WP 15, Blue Bulls 12

The players and coaching staff have tried to play down the occasion, and avoid the hype, but there is no doubt that Currie Cup games do not come any bigger than a north-south derby – Western Province against the Blue Bulls.

Jan de Koning – Rugby365

Throw in the Newlands factor and you have the making of an epic.

Don’t expect an expansive, all-out attacking game from either side.

The entertainment value will come in the form of the drama they provide as they try to overpower each other in what could be a brutal arm wrestle.

Bulls captain Gary Botha made no secret of the fact that his team would not stray too far from the recipe that have secured them five Currie Cup and three Super Rugby titles in the past decade.

“We had a good look at the video and have done our planning… made some minor adjustments,” Botha told rugby365.com, when asked about his team’s approach.

“However, we won’t make any radical changes for one game. We have to ensure that we stay within our structures and execute our gameplan properly.”

Botha was full of praise for the unbeaten WP team, describing them as an outfit that “doesn’t have many weaknesses”.

“Their defence and their set-pieces are good – you can see they have been working hard [on these aspects]; they are a really good team,” Botha said.

“They are good in everything they do and they certainly don’t make too many mistakes. We will have to be on top of our game.”

Although Province avoided talk of revenge this week, having been knocked out of last year’s Currie Cup when the Bulls beat them 21-19 with a late Morné Steyn penalty in the semifinal at Newlands, Province captain Anton van Zyl admitted this game could be another epic battle.

That semifinal loss – the result of an infamous high-tackle penalty by Fijian import Sireli Naqelevuki – is said to have cost WP in excess of ZAR10-million in gate money. They would have hosted the final if Steyn had not kicked the penalty.

There is no doubting the determination of the Cape Town outfit to make amends for falling just before the final hurdle in 2009.

Province’s unbeaten run this year has seen them score 203 points and concede just 50 – an average winning margin of 41-10.

But the famed defence that Botha refers to is best encapsulated in their try-scoring stats – 23 tries for and six against, a match average of almost five to one.

You need not look much further that last week’s 50-3 annihilation of Griquas to understand how good this WP outfit is at the moment.

However, they are wary of the threat posed by the defending champion Bulls.

“The Bulls’ results speak for themselves,” the WP captain told a media gathering this week.

Van Zyl continued: “They’re formidable opponents in all departments. When you’re playing the Bulls at Newlands it’s not difficult to motivate ourselves at all.

“While 50-3 looks like a complete performance we’re honest enough with ourselves to know that it was far from a complete performance. There were still areas we were not happy with and we’ve worked on them quite hard this week.”

WP coach Allister Coetzee continued the complimentary trend that marked the build-up to this game, describing the Men from Pretoria as “a quality outfit”.

“The Bulls regard it as one of the games of the season when they come to Newlands,” Coetzee said. “They take great pride in beating Province here at Newlands and therefore we know we’re in for a hell of a game.”

Coetzee also stressed the importance of discipline – which was a determining factor not just in last year’s semifinal, but also when the Bulls defeated the Stormers in the historic Super 14 Final in Soweto in May.

“Although Morné Steyn is not playing, the Bulls will punish you if you concede penalties,” Coetzee said, in reference to the equally devastating boot of flyhalf Jacques-Louis Potgieter.

“You’ve got to keep up your discipline and make sure you don’t give away silly penalties.”

Recent results:
2007: Blue Bulls won 26-17, Cape Town
2007: Blue Bulls won 35-10, Pretoria
2008: Western Province won 26-17, Cape Town
2008: Blue Bulls won 37-6, Pretoria
2009: Blue Bulls won 30-22, Pretoria
2009: Western Province won 25-19, Cape Town
2009: Blue Bulls won 21-19, Cape Town (semifinal)

rugby365.com Prediction: Statistics are interesting toys. They can be twisted as you like and often have no relevance to current form. However, the Blue Bulls have had the wood over Western Province in recent years. The defending champions have secured eight wins over Province in their last 12 matches – including last year’s semifinal. These sides played each other on six occasions at Newlands since 2005 – with both teams achieving three wins. But, as we said, those stats have little or no relevance to current form. WP are, without doubt, the form side of 2010 and the team to beat in this year’s competition. It will be a hard-fought, and at times brutal, battle, but we feel that Province might just have the edge. Western Province to win by about 10 points.

The teams:

Western Province: 15 Conrad Jantjes, 14 Fabian Juries, 13 Tim Whitehead, 12 Paul Bosch, 11 Frikkie Welsh, 10 Willem de Waal, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Nick Köster, 6 Pieter Louw, 5 Anton van Zyl (captain), 4 Adriaan Fondse, 3 Brok Harris, 2 Tiaan Liebenberg, 1 Wicus Blaauw.
Replacements: 16 Deon Fourie, 17 JD Moller, 18 Buhle Mxunyelwa, 19 De Kock Steenkamp, 20 Pieter Myburgh, 21 Conrad Hoffmann, 22 Lionel Cronjé.

Blue Bulls: 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Gerhard van den Heever, 13 Jaco Pretorius, 12 Stefan Watermeyer, 11 John Mametsa, 10 Jacques-Louis Potgieter, 9 Ruan Snyman, 8 Gerrit-Jan van Velze, 7 Dewald Potgieter, 6 Derick Kuün, 5 Wilhelm Steenkamp, 4 Juandré Kruger, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Gary Botha (captain), 1 Dean Greyling.
Replacements: 16 Bandise Maku, 17 Bees Roux, 18 Mthunzi ‘Fudge’ Mabeta, 19 CJ Stander, 20 Dustin Jinka, 21 Jaco van der Westhuyzen, 22 Jaco Engels.

Date: Saturday, August 14
Venue: Newlands, Cape Town
Kick-off: 17.05 (15.05 GMT)
Referee: Marius Jonker
Assistant referees: Mlungiseli Mdashe, Marc van Zyl
TMO: Shaun Veldsman