Saturday, 10 October:

Griquas v Sharks
(GWK Stadium, Kimberley - 15.00, 13.00 GMT)

Sharks loose forward Ryan Kankowski was stating the obvious, but it was a statement worth making.

"It is tough for any team to beat them [Griquas] in Kimberley," Kankowski said, when asked about the Sharks' road trip.

They may have stumbled in their last few games - a 27-61 loss to the Bulls when two yellow cards cost them 34 points and a 3-43 loss to Western Province in atrocious conditions - but Griquas remain a major threat on their home ground.

Griquas' seasoned flyhalf Naas Olivier spoke of Kimberley as an "ally" to the team - with the rock hard playing surface and often stifling heat make life decidedly unpleasant for visitors.

But there are other aspects that will make this a true test for the Sharks' championship credentials.

Kankowski feels the game will be a "type of final", with Griquas desperate for the two points that will book their play-off spot and the Sharks needing to win and collect a bonus point to stay in with a chance of topping the table.

"There is little doubt that we are in for a tough, physical challenge," Kankowski said, adding that the Sharks will need to produce a grand stand finish to get that first place on the standings.

Sharks coach John Plumtree is confident that his team do have the attributes to overcome this tricky hurdle.

"While it's never easy going to Kimberley, the guys back their ability to come up with the goods this weekend," said Plumtree.

"There's also that added incentive of ending the competition at the top of the log, which is something that is still on our radar. We'll need to firstly get the points against Griquas and then hope that some of the other results go our way.

"The guys have the ability, and still back themselves to end the competition at the top."

However, as Kankowski pointed out, the Sharks' fortuitous two-point (19-17) win over the Lions last week served as a timely reminder of what pitfalls the Currie Cup holds.

Plumtree agrees with the Springbok loose forward.

"We've played better than that before, but if we play like that against Griquas we could get hurt, so there is a lot of work to do," the coach said.

Plumtree spoke of the need to be "accurate in execution" of the basic game plan against a team determined to leave their mark on the competition.

Griquas have not been outside the top four once since the opening week and topped the standings through the first five weeks.

"They're in the same situation as the Lions were against us [last week], if they don't win, they'll be out," Plumtree said.

"You wouldn't have backed them against the Bulls in Pretoria, but against The Sharks in Kimberley . . . It's happened before, and against other good teams, we know what the threat is and we need to make sure we go up there as a united group, with a common goal after one thing."

iafrica Prediction: This will be a cracker. Griquas are not going to go down without a fight and they'll most likely make a good fist of it. But when it comes to allround class and experience, especially y in pressure situations, the Sharks have a clear edge. You would also expect their Springboks to be a lot more settled and they should prove to be too powerful for a willing Griquas outfit. The Sharks to win by about 15 to 20 points.

Teams:

Griquas: 15 Riaan Viljoen, 14 Bjorn Basson, 13 Jaco Bekker, 12 Barry Geel, 11 Trompie Nontshinga, 10 Naas Olivier, 9 Sarel Pretorius, 8 Jonathan Mokuena (captain), 7 Davon Raubenheimer, 6 Wesley Wilkins, 5 Jacques Lombaard, 4 Cecil Kemp, 3 Ruaan du Preez, 2 Ryno Barnes, 1 Albertus Buckle.
Replacements: 16 Dries Kruger, 17 Drew van Coller, 18 Brendon Snyman, 19 Rohan Kitshoff/Heinrich Stride, 20 Donald Stevens, 21 Wilmaure Louw, 22 Gavin Passens.

The Sharks: 15 Stefan Terblanche (captain), 14 Odwa Ndungane, 13 Adrian Jacobs, 12 Riaan Swanepoel, 11 JP Pietersen, 10 Juan Hernandez, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Ryan Kankowski, 7 Michael Rhodes, 6 Keegan Daniel, 5 Alistair Hargreaves, 4 Steven Sykes, 3 John Smit, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements: 16 Craig Burden, 17 Jannie du Plessis, 18 Albert van den Berg, 19 Jean Deysel, 20 Rory Kockott, 21 Andries Strauss, 22 Waylon Murray.

Referee: Mark Lawrence
Assistant referees: Gareth Lloyd-Jones, Lourens van der Merwe
TMO: Shaun Veldsman