By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Suzuki Griquas will host the Fidelity ADT Lions, while the Toyota Cheetahs welcome the Airlink Pumas in next weekend’s Carling Currie Cup Premier Division semi-finals.
Both semi-finals will take place on Sunday, 6 September, with the match in Kimberley kicking off at 13h00, followed by the Bloemfontein playoff at 15h30.
With Griquas and the Cheetahs having already secured their play-off places before the weekend’s four encounters, the Pumas and Lions still had it all to play for in the final round of league action, but both duly booked their semi-final spots with convincing victories, while the Sanlam Boland Kavaliers’ changes of progressing sadly evaporated on Sunday.
The Lions kicked off the final round when they outplayed the DHL Stormers XXIII 36-12 in Johannesburg on Friday. That match was followed by the Hollywoodbets Sharks XV’s 53-22 victory over the winless Vodacom Bulls XV in Durban.
In Saturday’s only fixture, the Airlink Pumas turned on the style to outclass the Cheetahs 52-26 in Nelspruit, while the Griquas wrapped up the weekend’s action with a commanding 48-17 away win over the Boland Kavaliers in Wellington on Sunday afternoon.
Following the seventh-round matches, Griquas finished top of the standings on 31 points, with the Cheetahs second on 27. They were followed by the Pumas (22) and Lions (20) in the top four.
The Sharks XV finished fifth on 18 points, while the Kavaliers and Stormers XXIII both ended on 16 points. The Bulls XV finished eighth on six points.