Today’s first 2021 Carling Currie Cup match is in Durban, where the Cell C Sharks take on the Toyota Cheetahs in a match that both sides will hope to win. A victory for the Cell C Sharks will mean they remain in the race to finish in the top two on the log, while the Toyota Cheetahs need the result to keep alive their playoff hopes and move away from the bottom of the log.
Player rotation played a big role in the naming of both teams with the Cheetahs making as many as eleven changes.
Cell C Sharks head coach Sean Everitt will be asking his players to deliver another proud and brave Carling Currie Cup performance.
“We were very happy with how the guys bounced back against the Blue Bulls last weekend, especially after our poor performance against Griquas,” Everitt said in the lead-up to this match.
“We worked hard that week, the players took ownership of their performance and bounced back really well, there was a tremendous amount of focus on that game. After giving away several penalties in the first half of that game, when we tidied that up, the guys were really good, put together some nice phases of play and scored some good tries. So we’re extremely happy with the performance, especially the result as far as log positions go.”
“Going into this week’s game against the Cheetahs, they’re a team scoring a lot of tries at the moment and averaging 37 points per game, but they also concede on average 35 points so we know there will be opportunities.”
The result of this match takes on added importance given that the Cell C Sharks’ midweek match against the Pumas was cancelled, while the Bulls earned a five-pointer that takes them four points ahead of the Durban franchise on the Currie Cup log table.
“We know we’ll have to put in a big defensive effort on Sunday so we can remain in contention for the top spot on the log.”
It’s a shortened week of preparation for the Toyota Cheetahs and coach Hawies Fourie has made several (eleven) changes for this match.
In the backline, Evardi Boshoff and Chris Smit is the new centre pair while Brandon Thompson and Tian Meyer is the new halfback combination. Tian Meyer was also appointed as the captain for this match.
Mihlali Mosi and Andis Ntsila are the new faces in the loose combination with Victor Sekeketeand Reinier Viljoen form the new lock pairing. Conraad van Vuuren, Wilmar Arnoldi and. Schalk van der Merwe is the new front row with Jacques Potgieter the only "survivor" in the pack.
Prediction: Cell C Sharks with 10.
Cell C Sharks: 15. Anthony Volmink, 14. Marnus Potgieter, 13. Jeremy Ward, 12. Marius Louw, 11. Thaakir Abrahams, 10. Boeta Chamberlain, 9. Cameron Wright, 8. Henco Venter (c), 7. Thembelani Bholi, 6. Dylan Richardson, 5. Emile van Heerden, 4. Le Roux Roets, 3. Lourens Adriaanse, 2. Kerron van Vuuren, 1. Khwezi Mona. Replacements: 16. Dan Jooste, 17. Ntuthuko Mchunu, 18. Wiehahn Herbst, 19. Jeandre Labuschagne, 20. James Venter, 21. Grant Williams, 22. Lionel Cronje, 23. Yaw Penxe.
Toyota Cheetahs: 15. Clayton Blommetjies, 14. Craig Barry, 13. Evardi Boshoff, 12. Chris Smit, 11. Malcolm Jaer, 10. Brandon Thomson, 9. Tian Meyer (C), 8. Mihlali Mosi, 7. Jacques Potgieter, 6. Andisa Ntsila, 5. Victor Sekete, 4. Reinier Viljoen , 3. Conraad van Vuuren, 2. Wilmar Arnoldi, 1. Schalk van der Merwe. Replacements: 16. Louis van der Westhuizen, 17. Alulutho Tshakweni, 18. Hencus van Wyk, 19. Rynier Bernardo, 20. Junior Pokomela, 21. Brandon de Kock, 22. Reinhardt Fortuin, 23. Robert Ebersohn.