As we complete a third of the league phase of the Currie Cup, the biggest question is: 'For how long will the table-topping Griquas side remain unbeaten?'

When they beat the Free State Cheetahs in Week One it was a 'fluke', then the victories over the Leopards and Boland Cavaliers were dismissed as 'beating minnows', and last week they really made critics sit up and take note with an impressive win over the Golden Lions.

Now they face a Western Province side going all out to secure their first victory away from home on Friday, when they travel to Kimberley to take on the log leaders  - Griquas.

The Blue Bulls will be looking to secure their fourth win of the season when they take on the Free State Cheetahs in Bloemfontein on Friday. The Cheetahs are still looking for their first win of the season.

The Leopards will also be aiming for their first win in the Currie Cup Premier Division when they host the Sharks at the Royal Bafokeng Sport Palace in Phokeng on Friday.

In the other Currie Cup game of the weekend, the Golden Lions travel to Wellington for their clash against the Boland Cavaliers.

iafrica.com looks at all the Round Five action!

Friday, August 7:

Griquas v Western Province
(GWK Park, Kimberley - 15.00, 13.00 GMT)

Despite Western Province having suffered only one defeat  - to the Blue Bulls at Loftus Versfeld - this season, WP coach Allister Coetzee is adamant that his team is not the favourites.

Coetzee could justifiably be jittery about the trip to Kimberley, as the hosts will be aiming to claim their fifth consecutive win.

"It's going to be one tough game and we are the underdogs going to Kimberley given our past record there," Coetzee said.

"[But] we want to win away from home. We've won all our games at Newlands, so this is another opportunity for us to build on that confidence with an away win."    

A surprise 21-20 defeat in Kimberley last year preceded a similar slip-up against the Falcons at Bosman Stadium as Coetzee's charges ran flat in consecutive away games which ultimately cost them a play-off berth.
 
Griquas' ability to conquer opponents away from home has been central to their success this season as they find themselves with a five-point lead over the second-placed Bulls at the top of the current standings.

"Griquas got a lot of confidence by going to Bloemfontein and beating the Cheetahs, and also with last week's win over the Lions at Ellis Park - winning away from home is all about confidence," added Coetzee.

Coetzee have taken note of Griquas' Test-match approach - kicking, defending and feeding off turnovers - and the way in which it has lifted them to a competition-leading tally of 22 tries in four matches this season, twice as many as their Cape Town rivals.

"A lot of people don't see how well they kick. Flyhalf Naas Olivier kicks the ball well at altitude, and the ball travels a helluva lot further than you expect."

But Griquas have established themselves as a strong scrumming unit with a tenacious work ethic at the tackle-point, and they'll back their physicality to unsettle Province on an unforgiving Kimberley pitch.

"Griquas have a strong set piece, their pack is always in your face, and they just keep coming and build a lot of pressure like that," he added.

"One always gets the feeling that the Kimberley field is a little bit smaller than it should be!"

Griquas coach Dawie Theron was also not comfortable with the favourites tag.

"At this stage, we are waiting to see what kind of game Western Province will be playing and who they will be using in the backline," said Theron.

"We are facing a running or a kicking game and we hope to be prepared for both on Friday. We have some tough games at home during the next few weeks starting with the one against Province, so it's important that we don't lose any momentum at this stage in the competition." 

iafrica.com Prediction: At some stage the Griquas dream run must come to an end and we feel it may well be this weekend, against an ever-improving Western Province side. WP to win by 10 points.

Teams:

Griquas: 15 Riaan Viljoen, 14 Dewald Pretorius/Egon Seconds, 13 Jaco Bekker, 12 Barry Geel, 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Naas Olivier, 9 Sarel Pretorius, 8 Jonathan Mokuena (captain), 7 Davon Raubenheimer, 6 Rohan Kitshoff, 5 Jacques Lombard, 4 Brendon Snyman, 3 Ruaan du Preez, 2 Ryno Barnes, 1 Albertus Buckle.
Replacements: 16 Andries Kruger, 17 Steph Roberts, 18 Heinrich Stride, 19 Sean Plaatjies/Nolan Clark, 20 Dougie Helmuth, 21 Hanno Coetzee, 22 Gavin Passens.    

Western Province: 15 Joe Pietersen, 14 Tonderai Chavhanga, 13 Juan De Jongh, 12 Peter Grant, 11 Gio Aplon, 10 Willem De Waal, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage, 8 Luke Watson  (captain), 7 Duane Vermeulen, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Anton Van Zyl, 4 Chris Jack, 3 Brok Harris, 2 Tiaan Liebenberg, 1 Wicus Blaauw.
Replacements: 16 Deon Fourie, 17  JD Moller, 18 Adriaan Fondse, 19 Pieter Louw, 20 Conrad Hoffmann, 21 Morgan Newman, 22 Frikkie Welsh

Referee: Craig Joubert
Assistant referees: Lourens van der Merwe, Cobus Wessels

Boland v Lions
(Boland Stadium, Wellington - 15.30, 13.30 GMT)

The Golden Lions' Currie Cup season is fast taking the same shape as their Super 14 campaign - lots of early promise, but no results of substance.

