The Sharks beat a disjointed Western Province by 30-10 in the 2010 Currie Cup final played at Kings Park stadium in Durban on Saturday.

Sharks 30
Tries: Charl McLeod, Patrick Lambie (2)
Conversions: Patrick Lambie (3)
Penalties: Patrick Lambie (3)

Western Province 10
Try: Schalk Burger
Conversion: Willem de Waal
Penalty: Willem de Waal

The competition was decided by the side who wanted it most. In this regard the Sharks showed over the last 2 games how hungry they were for success in the Currie Cup (well they can’t win a Super rugby title now can they!).

When you are determined, defence is strong and you make your own luck. They’ve kept the attacking prowess of the Bulls and Western Province down to 1 try apeice and their tackling has allowed them to ensure the opposition cannot gain any momentum.

Province had their chances, and took an early lead to make it 3-0. However against the run of play, poor ball retention saw a great steal from Bismarck du Plessis, and a pinpoint Charl McLeod kick ahead resulted in a try for the scrumhalf.

A second try soon after to Patrick Lambie ensured a strong lead for the Sharks, and Western Province had to play catch up rugby for most of the match.

Willem de Waal had his opportunities, but was continuing to miss, whilst his young counterpart Patrick Lambie kept extending the Sharks lead.

It was little errors that cost Province dearly. Missed lineouts, failing to claim restarts etc. The Sharks capitalised and built their lead as they did in the semi-final against the Bulls.

Catch up rugby in finals is tough. Pressure plays it’s part, and Province made mistake after mistake to ease any pressure they could build. A try just before half-time narrowed the gap to 13 and gave them a glimmer of hope.

DOGGED DEFENCE WINS IT

Like the semi-final, the Sharks relied on dogged defence and failed to add to their early score (until a try late in the match when Province were throwing everything at the Sharks from all over the field).

Defence is so often about attitude, and the Sharks desire to win was evident as they made tackle after tackle and disrupted Western Province’s ball at the breakdown.

I believe Province hit the panic button to early on, a string of penalties in the third quarter could have narrowed the lead and put them within a converted try of winning the game had they opted to take the kickable penalties.

Instead constant errors saw them cough up try-scoring opportunities with nothing to show for their dominance. It allowed the Sharks the luxury of playing the last quarter without having to make much of the play.

PROVINCE UNLUCKY?

Western Province weren’t helped by injuries to Ricky Januarie and Juan de Jongh early in the game that forced them from the field. It contributed to a lack of attacking weapons in the Province midfield after de Jongh had showed early in the game he posessed the ability to make telling linebreaks.

Referee Craig Joubert was also fairly lenient on the Sharks I felt. I’m not convinced he is the right man for the job as he is inconsistent at the breakdown points.

DESERVED WINNERS

In the end however the Sharks proved to be deserved winners of the 2010 Currie Cup.

They were the most consistent side during the league stages after a loss to Griquas in the first round.

Stefan Terblanche stated that his side were written off early but had won because they were “a team”.

The question is can they kick on in the Super Rugby competition with a squad to be bolstered by Jacques-Louis Potgieter and Meyer Bosman?

A packed Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium was left heartbroken as the Pumas beat the Eastern Province Kings by 62-28 in their Currie Cup promotion-relegation match on Friday.

The Kings have enjoyed a resurgent season under the watchful eye of coach Alan Solomons, but the fairytale was not to be as the Pumas showed they deserve to remain in the Currie Cup top division.

It was always going to be a tough ask for the Kings, they just haven’t been playing the quality of the teams that the Pumas have.

After their 36-36 draw in Witbank a week earlier, the Kings were always going to struggle backing that effort up in the most important match of the season.

The Kings showed they can mix it with the big boys, and even led 22-15 at half-time. However in the second half, the the strong Pumas scrum dominated the Kings, and gave them the platform from which to attack from.

It means the Kings will not promotion to the top division of the Currie Cup, and will have to wait another year to give it a crack. It’s a massive blow to the region who came out in their numbers to show their support for the Port Elizabeth based side.

A full match report can be found on supersport.

In the other promotion-relegation match, the Leopards retained their spot in the top division thanks to 2 late tries which gave them enough points despite losing 32-28 to the SWD Eagles.

The Kings probably deserve to be promoted at the expense of the Leopards, but such is the competiton structure, which makes it tough for the first division sides to enter the premier division.

