Expect no favours

When the Stormers slumped to defeat to the Sharks in May the Bulls came to the rescue at Newlands and ‘handed’ them a collective ticket to Orlando to play the men in blue in the final of the Vodacom Super 14 competition. Don’t expect similar favours from the Sharks on Saturday when they meet Western Province at Newlands in the last league match of the beloved Currie Cup competition.

The reason is clear. If the Sharks win this one they will deliver a psychological blow ahead of what could be a return encounter with Province at Absa Park in Durban the following week.

And remember, the Sharks will have all their Springboks back to bolster their chances.

Province too, but who will they rest? Chances are that Jean de Villiers might be given an opportunity on the bench and that Juan de Jongh and Jaque Fourie will team up in the midfield. Peter Louw might be sent straight to the substitute bench to accommodate Schalk Burger as a flank-partner to Francois Louw.

And Bryan Habana will probably replace JJ Kritzinger on the left wing.

Last Saturday’s victory by the Bulls would be dedicated to their heavy pack of forwards, with Flippie van der Merwe and their props the heroes of the day. Their pack of mongrels dominated at the break, while WP faded somewhat in the face of a ferocious onslaught.

Western Province need a visit to the mirror and a proper tongue -ashing from their coaching staff about their recent tendency to play rugby for 55 minutes instead of 80.

In their previous league match against Griqualand West they dominated, only to slip and allow Bjorn Basson and the rest of the men from Kimberley back into the contest.

On Saturday, the Province team had the ascendancy and a 16-3 lead, but a lack of concentration and focus and a similar lack of intensity cost them the four vital log points.

If they slip again on Saturday there would be a real chance of the Free State Cheetahs pushing for a home semi-final against the Bulls.

In that case Province would be on a flight to Durban for the semi-finals.

The conservative selections at Western Province have contributed to their poor showing at Loftus. They have decided not to give Gary van Aswegen, a pivot of the Under-21 team, an extended run.

Willem de Waal was inspirational for the Free State Cheetahs a few seasons ago, but he is predictable on the attack for the Streeptruie and suspect in his channel on defence. He almost never challenges his direct opposition like Peter Grant did with such conviction earlier during the Super14 season.

And with Conrad Hoffmann destined to be removed from the bench to accommodate Ricky Januarie, it is an absolute certainty that channel one and two will be untested and untroubled for the Sharks defenders as the slow Januarie would be easy pickings for the  Sharks loose forwards. But don’t discard this WP team. There has been a new spirit in the camp since a disappointing loss to the Bulls in the Currie Cup semi-final in 2009.

What they need now is to get over the line in a very difficult closely contested match to instill some cup-winning belief into this squad.

It is about keeping the belief and about never giving up. And that spirit is prevalent in the Province camp.

The Bulls are looking in ominous form with their Springboks returning and they would have to make a difficult choice at inside-centre. Stefan Watermeyer posed a constant threat to the Springbok midfield on Saturday.

He will press for national selection again on Saturday, but might make way for Wynand Olivier.

The Bulls will have other selection posers for this weekend. Should Flippie van der Merwe remove his number-4 jersey to accommodate Bakkies Botha? Perhaps the Bulls could do worse than allow Van der Merwe to partner Victor Matfield.

Botha could stay on the bench with Danie Rossouw and listen to a Dr Phil CD on anger management before he makes a cameo appearance in the 78th minute.

And that is not a sick joke to annoy Bakkies fans. Perhaps he should be phased back into play instead of making a first-minute appearance. The red mist might be ascending and he needs shorter game-time to get used to the white-line fever.

Our guess for Saturday is that Province will beat the Sharks by seven and will host the Free State Cheetahs in a home semi-final the following Saturday.

The Sharks will be at home for a semi-final against the Bulls. The Sharks have some avenging to do, as they still vividly remember the day in 2007 when they were leading the men from Pretoria with two minutes to go. Then a certain Bryan Habana dived over the line in injury-time to send the Bulls supporters into ecstasy.

A repeat of that heart-breaking incident is on the cards. Just look at all the Springboks in that Bulls line-up. Some of them, like Botha, Rossouw, Pierre Spies and Matfield would be raring to go, rejuvenated after some rest and a rehabilitation programme by the Springbok management.