It may be a well-versed cliché, but all Currie Cup roads lead to Newlands this weekend. Yes, there are indeed three other matches in this, the final round of league action in South Africa's premier domestic competition. But there is no doubt where the spotlight will shine brightest.

The Sharks and the Blue Bulls have already secured their places on the play-off stage — leaving the Free State Cheetahs, the Lions and WP to fight it out for the remaining two places in the semifinals.

Two of those, Province and the Lions, go head-to-head in the weekend's final "decider" at Newlands on Saturday.

There is no better stage than Newlands to have a game of this magnitude. It is a venue steeped in tradition, a venue that has produced some of the most classic Currie Cup encounters over the years.

And the added 'bonus' for those who do claim third and fourth on the standings — first and second belong to the Sharks and Bulls already — is the joy of travelling to either Durban or Pretoria.

Dramatic stage set

But before we get to the semifinals we have a weekend of high drama ahead of us.

It starts in Pretoria on Friday night, when the Bulls will field their second-string selection against a Falcons team already gearing up for their promotion/relegation series later this month.

One has to feel some pity for Rudy Joubert and his Falcons. They entertained us with some delightful rugby in the early stages of the competition, but as was expected they quickly fell of the pace when injuries struck and their lack of depth were exposed.

For the Bulls Friday's encounter is a great opportunity to not only give their back-up talent a run, but also to cut loose and play some uninhibited rugby. To entertain the Loftus diehards who will brave the chilly evening weather.

When a Bulls team play with such freedom they can cause some serious damage. The Falcons, of course, will see it as an opportunity to get a bonus point or points and move off the bottom of the standings.

Saturday's action has a lot more riding on it.

The Cheetahs will host the Boland Cavaliers in Bloemfontein, with the defending champions knowing they require a full-house of five points (a win and bonus point) to secure their place.

They will then be able to sit back and watch Province and the Lions fight for the last remaining spot on the semis.

On their muddy cabbage patch in Wellington the Cavaliers can be competitive against most. On a firm surface like that in Bloemfontein they will require a lot more than just heart — it will require true talent. And in that department they are hopelessly outclassed by a Cheetahs team who are determined to secure their play-off place on the field — unlike some of their rivals who have been busy with all sorts of boardroom shenanigans to get some extra points in the bank.

Room for improvement

Then there's also the Sharks, who will host Griquas, the latter a team with nothing but pride to play for.

The Sharks go into this game determined to start building for the play-offs — hoping to improve their accuracy.

Sharks captain Johann Muller has readily admitted this week that there is plenty of room for improvement and the fact that they are playing a disheartened Griquas outfit will not see them ease off.

"It doesn't matter who we are playing this weekend, regardless of whether it is Griquas, Cheetahs or the Bulls or whoever, it's about us, it's not about them and we have to start building momentum now and really playing some good rugby for 80 minutes," Muller said.

Despite the fact that Griquas might not be considered one of the top five unions, Muller admits that there is no complacency in the camp ahead of this match.

"We have done the hard work over the last eight weeks and one slip-up could be costly, we are definitely not taking this game lightly," he explained.

"We saw last weekend against Griquas that the Blue Bulls really only ran away with it in the last 10 or 15 minutes. Griquas are a really competitive side, they have a good pack of forwards who are really tough and some clever players at the back so we'll have to play well if we want to beat them."

And that brings us to the last game of the weekend — the cherry on a very delectable cake.

Western Province, despite fielding a host of Springboks and being at home, will have to pull out all the stops against a Lions team confident of causing a major upset.

"For 60 minutes [last week] we had a team filled with Springboks [the Sharks] up against the ropes, we just didn't knock them out," Lions coach Eugene Eloff said, in explaining why his team is not in awe of the talent at WP's disposal.

"The team can lift their heads up high, because of the character they showed on the field. However, we have put that game behind us and we are now focusing on Cape Town.

"This weekend we will go all out to ensure we play in the semifinals."

Negative play

Province coach Allister Coetzee acknowledged that they are facing an enormous hurdle in the Lions, even going as far as predicting the Lions' tactics.

Coetzee is expecting the Lions to deviate from their normally expansive game plan and to introduce a safety-first option that will secure them that much-needed bonus point.

"If I was coaching the Lions, I would play negatively and leave it up to WP to do all the playing," Coetzee told a media gathering in Cape Town.

The WP brainstrust feels that the breakdown area could become a crucial factor in the final shake-up.