Scores:

Eastern Province Kings 28
Tries: Wayne Stevens (2), JJ Gagiano
Conversions: Monty Dumond (2)
Penalties: Monty Dumond (3)

Pumas 46
Tries: Christo le Roux (2), Andries Kruger, Corné Steenkamp, Dawie Steyn, Vainon Willis
Conversions: Carl Bezuidenhout (5)
Penalties: Carl Bezuidenhout (2)

SWD Eagles 32
Tries: Henry Grimes, Hans Grobler, Jacques Engelbrecht, Shaun Raubenheimer, Jaco Terblanche
Conversions: Ambrose Barends (2)
Penalty: Ambrose Barends

Leopards 28
Tries: RW Kember, Sarel Marais, Walter Venter
Conversions: Clayton Durand, Sarel Marais
Penalties: Clayton Durand (3)

Who will be crowned Currie Cup Champions in 2010!

Both the Sharks and Western Province deserve to be contesting the 2010 Currie Cup final, as they have been the most consistent sides in the competition, and finished top of the log.

HOME TOWN ADVANTAGE

The Sharks will have the benefit of home town advantage. To negate this, Province will have to start well and try to ensure they don’t have to play catch up rugby as they did in the 2010 Super 14 Final against the Bulls.

FINALS EXPERIENCE

Neither side has a lot of finals experience. Very few of the Province side have won a Currie Cup before, whilst the Sharks have almost half the side returning from their 2008 triumph.

Western Province do have the experience of the 2010 Super 14 Final (as the Stormers), and that experience cannot be underestimated as often you to have to lose a final before you can win a final.

Whilst Western Province have won the Currie Cup more than any other side, they have had a barren period with their last win coming in 2001, whilst the Sharks are not a lot better with 1 win (2008) since 1997.

THE EDGE

Both sides are strongly matched with tough, uncompromising forward packs.

At flyhalf Patrick Lambie and Willem de Waal have contrasting styles. Whilst I like Lambie and his running ability, kicking often wins finals and de Waal has the experience and the recent form whilst Lambie is still needs to improve his place kicking.

The Province backs for me have the superior running ability, and as long as they get enough ball, de Jongh, de Villiers, Aplon and Habana should be able to muster a few tries and provide the match winning performances.

Springbok legend Danie Gerber earlier this week had this to say, “Province have the pace and skill amongst the backs to worry the Sharks, and whatever good ball they get they must shift down the backline. They must create chances for their backs and if they use those chances properly they should pull it through.”

BALL RETENTION AND THE BATTLE OF THE BREAKDOWN

In their semi-final against the Bulls, the Sharks showed they have the ability to keep the ball through the phases and build massive pressure on the opposition defence.

However the fact they had so much possession yet only managed one try highlights for me their lack of ability to break the line and really put the opposition away. Province have a strong defence and they’ll be tough to crack.

In comparison to the Bulls, Province will provide a greater contest for the ball at the breakdown and the Sharks will have to be wary of the counter attack.

PREDICTION

The beginning of the match will set the tone. As long as Province can weather the early initial onslaught, they’ll get better as the match progresses. If the Sharks are the ones playing catch up, I believe they’ll make a lot more errors than they did against the Bulls.

However it is the goal kicking and backline game breakers that make me pick Province, along with the intense desire to finally produce some silverware in the Western Cape that make me pick Western Province.

It may be tight for three-quarters of the game, but Province by 12.

Sharks:

1. Tendai Mtawarira
2. Bismarck du Plessis
3. Jannie du Plessis
4. Steven Sykes
5. Alistair Hargreaves
6. Keegan Daniel
7. Willem Alberts
8. Ryan Kankowski
9. Charl McLeod
10. Patrick Lambie
11. Lwazi Mvovo
12. Andries Strauss
13. Stefan Terblanche (c)
14. Odwa Ndungane
15. Louis Ludik

16. Craig Burden
17. Eugen van Staden
18. Anton Bresler
19. Jacques Botes
20. Rory Kockott
21. Andre Pretorius
22. Riaan Swanepoel

Western Province:

1. JD Moller
2. Deon Fourie
3. Brok Harris
4. Adriaan Fondse
5. Anton van Zyl
6. Schalk Burger (c)
7. Francois Louw
8. Duane Vermeulen
9. Ricky Januarie
10. Willem de Waal
11. Bryan Habana
12. Juan de Jongh
13. Jean de Villiers
14. Gio Aplon
15. Conrad Jantjies

16. Hanyani Shimange
17. JC Kritzinger
18. De Kock Steenkamp
19. Pieter Louw
20. Dewaldt Duvenage
21. Lionel Cronje
22. Paul Bosch

Prior 2010 Currie Cup results:

Oct 9: Sharks 21, Western Province 33 (Newlands)
Aug 21: Sharks 27, Western Province 16 (Kings Park)

Whilst the Sharks and Western Province will do battle in the Currie Cup at Kings Park on Saturday, they are engaged in a mini-battle off the field.

Both sides have been promoting their twitter pages, to see who can garner the most cyber-support!

As at 11.30 Wednesday the Sharks were leading Western Province by 3160 to 2808!

