17.10 GMT)
Referee: Jonathan Kaplan
Assistant referees: Tiaan Jonker, Johan Greeff
TMO: Shaun Veldsman
By Jan de Koning
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