"The Lions are very good on the ground, but as with all teams that are good on the ground, that also means they are liable to give away penalties," Province captain Jean de Villiers said.

However, WP still need to win by 19 points or more and score four tries, also preventing the Lions from getting a bonus point.

That means decision making — as in when to opt to kicks at goal — will be a fine balancing act.

"We can kick penalties all day, but it won't help our purpose if we do not score the four tries," De Villiers said.

The permutations for the Newlands clash are simple — the home team needs to deny the Lions a bonus point of any sort, they need to score four tries and they must win by 19 points or more to make up their current points' difference against the Lions.

A Lions win of any sort over WP will see them into third place on the log, leaving the Cheetahs in fourth position, regardless of their winning margin over Boland.

WP coach Allister Coetzee has admitted that the odds are stacked against his side.

"We know that if we want to reach the play-offs. It's a big ask yes, but certainly not impossible and a target we will certainly be having a crack at," added Coetzee.

We take a look at all the Round 14 action:

Friday, October 3:

Blue Bulls v Falcons
Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria, 19.10 (17.10)

Our prediction: The Bulls can field their third-tier of players and will still have too much firepower for a relegation-bound Falcons team. You will be silly if you wager anything of the Falcons and equally foolhardy if you don't put a small wager on the Bulls. It will be another massacre — the Bulls to win by 20 points or more.

Teams:

Blue Bulls: 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Tiger Mangweni, 13 Stephan Dippenaar, 12 Wayne Julies, 11 Rocco Jansen, 10 Burton Francis, 9 Heini Adams, 8 Dewald Potgieter, 7 Pedrie Wannenburg, 6 Deon Stegmann, 5 Wilhelm Steenkamp (captain), 4 Juandré Kruger, 3 Ruan Vermeulen, 2 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 1 Jaco Engels.
Replacements: 16 Bandise Maku, 17 Dean Greyling, 18 Fudge Mabeta, 19 Jacques Burger, 20 JP Joubert, 21 Francois Brummer, 22 Stefan Watermeyer.

Falcons: 15 Jeffrey Perkins, 14 Frank Wagenström, 13 Johan Jackson, 12 Franco Booysen, 11 Poerie van Rooyen, 10 Hanno Coetzee (captain), 9 Gerrie Odendaal, 8 Sean Plaatjies, 7 Thabo Mamojele, 6 Gert Lubbe, 5 Nico Luus, 4 Wouter Moore, 3 Dewald Coetzee, 2 Jody Jeneker, 1 Zane Killian.
Replacements: 16 Ryno Barnes, 17 Gavin Whittingham, 18 Dupi du Preez, 19 Reg Muller, 20 Freddie van Zyl, 21 Daan-Roux van Coller, 22 Dewald Pretorius.

Referee: JC Fortuin
Touch judges: François Veldsman, Cobus Wessels
TMO: Johann Meuwesen

Saturday, October 4:

Free State Cheetahs v Boland
Park, Bloemfontein, 15.00 (13.00)

Our prediction: The Boland Cavaliers threw everything and the kitchen sink at Western Province, without much success, and will arrive in Bloemfontein a very disheartened bunch. They also have no real strike force with which to threatened the Cheetahs. This is one of three bankers for the weekend. The Cheetahs to win by 30 points or more.

Teams:

Free State Cheetahs: 15 Bevin Fortuin, 14 Eddie Fredericks, 13 JW Jonker, 12 Meyer Bosman, 11 Jongi Nokwe, 10 Jacques-Louis Potgieter, 9 Tewis de Bruyn, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Juan Smith (captain), 6 Heinrich Brüssow, 5 Barend Pieterse, 4 David de Villiers, 3 Kobus Calldo, 2 Richardt Strauss, 1 Wian du Preez.
Replacements: 16 PW van Vuuren, 17 Coenie Oosthuizen, 18 Nico Breedt, 19 Schalk van der Merwe, 20 Jandré Blom, 21 Hennie Daniller, 22 Kabamba Floors.

Boland Cavaliers: 15 Justin Peach, 14 Deon Scholtz, 13 Piet van Zyl (captain), 12 Dewey Swartbooi, 11 Danwel Demas, 10 Elgar Watts, 9 Marnus Hugo, 8 David Hendricks, 7 Josh Strauss, 6 Zolani Mofu, 5 Nico Esterhuyse, 4 Cecil Kemp, 3 Jacobie Adriaanse, 2 Pieter Wium, 1 Janro van Niekerk.
Replacements: 16 Clemen Lewis, 17 Jean Botha, 18 Johan Peacock, 19 Angelo Brinkhuys, 20 Neil Papier, 21 Hein Myburgh, 22 Lionel Cornelius.

