The Cheetahs and Pumas will be involved in a “quarter-final” this week to see who will join the Lions, Vodacom Bulls and Sharks XV in the playoffs of the 2024 Currie Cup.

The Lions and Bulls will host semi-finals with the Pride in pole position to finish the league phase at the top of the log after their victory over their Jukskei rivals in Centurion on Friday.

Griquas and DHL Western Province were victorious over the Cheetahs and Pumas, respectively, and the Sharks XV secured third spot on the standings with a massive win over the Griffons in Durban, in the penultimate round of the competition.

In a closely contested affair in Kimberley, Griquas edged the Cheetahs with a 44-31 win on Friday afternoon, inflicting some damage to the defending champions’ semi-final aspirations.

The Lions were the biggest winners of the weekend when they beat the Bulls by 57-33 at Midstream College, to snap the Pretoria’s side unbeaten streak and leapfrog them on the table.

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On Saturday in Durban, the Sharks XV packed too much firepower, romping home to a 75-19 win to extend their unbeaten run to six games.

Meanwhile on Sunday, WP delivered one of their better performances to down the Pumas 39-30 at the Danie Craven Stadium in Stellenbosch.

With only the final round of league fixtures to come, Lions lead the pack on 38 points, one more than the Bulls (37). The Sharks XV follow on 31 points.

Six and seven points adrift respectively, the Cheetahs (25) and Pumas (24) will play out for the final spot in the top four when they clash on Saturday. Griquas and WP (both on 19) and the Griffons (three) bring up the rear.

This week, Griquas are playing WP in Kimberley on Friday (3pm). Immediately after that, the ADT Lions host the Griffons in Johannesburg (5:15pm).

On Saturday, the Pumas and Cheetahs meet from 1:30pm in Nelspruit, while the Sharks are up against the Bulls in Durban on Sunday (3pm) to complete the league phase.

Photo: Charle Lombard/BackpagePix

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