Currie Cup round two preview: Pressure already on some teams
Because all the teams will only play seven regular competition matches over one round and there not being home and away legs the pressure is already on for some teams in this year's Currie Cup competition. And we've only had one round of action.
For the teams who lost last weekend – Western Province, the Cheetahs, Griquas and the Sharks – it's just about must-win this weekend when round two is played across the country.
No team will want to have two defeats to their name with five to play, so it's all set to be a big weekend of action.
Friday night action
Kicking things off on Friday night (7pm) are the Cheetahs and Pumas who clash in Bloemfontein.
Frans Steyn's Cheetahs will be ruing their missed opportunity in Wellington last weekend when they allowed Boland to snatch the win well after the final hooter, and will look to hit back at home this weekend.
The Pumas though have proved to be tough Currie Cup competitors in recent years and go into the game on the back of an impressive win at home against Griquas.
Saturday fixtures
The first match on Saturday sees the Lions, fresh off picking up a big win against the Sharks at Ellis Park last weekend, going up against Western Province, who looked a well beaten side against the travelling Bulls in Cape Town last weekend.
Another win for the Lions will set them up nicely for the remainder of the competition, while for Western Province alarm bells could be ringing on Saturday night if they don't win, as will be the case for the Cheetahs.
In the late game on Saturday (5.10pm) the Bulls host the Sharks at Loftus and taking into account how things went for these two teams last weekend, the Bulls be favoured to win this one. They won comfortably against Province away, while the Sharks were hammered in Joburg by the Lions.
In the final match of the round, Griquas host Boland in Kimberley at 3pm Sunday. The home team will be desperate to pick up a win after their struggles in Mbombela last week, but a second consecutive win for Boland will give them a lot of hope of making the playoffs this season.
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