I’m not a huge fan of these long drawn out competitions we seem to be increasingly subject to as rugby viewers. In my opinion, the New-And-Improved™ Four Nations and the New-And-Improved™ Super XV serve only to enrich the relevant rugby unions at the expense of player welfare (notice how many injuries there are, particularly amongst the Tri-Nations & Six Nations sides?) and serve also  to illustrate (to me at any rate) that too much of a good thing is as boring as hell.

I’m all for the old school approach – let’s get back to touring New Zealand for 2 months at a stretch every second year, playing mid-week games against the provinces and 5 test matches spread over 7 weeks, just like they did before the advent of professionalism. A mate of mine – the Pie Muncher – made a very astute observation this morning: the World Cup quarter-finals are full of match-ups we’ve seen a thousand times over in the past 2 years. Sunday morning will be the third time this year we’ve played Aus, and England vs France or Ireland vs Wales is actually old news for anybody with a DSTV decoder. Imagine the hype around (hopefully) next week’s semi-final match-up between the All Blacks and the Springboks if the teams hadn’t faced each other at all for 2 years, when the Springboks narrowly lost an away tour to New Zealand by 2 tests to 3? I’d be absolutely moist.

Anyway, while rugby’s showpiece has been filling our screens, the Kerrie Beker is wrapping up to a very thrilling conclusion, what with 5 teams now jostling for play-off spots in the semi’s, and Griquas living-out the drama-within-a-drama of staying in the Currie Cup competition next year (although I suspect that this might end up being a boardroom decision rather than a decision based on their performance in this year’s competition, which is a big shame).

PUMAS vs CHEETAHS (Mbombela Stadium, Witbank. Friday 7.10pm)

For my money, even though the Cheetahs might not end on top of the log this year – that honour is in probability going to belong to the Lions – they’re my favourites to win the Kerrie Beker this year. In the past month they’ve won a couple of games against some big guns very convincingly, and also managed to salvage draws out of 2 games they should’ve lost, which is a good measure of a champion side.

Tonight’s encounter should be similar to their encounters over the past 2 seasons, in which the Cheetahs have never failed to post less than 45 points against the Pumas, so I expect the men from Bloemfontein to win well in a high-scoring affair.

Cheetahs by 20.

GRIQUAS vs BLUE BULLS (GWK Park, Kimberley. Saturday 3pm)

This is an interesting one. The Bulls are definitely on an upward curve, and should have the measure of the Griquas, even though they are away in Kimberley. That’s what my brain says anyway. My gut says that the Griquas are due an “upset” result again, and the ramifications of a Bulls loss without a bonus point are massive: not only will it mean that Griquas jump them on the log into fifth place, it will also effectively end the Bulls’ charge to the semi’s, virtually securing Western Province’s run into the play-offs.

Hmmm… let’s go with my gut…

Griquas by 3.

LIONS vs WESTERN PROVINCE (Coca-Cola Park, Joburg. Saturday 5.05pm)

Another picking nightmare, given that this is a result that could go either way.

The Lions have been good all season, and rightfully sit on top of the log, well on the way to their first home semi-final since 1999. WP on the other hand have hung in there, given the injury toll this year and the relative youth and inexperience of their squad, and are fighting hard to stay in play-off contention. I’d like to think that WP’s minor upset last week in beating the Sharks in Durban is an indication of the start of a strong finish to the season rather than a fluke, but the stakes are high for both sides: a Lions win will secure them top of the log and a guaranteed home semi-final, while a WP win will pretty much give them a slot in the semi’s, given that their last game should be an easy bonus point win against the Pumas next week.

Province by 5.

LEOPARDS vs SHARKS (Profert Olen Park, Potchefstroom. Saturday 7.10pm)

I’ve already started phoning around my friendship group trying to find something else to do at 7.10pm on Saturday, rather than watch yet another Leppids pomping. Currently my options include a thrilling 2 hours of having my wife teach me what “scrapbooking” is (apparently it’s like Facebook but with glue) or a Gears Of War lan against a bunch of pimply teenagers I randomly met outside a club at 3am last week Friday and drunkenly accused of being “Trekkies”, much to their chagrin. It seems that these differences of opinion are no longer sorted out by means of a good old-fashioned parking lot brawl, but instead through online “duels”. Nerds.

Sharks by 40.