This weekend, the action kicks off at Loftus Versfeld tonight @ 19h00, where the Vodacom Bulls will be looking to bounce back against the New Nation Pumas.
The Lowvelders will travel to Pretoria full of confidence after hammering the Lions last weekend, while the Vodacom Bulls are aiming for their first win of the 2021 Currie Cup season.
The New Nation Pumas won the last Carling Currie Cup clash with the men from Pretoria, by 44-14 at Mbombela Stadium, but the Vodacom Bulls will be bolstered this week by a host of players who played in the Rainbow Cup final last weekend and will be determined to get the result at home.
Prediction - The Pumas was shown the weaknesses of the Vodacom Bulls in Italy last weekend and will travel to Pretoria full of confidence as their style of rugby is very similar to that of Benetton. However, to compare the quality of players is a bit far fetched. Expect the Pumas to come out firing while the Bulls should secure the win in the last 20-30 minutes.
Simphiwe Matanzima is the only player in the Vodacom Bulls' weekend’s match-23 that played in last weekend’s Currie Cup match against DHL Western Province, with the bulk of the squad now expectedly being made up of the players that represented in the Rainbow Cup final last weekend.
Hooker Schalk Erasmus will be propped up in the front row by Springbok Lizo Gqoboka and Mornay Smith, with Walt Steenkamp and Janko Swanepoel adding their weight to the tight five. Gerhard Steenekamp and Johan Grobbelaar will get a well-deserved break this weekend after putting in weeks on the trot in the Rainbow Cup.
The Loose trio remains unchanged from the one that did battle in Italy a week ago, with Marcell Coetzee once again leading the boys in blue from the back of the scrum. Nizaam Carr and Ruan Nortje will don the number six and seven jerseys respectively, and will no doubt bring the intense work rate that we have come to expect from them.
Ivan van Zyl and Chris Smith will continue their halfback pairing. While Cornal Hendricks gets a new mid-field partner in Harold Voster. Voster will be making his Vodacom Bulls debut this weekend after racking up a host of caps for the Lions between 2014 and 2019. His last stint before joining the Vodacom Bulls was in Japan for the Panasonic Wild Knights.
Madosh Thambwe and Stravino Jacobs will once again be patrolling the wings, with Gio Aplon returning in the number 15 jersey. The 38-year-old Aplon has fully recovered from a knee injury and is looking as sensational as he always has.
White, is excited about the weekend ahead, “the young and inexperienced group fought hard last weekend against a quality Province team, and even though the result didn’t go our way they still managed to secure a bonus point. This weekend is a big game for us, and we will be looking to get back to winning ways. The Pumas are coming off the back of a good win and they will be looking to hurt us, but we know what is expected of us.”
The New Nation Pumas made four changes to their team that surprised the Lions in Nelspruit in Round 1 of the 2021 Currie Cup.
A season-ending injury suffered by loosehead prop Corné Fourie forced the Pumas to replace him with Dewald Maritz who came off the bench against the Lions last weekend. Ruan Kramer is promoted onto the bench in place of Maritz.
The only other change to the starting XV is in the midfield, where Matt Moore, who impressed when he came off the bench last week. Moore will make his first start for the Pumas in place of Ali Mgijima at the inside centre.
Vodacom Bulls: 15. Gio Aplon, 14. Madosh Tambwe, 13. Harold Voster, 12. Cornal Hendricks, 11. Stravino Jacobs, 10. Chris Smith, 9. Ivan van Zyl, 8. Marcell Coetzee (C), 7. Ruan Nortje, 6. Nizaam Carr, 5. Janko Swanepoel, 4. Walt Steenkamp, 3. Mornay Smith, 2. Schalk Erasmus, 1. Lizo Gqoboka. Replacements: 16. Sidney Tobias, 17. Simphiwe Matanzima, 18. Jacques van Rooyen, 19. Muller Uys, 20. WJ Steenkamp, 21. Zak Burger, 22. FC du Plessis, 23. David Kriel.
New Nation Pumas: 15. Devon Williams, 14. Tapiwa Mafura, 13. Erich Cronje, 12. Matt Moore, 11. Etienne Taljaard, 10. Eddie Fouché, 9. Chriswil September, 8. Willie Engelbrecht, 7. Phumzile Maqondwana, 6. Francois Kleinhans, 5. Pieter Jansen van Vuren (captain), 4. Darrien Landsberg, 3. Marné Coetzee, 2. Simon Westraadt, 1. Dewald Maritz. Replacements: 16. Eduan Swart, 17. Ruan Kramer, 18. Ignatius Prinsloo, 19. Brandon Valentine, 20. Kwanda Dimaza, 21. Ginter Smuts, 22. Wayne van der Bank, 23. Jade Stighling.