Currie Cup | |
---|---|
Current season or competition:![]() |
|
![]() |
|
Sport | Rugby union football |
Instituted | 1889 |
Inaugural season | 1889 |
Number of teams | Premier Division: 8 First Division: 6 |
Country | South Africa |
Holders | Western Province |
Broadcast partner | SuperSport, Setanta Sports Asia, Fox Sports |
Related competition | Vodacom Cup |
- For the cricket competition originally known as the Currie Cup, see Sunfoil Series.
The Currie Cup tournament (also known as the ABSA Currie Cup for sponsorship reasons) is South Africa's premier domestic rugby union competition, played each winter and spring (June to October), featuring teams representing either entire provinces or substantial regions within provinces. Although it is the premier domestic competition, South African teams also compete in the international Super Rugby competition.
Steeped in history and tradition, the Currie Cup dates back to 1889. The tournament is regarded as the cornerstone of South Africa's rugby heritage, and the coveted gold trophy remains the most prestigious prize in South African domestic rugby.[citation needed]
Contents
History[edit]
The Currie Cup is one of the oldest and most prestigious competitions around,[citation needed] with the first games played in 1889 but it was only in 1892 that it became officially known as the Currie Cup. The competition had its humble beginnings as an inter-province competition in 1884, but when the South African Rugby Board was founded in 1889 it decided to organize a national competition that would involve representative teams from all the major unions. The original participating unions were Western Province, Griqualand West, Transvaal and Eastern Province. The first tournament was held in Kimberley and was won by Western Province. For a prize they received a silver cup donated by the South African Rugby Board, now displayed at the SA Rugby Museum in Cape Town. The story of how the Currie Cup came to be comes from the first overseas rugby team to tour South Africa in 1891, The British Isles, who carried with them a particularly precious bit of cargo. Among the bags, boots and balls was a golden cup given to them by Sir Donald Currie, owner of Union-Castle Lines, the shipping company that transported them to the southern tip of Africa. Sir Donald was clear with his instructions – hand this trophy over to the team in South Africa that gives you the best game; and after a spirited display where the unbeaten British Lions narrowly won 3-0, Griqualand West became the first ever holders of the Currie Cup. They then handed the trophy over to the South African rugby board and it became the floating trophy for the Currie Cup competition. The inaugural Currie Cup tournament was thus held in 1892 with Western Province earning the honour of holding it aloft as the first official winners. The competition missed a few years here and there for reasons such as war and the like, but in 1968 it became a fully fledged annual showpiece. Western Province dominated the competition's early years, and by 1920 the team from Cape Town had already secured the trophy 10 times. Only Griqualand West could halt the rampant WP side and win the trophy in 1899 and 1911. In 1922 the Transvaal won the competition for the first time, however Western Province would continue to dominate the Currie Cup throughout the 1920s and 1930s, winning the trophy a further 4 times and sharing it twice with Border Bulldogs. In 1939 the trophy returned to Johannesburg for only the second time after Transvaal defeated Western Province in Cape Town. This was the first time WP had lost a final at their home ground Newlands. The Currie Cup went into hiatus during the Second World War but resumed in 1946 when Northern Transvaal claimed their first ever trophy by beating Western Province 11-9 in the final at Loftus Versveld in Pretoria. The late 1940s and early 1950s were dominated by Transvaal who would win the trophy in 1950 and 1952, however in 1954 the Currie Cup would finally return south following Western Province narrow 11-8 victory over Northern Transvaal in the final at Newlands in Cape Town.
At the turn of the decade South African rugby supporters were treated to two of the most memorable Currie Cup finals. In 1989 winger Carel du Plessis scored a last-minute try as WP managed to draw with Northern Transvaal 16-all, Riaan Gouws missed the conversion which would have given WP its 6th title of the decade a feat which has never been achieved. The following year the Blue Bulls slipped up, though, and WP sneaked home 18-12, inspired by fly-half Joel Stransky. The 1990s saw further improvement by Natal and the rise of Francois Pienaar’s Transvaal. Since the age of professionalism in rugby union in the early 1990s, the Currie Cup has become much more competitive with no team able to carve out an era of dominance like that of WP in the early years or Northern Transvaal in the 1970s and 1980s. All five of the so-called 'big unions' have won the Currie Cup on at least one occasion in the last 20 years; the Golden Lions (formally Transvaal) have won the trophy 3 times in 1994, 1999 and 2011; Western Province have won the trophy on five occasions in 1997, 2000, 2001, 2012 and 2014; the Blue Bulls (formally Northern Transvaal) have one the trophy 4 times in 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2009; the Free State Cheetahs have won the trophy twice in 2005 and 2007 and the Natal Sharks have won the trophy five times in 1995, 1996, 2008, 2010 and 2013. In 2006 the trophy was shared by the Free State Cheetahs and Blue Bulls following their 28-28 all draw in a tense final in Bloemfontein. Whilst these days the competition lags behind Super Rugby and The Rugby Championship (previously the Tri-Nations) in the order of importance, the Currie Cup still holds a special place amongst South African rugby supporters and players, with the trophy very much still the holy grail of the South African domestic rugby scene.[citation needed]
Format[edit]
The current Currie Cup format sees the competition split into two divisions. The six franchise unions (Blue Bulls, Eastern Province Kings, Free State Cheetahs, Golden Lions, Natal Sharks and Western Province) will play in the Premier Division, along with two qualifiers. Teams can either qualify by finishing in the top six the previous season or via a qualification tournament. The six teams that fail to qualify for the Premier Division from the qualification tournament will play in the First Division.