Support will be a factor for both sides, with home-town advantage giving the Sharks a strong edge.

Whilst it is a fun mini-battle, the 22 players from both sides will definitely be inspired by their fan bases, but ultimately determine their own destinies on Saturday.

Unlike the cyber battle, I predict Province will be too strong for the Sharks, and they’ll win where it matters most, and gain the coveted Currie Cup!

The Lions showed they are on the improve and making a late run for the semi-finals as they beat the Sharks 22-20 at Ellis Park.

The Lions have proven they can much closer to the major unions by improving their defence. In fact if their goal kicking had been better in these crucial matches they’d have been so much better off.

It shows that players such as flyhalf Elton Jantjies can get a lot better as they gain more experience.

Lions skipper Franco van der Merwe scored a late try to seal the win, and may have been fortunate as he possibly came up short and the try was not referred to the TMO.

However the Sharks were favoured when Lwazi Mvovo put a foot in touch for his second try.

The Lions deserved their victory, whilst the Sharks have shown they are still beatable as we head towards the semi-finals.

The Blue Bulls accomplished their mission in beating the Leopards 39-26 on a sand field in Potchefstroom, however it came at a cost with injuries to Juandré Kruger (hand), Gary Botha (ankle), winger Jaco van der Westhuyzen (knee), prop Werner Kruger (knee) and Fudge Mabeta (neck).

With a crucial game against Western Province coming up, the Bulls will be hoping these aren’t serious.

In the Friday night games, Western Province beat Griquas 48-32, whilst the Cheetahs beat the Pumas 59-24.

Province have shown they are dangerous when they get it right, but have been a bit hot and cold this season, whilst the Cheetahs have shown they know how to put the second tier sides away easily. This may help them if points difference comes into the final calculations.

Griquas beat bottom of the table Leopards 29-20 in Kimberly, but it was not a clinical nor impressive display from the home side who have started their end of season decline earlier than previous seasons.

Western Province were impressive in demolishing the Pumas 62-10 in Nelspruit. Central to their resurgence has been their Springboks, with Jean de Villiers, Juan de Jongh and Gio Aplon providing the spark and ‘x’ factor to get Province scoring freely once more.

The Sharks have often had a tough time against the Cheetahs, but dominated in all aspects as they showed they have the depth minus their Springboks to go all the way this year.

The big clash of the round belonged to the Bulls and the Lions at Loftus.

In a match where both the goal kickers struggled, and put pressure on their side, the Bulls were the ones to build a lead with two well worked tries in the second half.

The Lions came back strongly, but resolute defence was enough to see the Bulls hold on for victory and move into third place and in all likelihood a semi-final position.

Week 10 of the Currie Cup and the Lions move into the Top 4!

The log jam in the middle of the table has changed order, with the Lions moving into the Top 4 and establishing themselves as genuine semi-final contenders.

By disposing of Griquas 40-29 in Kimberly which is always a difficult venue, the Lions have shown their recent results are no flash in the pan, and have probably killed off any hopes Griquas had of seriously making the semi-finals.

The Sharks were fairly scrappy in accounting for the Pumas in Witbank. But they got the vital bonus point win and will probably end the regular season top of the log. However they’ll be concerned at their loss of momentum, especially without the Beast and Bismarck du Plessis.

Western Province easily disposed of the Leopards at Newlands and will be glad to halt their losing streak and rebuild their campaign ahead of the business end of the season. Their vital quest for home ground advantage come the semi-finals still remains strong.

Possibly the most important match of the round belonged to the Cheetahs taking on the Blue Bulls at home in Bloemfontein.

After a dream start which saw Phillip van der Walt scoring after just 31 seconds, the match was characterised by strong defence.

The Cheetahs were able to win this match by a strong second half defensive effort that repelled the best the Blue Bulls could throw at them. The Bulls decision making needs improving in these tight matches, and having slipped outside the top 4, a crucial match against the Lions awaits!

Whilst not much has been made of the new competition format starting in 2011, I fear the Super 15 will be to the detriment of South African rugby.

Whilst expansion was needed, especially to ensure ongoing television rights which fund the game, much of the changes have been made to benefit Australian rugby, who enjoyed the support of New Zealand to effectively outnumber South Africa’s wants.

However in saying that, the South African administrators deserve to be sacked, for they have acted in Australia’s best interests, possibly fooled by the carrot dangled in front of them that expected that by agreeing to the Australian needs, South Africa could have been awarded the 15th super rugby franchise.

Where are the iron-fisted administrators such as Louis Luyt? He’d have never allowed this to happen.

South Africa still provide the bulk of spectators, and should have been leading the negotations, not rolling over to the Aussies demands.