Referee: Marius Jonker
Touch judges: Gareth Lloyd-Jones, Peet Badenhorst
TMO: Johann Meuwesen

Sharks v Griquas
Absa Stadium, Durban, 15.00 (13.00)

Our prediction: This is banker number three. Put your house on a big win here, as Griquas inevitable produce a shocker on the road. They are poor travellers and the Sharks have hit a rich vein of form. The Sharks will win easily and the margin could approach 50 points.

Teams:

Sharks: 15 Stefan Terblanche, 14 Odwa Ndungane, 13 Adrian Jacobs, 12 Francois Steyn, 11 JP Pietersen, 10 Frederic Michalak, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Ryan Kankowski, 7 Keegan Daniel, 6 Jacques Botes, 5 Johann Muller (captain), 4 Steven Sykes, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 John Smit, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements: 16 Bismarck du Plessis, 17 Deon Carstens, 18 Albert van den Berg, 19 Jean Deysel, 20 Rory Kockott, 21 Bradley Barritt, 22 Waylon Murray.

Griquas: 15 Conrad Barnard, 14 Egon Seconds, 13 Alwyn Hollenbach, 12 Riaan Viljoen, 11 MJ Mentz, 10 Naas Olivier, 9 Sarel Pretorius, 8 Gareth Krause (captain), 7 Stephan Gerber, 6 Rohan Kitshoff, 5 Jacques Lombaard, 4 Wayne van Heerden, 3 Bees Roux, 2 Hans van Dyk, 1 Steph Roberts.
Replacements: 16 Dean Hopp, 17 Ruaan du Preez, 18 Brendon Snyman, 19 Tyrone Holmes, 20 Dougie Helmuth, 21 Wouter Watermeyer, 22 Gavin Passens.

Referee: Jonathan Kaplan
Touch judges: Jaco Peyper, Reuben Rossouw
TMO: Michael Cupido

Western Province v Lions
Newlands, Cape Town, 17.05 (15.05)

Our prediction: This is a tough call to make. Sure, home ground advantage and a Springbok-laden team makes it seem as if WP should walk this. But the Lions have a few key players in crucial positions and last week showed they can upstage their star-studded rivals ... if only they can cut out those mistakes tat cost them so dearly against the Sharks. The smart money is on Western Province, but the brazen gambler will wager a fair amount on the Lions. We think an upset is on the cards and the Lions will sneak a win — by less than 10 points.

Teams:

Western Province: 15 Conrad Jantjes, 14 Joe Pieterson, 13 Sireli Naqelevuki, 12 Jean De Villiers (captain), 11 Wylie Human, 10 Peter Grant, 9 Ricky Januarie, 8 Luke Watson, 7 Francois Louw, 6 Schalk Burger, 5 Andries Bekker, 4 Adriaan Fondse, 3 Brian Mujati, 2 Schalk Brits, 1 Wicus Blaauw.
Replacements: 16 Deon Fourie, 17 JC Kritzinger, 18 Schalk Ferreira, 19 AJ Venter, 20 Bolla Conradie, 21 Percy Montgomery / Gio Aplon , 22 Morgan Newman

Lions: 15 Louis Ludik, 14 Michael Killian, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 Doppies la Grange, 11 Trompie Nontshinga, 10 Earl Rose, 9 Jano Vermaak, 8 Ernst Joubert, 7 Justin Wheeler, 6 Cobus Grobbelaar (captain), 5 Franco van der Merwe, 4 Anton van Zyl, 3 Ross Geldenhuys, 2 Willie Wepener, 1 Heinke van der Merwe.
Replacements: 16 Ethienne Reynecke, 17 Lawrence Sephaka, 18 Jannes Labuschagne, 19 Wilhelm Koch, 20 Chris Jonck, 21 Louis Strydom, 22 Jaco Van Schalkwyk.

Date: Saturday, October 4
Venue: Newlands, Cape Town
Kick-off: 17.05 (15.05 GMT)
Referee: Craig Joubert
Touch judges: Sindile Mayende, Marc van Zyl
TMO: Willie Roos

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