The Sharks and the Blue Bulls both secured home semi-finals in the Currie Cup, making it extremely likely that both Bradley Barritt and Wikus van Heerden will be required by their franchises until the final day of the SA season.

Wikus enjoyed a rare day of rest as the Bulls, who were already assured of a home semi, but needing the leaders to slip up if they were to gain top seed for the final, decided to settle for second seed and rested many of their first XV.

In Durban, a full strength Sharks ran riot. Bradley Barritt, who came on early in the second half for fly-half Frederic Michalak, got some more rest when he was sent to the sin-bin for repeated infringements. That didn't stop the home side from adding a ninth try, courtesy of Ndungane, whilst he was away however. Two consolation tries for the Griquas led to a final score of 66-14.

Next Saturday, the Cheetahs visit Pretoria where Van Heerden will surely start. The Lions travel to Durbs, also on Saturday afternoon, where Barritt is likely to once again be named on the bench.

UK-based Sarries' fans can find these matches on SKY Sports Extra, clashing with Heineken Cup games on SS2.

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Ludeke reverts to his first team with a second row of Matfield and fit-again Rossouw and a back row of Spies, Stegmann and, of course, Van Heerden who will be fronting up against Juan Smith, the only Springbok in the Cheetahs' pack.

For the Sharks, Barritt will once again cover 10 & 12 from the bench.

Line ups:

1.30 BST

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 Jean Deysel, 6 Jacques Botes, 5 Johann Muller (c), 4 Steven Sykes, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements: 16 John Smit, 17 Deon Carstens, 18 Albert van den Berg/Nikolai Blignaut, 19 Keegan Daniel, 20 Rory Kockott, 21 Bradley Barritt, 22 Waylon Murray.

Lions: 15 Earl Rose, 14 Louis Ludik, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 Doppies la Grange, 11 Trompie Nontshinga, 10 Louis Strydom, 9 Jano Vermaak, 8 Ernst Joubert,7 Justin Wheeler, 6 Cobus Grobbelaar (c), 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 Derick Minnie, 20 Chris Jonck, 21 Michael Killian, 22 Jaco van Schalkwyk.

3.00 BST

Blue Bulls: 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 John Mametsa, 13 Marius Delport, 12 Wynand Olivier, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Morne Steyn, 9 Fourie du Preez, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Wikus van Heerden, 6 Deon Stegmann, 5 Victor Matfield (c), 4 Danie Rossouw, 3 Rayno Gerber, 2 Derick Kuun, 1 Gurthro Steenkamp.
Replacements: 16 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17 Werner Kruger, 18 Juandre' Kruger, 19 Dewald Potgieter, 20 Heini Adams, 21 Burton Francis, 22 Tiger Mangweni.

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

Outcome of semifinals

And Lo it came to pass! To no-one's great surprise, both home semifinalists duly progressed to the final, meaning that neither of Sarries' new boys will be released early. 

Wikus went about his business in his usual inconspicuous manner. Sarries used to have a blindside like that until, until he started courting attention by limping around with '7' on his back! He is likely to be named in the starting line-up for the final, to be held in two weeks time.

Bradley Barritt made it off the bench for the last 11 minutes of the Sharks' comfortable win. With the game already won, he replaced Francois Steyn at inside centre, with Waylon Murray also coming on as his centre partner. Durning much of this period, the Sharks didn't have the ball, ans so BB had the opportunity to demonstrate his tackling skills. As one might expect from a man who has languished on the tretment table and bench for many weeks, he took to the task with relish.

The Sharks did have one period of multi-phase possession, but they and BB managed to choose options which precluded him getting the ball - indeed your correspondent suspects that he didn't actually touch the ball during 11+minutes of play! A place on the bench beckons on October 25th.

October 25th is also the date that the Springbok tour party is announced. BB hasn't got a hope of being included, tot he short-term benefit of Sarries. There remains a significant danger that Wikus might be called up and denied to Sarries for a further month, unless he makes himself unavailable. 

Final selections

With both players required for the final, Eddie Jones has now announced that each will fly to London no sooner than Tuesday October 28. How ready they might be for Premiership action is not clear; while Bradley has had much rest and a light playing schedule, he may not be totally match fit; Wikus, on the other hand, has had a busy schedule, starting all but two of the Bulls cmpaign that takes them to the final - a total of 13 matches so far. There is no rest for the wicked, nor the talented, as Ludeke has named an unchanged side for the final, so Wikus starts at blindside with very short odds that he'll play the full 80.

With a weekend off between semi-final and final, niggling injuries can be overcome, and John Plumtree follows his rival's lead to name an unchanged side. Bradley Barritt therefore wears 21 and covers both fly-half and inside centre. In competitive matches Plumtree has used his bench sparingly, often leaving BB on the bench unless the game is already won. Few pundits are predicting a landslide Sharks win, despite home field advantage. Splinter removal may well be a challenge for the Sarries medical team on Wednesday.

Was that it?

The Currie Cup came, and went. An anticlimax with a figleaf of interest generated by the superficially close score line, but one in which the home side never looked like losing, as the Bulls left their best form behind on the high veldt. For the record, the Sharks won 14-9 with two converted tries.

Once again, Wikus Van Heerden played all 80 minutes for the Bulls, but, this time, Bradley Barritt came on after 61 minutes, initially as a blood replacement for Francois Steyn, but, whenthe youngster returned, BB remained as Adrian Jacobs was given a rest.

Wikus was competent throughout, and added some spice to a lacklustre Bulls immediately after the break, forstly with a solo run that enticed the Sharks to commit more players than usual in an attempt at effecting a turnover - No chance! The recycled ball gave the Bulls a chance to exploit superior numbers out wide, but normality was resumed when the attack petred out. Shortly afterward, Wikus was on defensive duty, ripping a ball from the grasp of two front-five opponents.

BB neither put a foot wrong nor shone in his 20-minute cameo. Neither player seemed to be sporting an injury at the close of play, and should be able to catch their scheduled flights today (Tuesday Oct 29th). Pieter De Villiers has confined himself to selecting players who will remain based in SA, and so neither of the Sarries duo were considered for the Boks' end-of-year tour.

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