The competition was designed to ensure:

• More local derbies (which attract greater crowds and thus make more money for the respective unions).

• Less ‘relative’ travel for each side which has been especially hard on South African sides.

• A longer season to allow Australian rugby the chance offer a product which can compete with Rugby League and Australian Rules football which run from February to September.

• An Australian designed play-off system which gives more teams a greater chance of making the playoffs and supposedly generate greater interest in the competition.

The Super 15 has been formatted to ensure Australia has a rugby product to rival Australian Rules Football and Rugby League with a product that will be available in Australia every week to compete against these codes.

In South Africa and New Zealand to a lesser extent, there is no competition for these codes, and we don’t need the long season.

It is hardly ideal to have a competition that has to break for the June international season, nor is it ideal to have a competition where teams may not play each other, yet others have to play each twice.

THE FOLLY OF THE PLAY-OFF SYSTEM

Australia has missed out on play-off spots in past years, and doctoring the system to ensure each country has at least 1 side competing in the playoffs is silly. Imagine if we said the 100m final at the Olympics must have 8 runners from different countries rather than the fastest 8 runners!

The playoff system has also been designed to more closely resemble the Australian football playoff formats.

It rewards mediocrity and takes away the meaning of each game by enlarging the number of teams eligible for the play-offs. In recent years Australian sides have tended to miss out on the play-offs by finishing in 5th and 6th position.

It means a side can finish in 6th place and still win the competition rather than reward the top 4 sides who have been more consistent all season.

It also adds to the complexity of an already difficult to comprehend format, with 1 and 2 player the winner of 3v 6 and 4 v 5 respectively, rather than the standard semi-final system most people are use to.

THE END OF THE CURRIE CUP?

However the worst feature is that I think it will signal the end of the Currie Cup as we know it.

The 2 rounds of within conference matches are effectively what we wish to see in the Currie Cup. When the Super 15 ends in August, to be followed by the Tri-Nations/4 Nations tournament, when do we have time for a Currie Cup before the end of year tour?

It means that the Currie Cup will be played without the Springboks, effectively becoming a ‘Vodacom Cup’ competition.

I’m surprised the New Zealanders agreed to Australia’s demands, because it signals the end of their ITM domestic championship too.

Will sponsors and fans want to watch competitions without the top players?

It’s not our fault that Australia does not have a local competition too serve their rugby and fight the competition they face from other codes.

IS THE SUPER 15 SUSTAINABLE?

I don’t see the Super 15 in its current format being a sustainable competition amongst the fans. Coupled with the above arguments, the sooner we get rid of it the better.

I do believe however super rugby needs expanding into new countries, and/or involve less teams so we get meaningful matches. In either scenario we could have keep the season format similar with an expanded competition moving to 2 pools and thus less games (like the old Super 10) or just have less teams, and better quality matches.

Week 9 of the Currie Cup saw the Bulls bounce back, whilst Province suffered a third consecutive defeat!

There is a log jam developing in the middle of the Currie Cup points table. Currently only the Sharks are reasonably safe, the 5 teams below them all fighting for the three remaining play off positions.

Whereas Province had looked assured of a home semi-final, their third loss in a row has seen them lose considerable momentum, and piled up the pressure they face.

Western Province haven’t been doing too much wrong, they’ve just been unable to execute when it matters, and like the Bulls, that is difficult when Bok call-ups mean you have to bring in youngsters who haven’t played together all season.

The Lions continued on their winning ways, and it remains to be seen if they have turned the corner. At least they have unearthed a gem in Elton Jantjies who looks to have a promising future.

The Cheetahs narrowly beat Griquas in Kimberly which is never an easy task, and that may just signal the end of Griquas’ challenge for the season.

The Pumas had their second 1 point victory for the second week in a row, condemning the Leopards to last spot.

The match of the round however took place at Loftus, where the Bulls came back from an 11 point deficit with a strong second half performance to beat the Sharks.

Prop Jaco Engels scored a wonderful 25m effort, whilst many of the Bulls younger players showed how much they have learnt this season as they were able to step up their performances when it mattered most.

Week 8 of the Currie Cup saw 2 major upsets, and 6 teams move into contention for semi-final spots!

With both the Pumas and Cheetahs causing upset results (over the Blue Bulls and Western Province, it creates a log jam on the Currie Cup table, and ensures the race for semi-final spots will go down to the wire.

The Sharks continued their winning ways, smashing Griquas at home to be almost sure of a home semi-final spot and possibly top log position. They will certinaly be hard to reign in now.

Western Province have now suffered 2 losses in a row, and like the Bulls are losing momentum, whilst the Cheetahs and Lions appear to be heading in the right direction.

Griquas are slowly moving backward, and each game from now on takes on greater and greater signifance as log points and points differentials start to become more and more vital!