Sharks eyeing top of Currie Cup log against Province

In what is without doubt the Currie Cup tie of the weekend‚ the Sharks hit the road to face Western Province at Newlands Stadium in Cape Town with the knowledge that victory may take them to the summit of the log.

The Sharks have the psychological advantage over their hosts as they have registered three successive victories in the Mother City‚ including in the 2013 Currie Cup final.

Coach Robert du Preez will be without highly promising 26-year-old fullback Garth April‚ who has been dropped due to a discipline issue that the franchise said was “internal".

Western Province‚ on the other hand‚ said coach John Dobson‚ are determined to win at home and improve their position on the log before they go on a bye next weekend.

“It is great to have a reasonable amount of continuity in selection and we really want to build on the momentum we have gathered in the last two weeks‚” he said this week.

“The players know that we will have to raise our standards once again and we are all looking forward to what should be a serious challenge.”

Action starts on Friday night when the under-pressure Blue Bulls travel Nelspruit to face the Pumas at Mbombela Stadium in what will be coach John Mitchell’s first game in charge of the Pretoria team after they placed Nollis Marias on special leave.

Mitchell‚ who took over from Marais this week‚ has handed first starts of the season to prop Lizo Gqoboka‚ who spent some time training with the Springboks recently‚ and midfielder JT Jackson in a number of changes to the travelling team.

“We have started a process to take responsibility and ownership of performances and to take the Blue Bulls back to respected levels of competitiveness‚” Mitchell said.

“We have a long way to go but there will be no excuses. Hard work will be one of the main aspects behind this drive but after three losses‚ we will also have to find the desire to win again.”

In the final game of the weekend‚ top of the log Free State Cheetahs host the Golden Lions at the Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein‚ where coach of the home side Rory Duncan has made a number of changes to the team that beat the Blue Bulls 41-40 last weekend.

The Lions have also tinkered with their team that lost to the Sharks last weekend and coach Swys de Bruin has made five changes to the line-up for the clash against the Cheetahs on Saturday afternoon.

Currie Cup Fixtures

Friday:

Pumas v Blue Bulls (Mbombela Stadium‚ 7pm)

Saturday:

Western Province v Sharks (Newlands‚ 3pm); Free State Cheetahs v Golden Lions (Toyota Stadium‚ 5.15pm)

- TimesLIVE