Defeats to the Blue Bulls and Griquas have left the Lions with a mountain to climb to get their campaign back on track.

The hosts have also not had a great season - only one victory, against the Leopards - and they will looking to use their home ground knowledge to their advantage in their quest of a second win in the competition.

"Home matches are vital in the Currie Cup. We had a disastrous result in Kimberley a fortnight ago, but improved a lot against the Blue Bulls last week," said Boland Cavaliers coach Deon Davids.

"Now we need to take a step up. We are playing in front of our home crowd and need to get back on the score board." 

To prove how determined they are to get one over on the Lions, Boland president Francois Davids had a talk with the team on Thursday.

"I told them to prove themselves. If a team arrives at Wellington with big names that will not frighten us. They are as human as we are."

Davids told his team they must "go out onto the park and prove yourselves.

"This is the only way for the so-called experts to take note of you."

Lions coach Hans Coetzee spent this past week trying to find answers to the nagging question as to why his team continues to under perform, despite the presence of World Cup-winning Springbok coach Jake White.

At least he was able to recall a few senior players - like scrumhalf Jano Vermaak and centre Doppies la Grange.

iafrica.com Prediction: It will be tough for the Lions, a very unsettled Lions team, but in the end they may well sneak a win. The Lions by less than 10 points.

Teams:

Boland Cavaliers: 15 Justin Peach, 14 Deon Scholtz, 13 Hein Myburgh, 12 Dewey Swartbooi, 11 Ernie Kruger, 10 Elgar Watts, 9 Marnus Hugo, 8 Junior Bester, 7 Carel Hoffman, 6 Wendal Wehr, 5 Rito Hlungwane, 4 Nico Esterhuyse, 3 Johan Roets, 2 Conrad Burke (captain), 1 Janro van Niekerk.
Replacements: 16 Clemen Lewis, 17 AN Other, 18 Frikkie Spies, 19 Zolani Mofu, 20 Danie van der Merwe, 21 Lionel Cornelius, 22 Llewellyn Adonis.

Lions: 15 Earl Rose, 14 Shandre Frolick, 13 Alwyn Hollenbach, 12 Doppies la Grange, 11 Henno Mentz, 10 Ruan Boshoff, 9 Jano Vermaak, 8 Willem Alberts, 7 Franco van der Merwe, 6 Cobus Grobbelaar (captain), 5 Johan Snyman, 4 Nico Luus, 3 Gert Muller, 2 Hans van Dyk, 1 JC Janse van Rensburg,
Replacements: 16 Derek Harwood, 17 Kevin Buys, 18 Wouter Moore, 19 Todd Clever, 20 Chris Jonck, 21 Pieter Engelbrecht, 22 Dusty Noble

Referee: Jaco Peyper
Assistant referees: Gareth Lloyd-Jones, Christie du Preez

Leopards v Sharks
(Royal Bafokeng Sports Palace, Phokeng - 19.00, 17.00 GMT)

Not that the Sharks needed it, but they had the help of Western Force coach John Mitchell at training this week.

Having helped the Sharks ahead of their impressive win over the Cavaliers last week, Mitchell stayed on in Durban to help out his good friend, Sharks head coach John Plumtree - who returned to New Zealand for his father's 70th birthday.

Mitchell is "mentoring" some of the young guys, particularly some of the forwards, and no doubt he is adding some real value.

The other import that will play a key role this week is Argentinean flyhalf Juan Martin Hernandez, who will make his Sharks debut in Phokeng (formerly Rustenburg).

Assistant coach Grant Bashford made it clear that the Sharks can't afford to underestimate the bottom-placed and winless Leopards.

"We've spoken about how we really need to respect the Leopards and be absolutely professional in our preparation this week," Bashford said.

"If we train really well then we should carry that into the match.

"We can't look at their position on the log and think it's going to be easy, rather we need to analyse their strengths and weaknesses as we do each week. If we do that we should get the result we're after."

Leopards coach Chaka Willemse spoke this week about the need for his team to keep improving and closing the gap between his team of Premier Division newcomers and Currie Cup regulars.

He is likely to find out exactly how big that gap is against the defending champions, even though the Sharks are missing about 10 Springboks.

iafrica.com Prediction: This is going to be a very long season for the Leopards and their losing streak is unlikely to end soon. The Sharks by plenty - 20 points or more.

