Cheetahs vs Airlink Pumas Prediction & Betting Tips - Currie Cup

Prediction published on 23/06/2023, 12:30  by Devesh Jaganath in Currie Cup Predictions

The grand final of the 2023 Currie Cup will be played out this weekend as the Free State Cheetahs take on the Pumas on Saturday. The Cheetahs ended the group stages in first place, thereby securing a home final for this match. Across the 15 weeks of competition, the Cheetahs recorded ten wins, one draw and four losses. They accumulated 51 points, which included a table-topping 13 bonus points in that time. Despite having home-field advantage against the Bulls in the semi-final, the Cheetahs were still the underdogs but put on an incredible display to beat the side from the highveld 39-10. With that win, they are now on a four-match unbeaten streak in this competition. The hosts beat this opponent three weeks ago 29-14 and come into this match as the strong favourites, but can they dethrone the reigning champions?

Meanwhile, the Pumas went about their business in typical style in this competition, maintaining solid defence and using their speedy wingers to get past their opposition. They had a bit of a slump in the middle section of the group stages, which saw them drop out of the top four briefly, but they quickly corrected and ended the round-robin stages third with 40 points. The Pumas went to Durban for their semi-final clash against the strongly fancied Sharks, and many had written them off based on their opposition’s form up to that point. However, the Pumas showed why they are the champs and fended off the Dubanites to clinch a 26-20 victory. While they did lose to this opposition a few weeks ago, the Pumas did beat them in week three at this venue. That win will give them huge confidence in this one.