Cheetahs and Pumas keen to keep up Currie Cup winning momentum

The Cheetahs and Pumas are looking to pick up where they left off on the second weekend of the Currie Cup, after thumping opening wins saw them take the top two spots on the log after the opening weekend.

The table topping Cheetahs, after destroying the Griffons 82-20 in Bloemfontein last weekend, will face a much stiffer challenge when they host Western Province in their clash at the Toyota Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

The visitors will be desperate to bounce back after they went down 30-25 to the Blue Bulls on the opening weekend, and will be going all out to get a result against the defending champs and competition favourites.

Although it wasn’t their full-strength Cheetahs team that did business in their first match, coach Izak van der Westhuizen admitted they wouldn’t be making many changes as they look to build up some momentum.

“There might be one or two changes but we want to continue the good momentum we built over the (past) weekend,” admitted Van Der Westhuizen.

“Against the Griffons discipline wise we struggled a bit and then tactical kicking, the execution of our kicks is a big work on for us so if we get that right we should be in a good position.

“If you look at Western Province, even though it was a wet game (against the Bulls) they still wanted to run and throw the ball around. So we are expecting an exciting, high paced game. They have quality forwards as well so the set piece is also going to be a big battle.”

Pumas v Lions

The Pumas enjoyed a strong 44-24 away win over the Griquas to get their competition up and running, and back at home they will want to follow that up with a good win over the Lions in their match on Friday night.

The Lions themselves will head to Mbombela with plenty of confidence after edging the Sharks 26-25 in Durban and will be looking to make it two out of two on the road.

The Bulls will also be aiming to pick up a second straight away win when they travel to Welkom to take on the Griffons on Sunday afternoon, who will be smarting from their heavy defeat against the Cheetahs and will be desperate to put in a better showing.

The other game on the weekend sees the Griquas host the Sharks at Griqua Park in Kimberley on Friday afternoon.

Both teams will be desperate for a win after losing their openers, but the Griquas arguably more so as they will not want to start the competition with two straight home defeats.

Currie Cup Fixtures

Friday

Griquas v Sharks – 3pm

Pumas v Lions – 7pm

Saturday

Cheetahs v Western Province – 1.55pm

Sunday

Griffons v Bulls – 2pm