South African rugby fans were treated to 2 very close matches this past weekend. The result is that we’ll see a repeat of the 2005 and 2006 final. The Bulls will face the Cheetahs on their home ground, Loftus Versveld on the 31st of October in the 2009 Currie Cup Final. Both the teams will be out to perform at their best. The 2006 final between the Bulls and Cheetahs ended in a 28 all draw which meant that the 2 teams shared the trophy in that year. I remember watching that game in my local Pretoria pub and the difficulty I had explaining why the 2 teams had to share the 2006 Currie Cup to German & Belgian exchange students. They could not understand why.

This past weekend in Durban, the Sharks played against the Cheetahs in a 2009 Currie Cup Semi Final match. The Sharks lead by 15 points to 3 at half time. Sharks flyhalf Hernades kicked over a penalty early in the 2nd half putting the Sharks ahead by 18 points to 3. The Cheetahs scored 2 unanswered tries (1 by WP Nel in the 45th minute and 1 by Jacques-Louis Potgieter 14 minutes later) resulting in taking the lead in the match (20 – 18). The Sharks managed to get back into the match, kicking over another penalty putting them in the lead again (21 – 20). However, in the dying moments of the match, Jacques-Louis Potgieter kicked over a drop goal ensuring the Cheetahs passage to the 2009 Currie Cup Final. The Cheetahs won the game by 23 points to 21.

At Newlands in Cape Town, Western Province hosted a North / South derby against their age old rivals, the Bulls. 7 penalties by Bulls flyhalf Morne’ Steyn secured the Bulls passage to a home final at Loftus Versveld Stadium in 2 weeks time. Steyn scored all the points for the Bulls. The Bulls led 12 – 6 at half time. Western Province did make a comeback in the 2nd half, Gio Aplon scored the only try of the match for them. At one stage Western Province we’re leading by 16 points to 15, but the Bulls managed a comeback and holding on for the last 3 minutes for a victory. The Bulls narrowly won the game by 21 points to 19.

Only time will tell which team will be victorious at Loftus Versveld on the 31st of October, 2009 in the Currie Cup final. Being a Pretoria boytjie my money is on the Bulls (even though I don’t bet on sports). The Bulls are a hard team to beat on their home ground. Judging by the fighting spirit of both the Bulls and the Cheetahs displayed this past weekend, the final should be a very exciting display of rugby. Bulls fans have already started queing for tickets at the stadium last night. The Loftus ticket offices opened at 8 AM today. Tickets for the final should sell out as it promises to be a humdinger of a match. Hopefully there will be tickets for sale in Bloemfontein for Free State supporters, otherwise Loftus Versveld Stadium will be a sea of Bulls supporters on the 31st of October.

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It seems that my predictions in the previous report of the 2009 Currie Cup came true. I predicted that the Bulls, Sharks, Cheetahs and Western Province will be playing in the semi-finals of the 2009 Currie Cup tournament in South Africa.

The Bulls beat the Leopards on Friday night in Rustenburg by 61 points to 24 securing their 3rd place on the 2009 Currie Cup tournament log. On Saturday the Free State Cheetahs beat the team from Boland convincingly by 55 points to 10 ensuring their place in this coming week’s play-offs. The Sharks knocked Griquas out of contention when they faced them on Saturday in Kimberley beating them convincingly by 45 points to 30. The biggest surprise of the weekend was the Gauteng Lions beating Western Province narrowly by 27 points to 25 in Johannesburg at Coca-Cola Park, denying the visitors from the Western Cape the top spot on the 2009 Currie Cup log. A Lions player has been sighted for biting one of allegedly biting one of the Western Province players on his ear.

This coming weekend brings us the 2009 Currie Cup semi-final games on Saturday. The Free State Cheetahs will be taking on the Sharks on their home ground in Durban. The Bulls will be facing Western Province at Newlands in Cape Town in a North vs South derby. Both games promise to be very interesting. All 4 teams play high quality rugby and are the 4 best in the country (in my opinion). Only time will tell which 2 teams make it to the 2009 Currie Cup final.

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The 2009 Currie Cup Rugby Tournament in South Africa is nearing it’s end. This final round of the league matches will be played this weekend. On the 17th of October both Currie Cup Semi Final matches will be played. The semi-final venues are already known. The matches will be played in Cape Town and Durban. The question of “Who’s Playing Who?” will be answered after the 4 remaining 2009 Currie Cup matches this weekend. The Bulls are facing the Leopards at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium near Rustenburg tonight. Bakkies Botha is return to the Bulls squad. It’s expected that the Bulls will probably win this game easily. It’s highly unlikely for the Leopards to cause an upset. Nonetheless, if the Bulls loose the game the Griquas will overtake them on the points table.

Griquas are facing the Sharks in Kimberley at 15:00 tomorrow. Griquas are known to be a formidable side on their home ground. I’m sure that this will probably be an interesting match to watch. The Cheetahs are playing against Boland in Wellington in the Western Cape at 15:00 tomorrow as well. It’s likely that Free State will win this match, but who knows? Boland could cause an upset. At 17:00 tomorrow Western Province will be facing the Lions at Coca Cola Park in Johannesburg. The Lions have nothing to loose, making them pretty dangerous. This match will probably also be worthy of the South African public’s time.

In conclusing Griquas and Free State will be fighting for survival and Western Province and the Sharks will be battling for the top spot on the 2009 Currie Cup log. This weekend promises to be the one of the most interesting in this year’s competition. Currently Western Province is on the top of the Currie Cup log with 49 points. The Sharks are in second position, also with 49 points. The Bulls are in 3rd place with 41 points. The Griquas are in 4th place with 39 points. The Cheetahs are in 5th place with 35 points. There are various scenarios that could play out this weekend but it’s my prediction that Western Province will probably play against the Cheetahs at Newlands next weekend and that the Sharks will face the Bulls in their semi final match in Durban. Only time will tell if this prediction will come true or not.

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It’s already halfway into the Currie Cup Season in South Africa this year. 8 sides are competing for the coveted Currie Cup Trophy. The competition has been running since 1899, making it one of the oldest Rugby competitions in the world. The Currie Cup competition has been held annually since 1968. The Sharks are the team who current hold the Currie Cup Trophy in South Africa. So far, each team in the Currie Cup competition has played 8 games. Currently Western Province are on top of the Currie Cup log with 28 points. The defending champions, The Sharks, are in 2nd place with 27 points. The team from Pretoria, the Bulls (a finalist in last year’s competition) are in 3rd place with 25 points. The boys from Kimberley, the Griquas are in 4th position with 24 points.

Because of the Tri-Nations competition, most of the teams in Currie Cup are currently without their star players since most of them are called up to represent South Africa. For instance, the Bulls are currently playing without Fourie Du Preez, Morne Steyn, Danie Rossouw, Pierre Spies, Victor Matfield, Bakkies Botha and Bryan Habana. Despite being 3rd on the Currie Cup log, the Bulls have struggled in this year Currie Cup, narrowly avoiding defeat by the Griquas a few weeks ago. This could change when their players return after the Tri-Nations. The same goes for the Free State, Western Province and the Sharks. We’re bound to see a higher level of commitment and gauranteed quality rugby from that stage onwards. With 6 games to go in the round-robin stage of the Currie Cup, the competition is still wide open. Only time will tell who will be the champions this year. So what are you waiting for? Find some tickets for sale and attend a match this weekend. Support the premier South African domestic competition. Who knows, you might just enjoy yourself extremely in the process and even meet some interesting fans along the way.

Related Links:
SA Rugby – Official Website
Currie Cup Rugby – Rugby Week

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