Andy Capostagno Rugby
The Currie Cup has reached its halfway stage and no one is yet counting any chickens. That in itself is remarkable, for the competition has been shared between an elite four provinces for so long that at the very least a well-informed guess should be able to provide the semi-finalists. Natal have won the cup four times in the Nineties, Transvaal (now the Golden Lions) twice, Western Province and Northerns (now the Blue Bulls) once each.
For more than a decade before, the competition was exciting, but predictable. Northerns or Province won the cup. And so it went down the years with the very occasional blip. Free State won in 1976 with a side heavy with Springboks, Griquas won in Kimberley in 1970.
And then, two years ago, the South African Rugby Football Union (Sarfu) stuffed it up. The decision was made to expand the competition to include the bridesmaid provinces.
Along the way some of the more far- flung unions such as Stellaland and Vaal Triangle were dismantled. There was much venting of wrath at Sarfu’s presumption.
The critics were vindicated in year one when the major unions saw off the minor unions in some spectacular mismatches. Last year there was the odd upset and the score-lines were not as dramatically one-sided, but nothing could have prepared us for the year of upsets that has been Currie Cup 1998.
Already South Western Districts have beaten the Lions; Northern Free State and Eastern Province have both beaten Free State; Griquas have beaten Natal (at King’s Park nog al) and the Blue Bulls; and the MTN Falcons have beaten Western Province and the Lions. These results cannot be blamed on El Nio. The fact of the matter is that after half a century of stasis, South African rugby is growing up.
There are, naturally enough, those who do not approve. Natal coach Ian McIntosh used the Sean Fitzpatrick dinner to voice his distress at the dilution of the Currie Cup. Too many teams, said Mac, too little talent spreading itself too thin. Coming from the man who has masterminded the best South African provincial team of the Nineties, Mac’s words cannot easily be discounted.
But anyone who has seen a few of the upsets listed above cannot help but raise a quizzical eyebrow. Natal beat the Falcons 40-29 in Brakpan last Friday night, but Keith Parkinson, president of the Sharks, was moved to say: “Blimey [or words to that effect], no wonder these guys beat Province and the Lions.”
Maybe Parkinson spotted something in the air that reminded him of home. A decade ago it was Natal. Now the Falcons (formerly Eastern Transvaal) are the latest success story in Sarfu’s attempt to broaden the base of the game locally. There were 5E000 people at Bosman stadium in Brakpan and the local parents were allowed on to the field pre-game to watch their children play mini-rugby.
“Joey’s Johnnies”, the Gauteng branch of the Natal Supporters Club, erected a marquee beside the main stand and added immeasurably to the vibe. It was a delight to see McIntosh, assistant coach Hugh Reece- Edwards and other Shark notables socialising with the supporters there after the game. This is the sort of thing that does not happen, for instance, at Ellis Park. But in the smaller provinces it is one of the old-fashioned virtues of the game that is coming back into vogue.
Last year I visited Outeniqua Park in George where the South Western Districts Eagles were forced to kick off at 4pm because the game was televised by Supersport and the floodlights were deemed to be not brilliant enough for an evening start. As a result the crowd was not huge, but every man jack of them, together with both teams, stayed behind after the game to socialise in a massive marquee.
It soon became apparent that there was more than one reason for this. The availability of alcohol may have been paramount, but not much more than an hour after the match had finished it was shown “as live” (to use M-Net’s delayed-broadcast euphemism) on the big screen inside the marquee. Now the crowd were able to see what really happened, they could question the players on tactics and, most important of all, they could look out for themselves in the stands.
Scenes such as those in George and Friday night in Brakpan reflect great credit upon Sarfu, who cannot be accused too frequently of being one step ahead of public opinion. Those of us who dwell in the main urban centres all too easily forget that there is a life elsewhere. There was a large crowd at Brakpan, not just because the Falcons are on a roll at the moment, but because the current Springbok team is on the verge of greatness and Natal’s team on Friday contained a goodly number of them. The public wants to see its heroes.
Having said that, the man of the match at the Bosman stadium was Falcons flyhalf Braam van Straaten, who showed exactly why Nick Mallett had elevated him to the Springbok squad in the first place. Van Straaten was rejected by the Blue Bulls, retreaded by South Western Districts and now has a chance of taking the Falcons to the semi- finals. Without the new, expanded Currie Cup, Van Straaten would have been on rugby’s scrap heap.
That in itself is enough to vindicate Sarfu’s evangelism. Add in names such as Stefan Terblanche, MacNeil Hendriks, Gaffie du Toit, Henry Kemp and Naas Rossouw, and it becomes clear that, far from diluting the country’s premier competition, the smaller unions have become the principal reason for a quantum leap in overall standards in South Africa. Long may the minnows reign.