The qualification competition will see all teams play each other once, with either one or two teams qualifying to the Premier Division (to bring the number of teams up to eight).
In the round-robin phase of the Premier Division, the eight teams are divided into two sections. Teams will play the other teams in their section in a double round-robin format, plus a single round of matches against the teams in the other section, making 10 games in total. In the round-robin phase of the First Division, results from the qualification tournament are carried into the competition and all teams will then play each other one more time, also making a total of 10 matches.
Teams are awarded four points for a win, two for a draw, and zero for a loss. Single bonus points are awarded to teams by two possible outcomes; scoring four tries in a match, or losing a match by seven points or less. Thus, the winner of a match can receive four or five points, whereas a loser can receive up to two points for a loss depending on whether they gain any bonus points.
At the close of the round-robin phase, the top four teams in each division, based on points totals, advance to the knock-out stages. The semi-finals are hosted by the teams finishing first and second on the log, and they play the third and fourth placed teams respectively. The final is held at the home ground of the highest ranked semi-final winner. The winner of the Premier Division final wins the Currie Cup trophy, while the winner of the First Division wins the SA Cup trophy.
The bottom two teams in the Currie Cup Premier Division will have to compete in the qualification competition the following season, provided they're not one of the six franchise teams.
Teams[edit]
Since 1996, the following 14 provincial unions participated in the Currie Cup:
Currie Cup teams | |||
Team | Home base | Region | |
---|---|---|---|
Blue Bulls | Pretoria | The Pretoria metropolitan area and the entire Limpopo province | |
Boland Cavaliers | Wellington | Northern and central districts of the Western Cape province | |
Border Bulldogs | East London | Eastern districts of the Eastern Cape province | |
Eastern Province Kings | Port Elizabeth | Western districts of the Eastern Cape province | |
Falcons | Kempton Park | The East Rand and other municipalities to the east and south of Johannesburg in Gauteng province | |
Free State Cheetahs | Bloemfontein | Central and western districts of the Free State province | |
Golden Lions | Johannesburg | Johannesburg and the West Rand | |
Griffons | Welkom | Northern and eastern districts of the Free State province | |
Griquas | Kimberley | The entire Northern Cape province | |
Leopards | Potchefstroom | The entire North West province | |
Pumas | Nelspruit | The entire Mpumalanga province | |
Natal Sharks | Durban | The entire KwaZulu-Natal province | |
SWD Eagles | George | Eastern districts of the Western Cape province | |
Western Province | Cape Town | Cape Town metropolitan area |
For 2016, the Currie Cup will add a team from Namibia.[1][2]
Champions and Finals[edit]
Between 1892 and 1920, the competition was held as a centralised tournament, with the team with the best record crowned as the winner. Between 1922 and 1936 (as well as in three tournaments between 1957 and 1966), the winner was the team with the best record following a round-robin competition. In all the other seasons, a final was played to determine the champion.
In addition to the winners above, Western Province also won the South African Rugby Board Trophy in 1889. This tournament was effectively the precursor to the Currie Cup, which started in 1892.
1 Western Province and Transvaal did not compete.
2 Contested over two seasons.
3 Transvaal were renamed the Gauteng Lions; now known as Golden Lions.
4 Orange Free State were renamed the Free State Cheetahs.
5 Northern Transvaal were renamed the Blue Bulls.
Overall winners[edit]
Team | Number of wins | Notes | Most recent |
---|---|---|---|
Western Province | 33 | Four shared | 2014 |
Northern Transvaal/Blue Bulls | 23 | Four shared | 2009 |
Transvaal/Gauteng Lions/Golden Lions | 11 | One shared | 2015 |
Natal Sharks | 7 | 2013 | |
Orange Free State/Free State Cheetahs | 4 | One shared | 2007 |
Griqualand West/Griquas | 3 | 1970 | |
Border/Border Bulldogs | 2 | Two shared | 1934 |
Since the competition become established as an annual competition in 1968 (see History above).
