Thursday 15 August 2013

Currie Cup: Round 1 Review

What a start to the Currie Cup. And I thought South African rugby would be boring, but with 6 teams, all scoring over 20 points, and all three games having a maximum spread of 2 points, there was lots of entertainment, tries and nailbiting. Hopefully an omen for what's to come.

Sharks - Griquas


To really show how much of an upset this was, the SuperBru statistic showed that only 3.6% of people thought that the Griquas would win. It seems that the Sharks malaise has continued from the Super Rugby season. Last minute tries are always special, but the Griquas seem to be overly reliant on their pack for parity, while their fullback showed how costly stray kicks can be for Lwazi Mvovo's try. For the Sharks, Jacques Botes was impressive with two tries as captain, but they will be frustrated.

Lions - Cheetahs


This made have been a one point game, but it really shouldn't have been. The Cheetahs showed both their best and their worst in this game, with Johann Sadie and Robert Ebersohn in particular showing that their Super Rugby form was no fluke. However, with no Coenie Oosthuizen or Trevor Nyakane, they didn't have the forward dominance necessary and had to rely on missed kicks to win.

A controversial try was awarded, what did you make of Sarel Pretorious's effort, should it have been ruled out? Either way, it was fantastic nippy play from the scrumhalf, and deserved to be rewarded.



Western Province - Blue Bulls




Draws in rugby don't come around very often, and at no stage in this game until the last ten seconds was it on the cards. Western Province had this game in the bag and through it away. Their first half performance was very good, but their illdiscipline cost them. Their backs shone with Patrick Howard and Cheslin Kolbe in particular looking dangerous, and Nizaam Carr showing potential from No.8 and only 22 years old.

The Bulls did well to get back in, and the last try was Stephen Ferris like.

This weeks fixtures see Sharks host the Lions, the Cheetahs travel to Western Province and the Blue Bulls facing the Griquas.

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