TheBounce weekend preview – October 4th.

Is it just me or are the weeks going rather fast nowadays? I reckon it may have something to do with great sport having a gravitational pull that takes us there. Whatever the case, tomorrow is Friday, so that means we have a weekend preview to get into.

Rugby, cricket, football, all of the highest order – let’s get into it!

Rugby Championships

Saturday: South Africa vs New Zealand 17:00

TheBounce says: South Africa by 3

Crackerometer: 9

Springboks

15: Zane Kirchner 14:  Bryan Habana 13: Jaco Taute 12: Jean de Villiers 11: Francois Hougaard 10: Johan Goosen 9: Ruan Pienaar 8: Duane Vermuelen 7: Willem Alberts 6: Francois Louw 5: Andries Bekker  4: Eben Etzebeth  3: Jannie du Plessis 2: Adriaan Strauss  1: Beast Mtwarira

Replacements:

16: Tiaan Liebenberg 17: Coenie Oosthuizen 18: Flip van der Merwe 19: Marcel Coetzee 20: Elton Janjies 21: Pat Lambie 22: Juan de Jongh

New Zealand

15: Israel Dagg 14: Cory Jane 13: Conrad Smith 12: Ma’a Nonu 11: Hosea Gear 10: Dan Carter 9: Aaron Smith 8: Kieran Read 7: Richie McCaw 6: Liam Messam 5: Sam Whitelock 4: Brodie Retallick 3: Owen Franks 2: Andrew Hore 1: Tony Woodcock

Replacements:

16: Keven Mealamu 17: Ben Franks 18: Luke Romano 19: Adam Thomson 20: Piri Weepu 21: Aaron Cruden 22: Tamati Ellison

Yes I’m backing the Bokke. Call me sentimental, but I’ve got a feeling and I’m sure as shit not talking about the Black Eyed Peas. They should have klapped the Kiwis in Dunedin, they really should have. Now, at home and with new found confidence and thrust, the Boks should right the wrongs of three weeks ago and down their old foes. Sure the All Blacks destroyed the Argies last week to claim the trophy and always seem to have another few gears when they need them, but the Boks at home are a different beast. When they up for it, the opposition invariably goes down, and after 80 minutes on Saturday I’m thinking it’ll be the All Blacks on their knees.

Sunday: Argentina vs Australia 01:10

TheBounce says: Argentina by 8

Crackerometer: 7

Argentina:

15: Lucas Gonzalez Amorosino 14: Gonzalo Camacho 13: Marcelo Bosch 12: Santiago Fernandez 11: Horacio Agulla 10: Juan Martin Hernandez 9: Martin Landajo 8: Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe 7: Juan Manuel Leguizamon 6: Julio Farias Cabello 5: Patricio Albacete 4: Manuel Carizza 3: Juan Figallo 2: Eusebio Guinazu 1: Rodrigo Roncero

Replacements:

16: Agustin Creevy 17: Juan Pablo Orlandi 18: Leonardo Senatore 19: Toms Leonardi 20: Nicolas Vergallo 21: Nicolas Sanchez 22: Juan Imhoff

Australia:

15: Mike Harris 14: Nick Cummins 13: Ben Tapuai 12: Pat McCabe 11: Digby Ioane 10: Kurtley Beale  9: Nick Phipps 8: Radike Samo 7: Michael Hooper 6: Sitaleki Timani 5: Nathan Sharpe 4: Kane Douglas 3: Ben Alexander 2: Tatafu Polota-Nau 1: James Slipper

Replacements:

16: Saia Fainga’a 17: Benn Robinson 18: Dave Dennis 19: Scott Higginbotham 20: Liam Gill 21: Brett Sheehan 22: Dom Shipperley

You know that scene in 300 when the main guy, Gerald Butler, takes off all his armour then throws a spear towards that big jewellery laden poof in the throne? Well it kinda reminds me of the Aussie rugby team. They started the tournament with a small yet committed number of warriors against a seemingly insurmountable opposition. They fought bravely, got a couple wins, but now they are just farting against thunder with no more resources. We all know how that movie ends, so pick Argentina at home here for the win.

World T20

Down to the final four in the battle to see who is the best at international T20. Yes most of us may have completely lost interest in this after the Proteas were more flaccid than Barry Ronge in the Playboy Mansion, but the show does indeed go on – and here are the semis.

Thursday – 15:30: Sri Lanka vs Pakistan

Friday – 15:30: Australia vs West Indies

The head says a Sri Lanka vs Australia final, but I think we all know that T20 isn’t really played with the head. Final to follow on Sunday at same time.

British Premiership

All the big guns are out this weekend in the British Premiership, below are the big games worth noting:

Saturday

Man City vs Sunderland 13:45

Chelsea vs Norwich 16:00

West Ham vs Arsenal 18:30

Sunday

Spurs vs Aston Villa 16:00

Liverpool vs Stoke 16:00

Newcastle vs Man Utd 17:00

Currie Cup

Last but certainly not least, we have another 6 matches of Currie Cup goodness to enjoy this weekend.

Friday

Blue Bulls vs Western Province 19:10

Saturday

Griquas vs Lions 14:00

Cheetahs vs Sharks 19:15

That Bulls/WP game being a terrific weekend starter rugby wise. Go Province!

Write the weekend with Mr Price Sport

As you can see above, another bumper sports weekend is in store. So if you are going to watch, then how about trying your hand at writing about it too! The ‘Write the weekend with Mr Sport’ competition gives you the perfect opportunity to air your thoughts and opinions on current sport and get them posted right here on TheBounce.

So if something grabs your attention this weekend, or you just want to sum it up in your way, write about it in a piece of roughly 100 words and mail it to me on ben@thebounce.co.za

The best pieces will be put into our weekend wrap up post, the best of them then wins a R500 Mr Price Sport voucher!

Easy game, so get writing and you could then get winning with TheBounce and Mr Price Sport.

Click here to see last week’s best pieces.