Blue Bulls hoping to avenge earlier defeat against Cheetahs
10 September 2010 (15:36)
Week ten of the Currie Cup concludes with a repeat of last year’s final between the Free State Cheetahs and the Blue Bulls on Saturday evening, writes Quintin van Jaarsveld of SARugby.com.
The Cheetahs avenged their defeat in last year’s final with a last gasp 25-23 win in the first round encounter at Loftus Versfeld and will be full of confidence of claiming the double over their Pretoria opponents in Bloemfontein.
The hosts have only a 50-percent winning record this season with wins over Griquas (33-26) and the Leopards (57-0) and losses to the Sharks (25-13) and Vodacom Western Province (25-11). Their psychological edge following the aforementioned win in the opening round fixture, in which they trailed the entire match, and their resolute defence of late should in theory make them the favourites to topple the Blue Bulls again.
However, the defending champions are coming off their most impressive win of the season, in which they came from behind to hand the table-topping Sharks only their second defeat of the season. This they achieved without their Springboks, four of whom return to Currie Cup action this weekend.
With the confidence taken out of the 40-34 win over the Durban side and the addition of Chiliboy Ralepelle, Flip van der Merwe and Francois Hougaard, this one is set to go down to the wire once more.
Victory for both sides is imperative for their hopes of earning a home semi-final with both teams, along with Western Province, on 28 log points. Due to the controversial Springbok conditioning programme, the Blue Bulls will be without contracted Boks Victor Matfield, Danie Rossouw, Bakkies Botha, Wynand Olivier, Morne Steyn, Pierre Spies and the recovering Fourie du Preez while the hosts will miss captain Juan Smith, CJ van der Linde and the recovering Heinrich Brussow.
Despite the absence of these big name players, this derby match will be as physical and intense as ever and should be a great advertisement for the domestic game.
Key Battle: Adriaan Strauss v Chiliboy Ralepelle. Adriaan Strauss, who will lead out the home side, is a consistent performer and perhaps rather unlucky only to have seven Test caps behind his name. Ralepelle, who has won 17 Test caps, mostly off the bench, gets a rare start and will want to prove he is the real deal by outplaying a quality opponent in Strauss.
Prediction: One just get the feeling that the Blue Bulls, with their superior game breakers, are going to pip the hosts to level things at 1-1 in 2010. Watch for Hougaard to make an impact at No 9. Blue Bulls by 8.
Free State Cheetahs: 15 Hennie Daniller, 14 Philip Snyman, 13 Robert Ebersohn, 12 Meyer Bosman, 11 Jongi Nokwe, 10 Louis Strydom, 9 Tewis de Bruyn, 8 Ashley Johnson, 7 Philip van der Walt, 6 Hendro Scholtz/Johan Wessels, 5 Waltie Vermeulen, 4 Francois Uys, 3 Kobus Calldo, 2 Adriaan Strauss (captain), 1 Coenie Oosthuizen.
Replacements: 16 Skipper Badenhorst, 17 WP Nel, 18 Izak van der Westhuizen, 19 Kabamba Floors, 20 Tertius Carse, 21 Sias Ebersohn, 22 Corné Uys.
Blue Bulls: 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Gerhard van den Heever, 13 Jaco Pretorius, 12 Stefan Watermeyer, 11 Jaco van der Westhuyzen, 10 Jacques-Louis Potgieter, 9 Francois Hougaard, 8 Gerrit-Jan van Velze, 7 CJ Stander, 6 Derick Kuün (captain), 5 Juandré Kruger, 4 Flip van der Merwe, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 1 Dean Greyling.
Replacements: 16 Gary Botha, 17 Rossouw de Klerk, 18 Jaco Engels, 19 Wilhelm Steenkamp, 20 Okkie Kruger, 21 Dustin Jinka, 22 Stephan Dippenaar.
Kick-off: 17:05
Referee: Jason Japhta
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