Team | Number of wins | Notes | Most recent |
---|---|---|---|
Northern Transvaal/Blue Bulls | 21 | Four shared | 2009 |
Western Province | 12 | Two shared | 2014 |
Natal Sharks | 7 | 2013 | |
Transvaal/Gauteng Lions/Golden Lions | 6 | One shared | 2011 |
Orange Free State/Free State Cheetahs | 4 | One shared | 2007 |
Griqualand West/Griquas | 1 | 1970 |
Records and statistics[edit]
- Most career matches
Name | Team/s | Seasons | Games |
---|---|---|---|
Jacques Botes | Pumas/Natal Sharks | 2002– |
|
Helgard Müller | Free State Cheetahs | 1983–98 |
|
Rudi Visagie | Free State/Natal/Mpumalanga | 1980–96 |
|
Chris Badenhorst | Free State Cheetahs | 1987–99 |
|
Burger Geldenhuys | Blue Bulls | 1977–89 |
|
Andre Joubert | Free State/Natal | 1986–99 |
|
- Most career points
- 1. 1699 Naas Botha (Northern Transvaal) 1977–92
- 2. 1412 Willem de Waal (Leopards/Free State/WP) 2002–10
- 3. 1402 Eric Herbert (Northern Free State(Griffons)/Free State) 1986–2001
- 4. 1210 De Wet Ras (Free State/Natal) 1974–86
- 5. 1165 Andre Joubert (Free State/Natal) 1986–99
- Most career tries
- 1. 74 John Daniels (Golden Lions/Boland Cavaliers)
- 2. 66 Breyton Paulse (Western Province)
- 3. 65 Chris Badenhorst (Free State)
- 4. 58 Andre Joubert (Free State/Natal)
- 5. 51 Gerrie Germishuys (Free State/Transvaal)
- 5. 51 Carel du Plessis (Western Province/Transvaal)
- 5. 51 Niel Burger (Western Province)
- 5. 51 Jan-Harm Van Wyk (Free State/Pumas)
- Most individual points in a season
- 1. 268 Johan Heunis (Northern Transvaal) 1989
- 2. 263 Gavin Lawless (Golden Lions) 1996
- 3. 252 Casper Steyn (Blue Bulls) 1999
- 4. 230 Kennedy Tsimba (Cheetahs) 2003
- 5. 228 Kennedy Tsimba (Cheetahs) 2002
- Most team points in a season
- Natal Sharks (792 in 1996)
- Most individual tries in a season
- 1. 21 Bjorn Basson (Griquas) 2010
- 2. 19 Carel Du Plessis (Western Province) 1989
- 2. 19 Colin Lloyd (Leopards) 2006
- 4. 18 Ettiene Botha (Blue Bulls) 2004
- 5. 16 Jan-Harm Van Wyk (Free State) 1997
- 6. 15 Phillip Burger (Cheetahs) 2006
- Most team tries in a season
- Natal Sharks (112 in 1996)
- Most points in match
- Jannie De Beer – 46 v. Northern Free State in 1997
- Most tries in a match
- Jacques Olivier – 7 v SWD in 1996
- Most final appearances
- Burger Geldenhuys 11 (Northern Transvaal—between 1977 and 1989)
- Naas Botha 11 (Northern Transvaal—between 1977 and 1991)
Broadcasting rights[edit]
SuperSport broadcasts live Currie Cup matches in South Africa.
Setanta Sports Asia broadcasts live Currie Cup matches in Asia.
Sky Sports broadcasts live Currie Cup matches in the United Kingdom.
See also[edit]
- Rugby union in South Africa
- Super Rugby
- Super Rugby franchise areas
- Vodacom Cup
- Lion Cup
- Currie Cup / Central Series
References[edit]
- ^ "Namibia to compete in enlarged Currie Cup". The Namibian. 6 August 2015. Retrieved 6 August 2015.
- ^ "Rugbybase wil Curriebeker-reeks nou tot 15 spanne beperk". Netwerk24 (in Afrikaans). 18 August 2015. Retrieved 18 August 2015.
External links[edit]
- Latest Currie Cup News
- Currie Cup News from Prime Rugby
- Currie Cup history from Planet Rugby
- ABSA Currie Cup records (correct to the end of 2006)
- Thau, Chris (2006-11-06). "100 years of South African rugby: Part one". irb.com. Archived from the original on 2007-06-08. Retrieved 2007-05-25.
- "History of the Currie Cup". sarugby.com. 2006-10-11. Retrieved 2007-05-25.
- "Good news for Currie Cup". sarugby.com. 2006-11-30. Retrieved 2007-05-25.
- SA Rugby - Currie Cup News
|
|
|