Teams:

Leopards: 15 Russell Jeacocks, 14 Jovan Bowles, 13 Deon van Rensburg, 12 Berndt Theissinger, 11 Jan van Zyl, 10 Clayton Durand, 9 Michael Bondesio, 8 RW Kember, 7 Wilhelm Koch (captain), 6 André Swanepoel, 5 Edrich Linde, 4 Rudi Mathee, 3 Barend van der Walt, 2 Gavin Williamson, 1 Divan Kotze.
Replacements: 16 Marthinus van der Westhuizen, 17 Philip Lemmer, 18 Rynard Landman, 19 Bennie Adams, 20 Theo van Wyk, 21 Bom Samaai, 22 Danie Dames.

The Sharks: 15 Stefan Terblanche (captain), 14 Chris Jordaan, 13 Andries Strauss, 12 Riaan Swanepoel, 11 Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Juan Hernandez, 9 Charl McLeod , 8 Ryan Kankowski, 7 Jean Deysel , 6 Keegan Daniel,  5 Albert van den Berg, 4 Steven Sykes,  3 Wiehahn Herbst, 2 Skipper Badenhorst , 1 Patric Cilliers,
Replacements: 16 Craig Burden, 17 Dale Chadwick, 18 Michael Rhodes, 19 Jacques Botes, 20 Ross Cronje, 21 Guy Cronje, 22 Waylon Murray

Referee: Pro Legoete
Assistant referees: Tiaan Jonker, Peet Badenhorst 

Free State Cheetahs v Blue Bulls
(Vodacom Park, Bloemfontein - 19.10, 17.10 GMT)

The Cheetahs coaching staff, in their search for that winning recipe, have been forced to name their fourth captain of the season in hooker Adriaan Strauss - who takes over the captaincy in the absence of Hendro Scholtz, who injured his elbow.

Just that, the constant changing of the captaincy armband, tells a story about the Cheetahs.

However, the Blue Bulls will not be going to Bloemfontein with the false belief that it will be a walk in the park.

The Cheetahs have been unable to recover from the early setback of losing to neighbours Griquas in the opening match of the competition.

They have been competitive in all of their matches, yet they failed to register a win.

That is why Bulls coach Frans Ludeke made sure his charges understand the task awaiting them in Bloemfontein.

"The games that they lost were close and they could have gone either way," Ludeke said of the Cheetahs.

"We know that their players and technical staff are putting in a massive effort.

"It is going to be tactical in the beginning and the team that creates more opportunities and making use of them will be coming out on top."

Ludeke has made clear his intentions of attacking the Cheetahs in the set pieces, especially with his five-forward-two-backs replacement bench - which include an entire extra front row in Bandise Maku, Frik Kirsten and Jaco Engels.

Deon Stegmann and Pedrie Wannenburg are also back in his starting 15 for the first time this season.

"It is very important that our forwards are fresh and in the game for the full 80 minutes and therefore it was great to be able to select a five-two bench," said Ludeke.

"We all know that if you control things up front, you control the match and that is obviously one of our goals for Friday's game."

iafrica.com Prediction: The Blue Bulls will not be in a charitable mood and expect the men from Pretoria to push their play-off claims with an important away win. The Bulls by 10 points or more.

Teams:

Free State Cheetahs: 15 Hennie Daniller, 14 Danwel Demas, 13 Corné Uys, 12 Robert Ebersohn, 11 Jongi Nokwe, 10 Jacques-Louis Potgieter, 9 JP Joubert, 8 Francois Uys, 7 Johan Wessels, 6 Frans Viljoen, 5 David de Villiers, 4 Nico Breedt, 3 WP Nel, 2 Adriaan Strauss (captain), 1 Wian du Preez/Coenie Oosthuizen.
Replacements: 16 Richardt Strauss, 17 Coenie Oosthuizen/Jean Botha, 18 Izak van der Westhuizen, 19 Kabamba Floors, 20 Tertius Carse, 21 Louis Strydom, 22 JW Jonker.

Blue Bulls: 15 Tiger Mangweni, 14 Gerhard van den Heever, 13 Jaco Pretorius, 12 Stefan Watermeyer, 11 Marius Delport, 10 Francois Brummer, 9 Heini Adams, 8 Pedrie Wannenburg, 7 Jacques Burger, 6 Deon Stegmann, 5 Wilhelm Steenkamp, 4 Flip van der Merwe, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Derick Kuün (captain), 1 Gurthrö Steenkamp.
Replacements: 16 Bandise Maku, 17 Frik Kirsten, 18 Fudge Mabeta, 19 Dries van Schalkwyk, 20 Francois Hougaard, 21 Burton Francis, 22 Jaco Engels.

Referee: Sindile Mayende
Assistant referees: Craig Joubert, Reuben Rossouw
TMO: Johann Meuwesen

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