Currie Cup finals are normally such tight affairs that it is usually an untimely mistake that decides the winner, writes Andy Capostagno
When I think of what may happen in the Currie Cup final at King’s Park on Saturday, I wonder principally whether Cabous van der Westhuizen has stopped screaming yet.
The year was 1993, the protagonists were the same Natal Sharks (then merely Natal) and Golden Lions (the old Transvaal), and as full time approached the match lay in the balance.
With two minutes left and Transvaal leading 16- 15, Ian MacDonald poached a Natal line-out ball on half way and Transvaal scrum-half Johan Roux kicked ahead. The ball landed just inside Natal’s 22, but instead of bouncing forward towards Van der Westhuizen it bounced back toward the advancing tide of red and white shirts.
As it came down a second time Van der Westhuizen’s hands let him down and the ball squirted forward into the stride of Uli Schmidt. Schmidt kicked ahead, fell on the ball over the try-line and the match was won 21-15.
There were many moments to relish on that bright October day in 1993, but the cruelty inherent in sport means that for every one person who remembers Schmidt’s try, there are a dozen who remember the mistake which led to it. And on Saturday it is likely that mistakes will decide the issue again. It will be the team which makes the fewest which will clinch the final Currie Cup of the millennium.
It is never easy to predict which players will crack under the strain of a winner- takes-all occasion, but one thing tends to decide the issue more often than not – experience. Both sides are in a rebuilding process, albeit a conspicuously successful one, but have some significant old hands to catch them if they look like falling.
It is only six years since the last King’s Park final between the two, but the attrition for both provinces has been huge. For Natal Steve Atherton, Andr Joubert and Gary Teichmann remain, the latter two in all likelihood pulling on the black and white jersey for the final time. For the Lions only Hennie le Roux and Hannes Strydom played in 1993.
The same pair played in the Ellis Park final between the two sides in 1996, alongside a young Jannie van der Walt. Joe Gillingham also turned out for Transvaal that day; this year he will be in Sharks colours. Joubert, Teichmann and Atherton also played in 1996 and so, among those who will play on Saturday, did Wayne Fyvie.
Those, then, are the ones who have been there, done that. We can expect them all to save their best for the big occasion, especially Joubert and Teichmann, who have been scandalously treated by the Springbok management and will revel in the biggest stage remaining to them for point proving.
So where will the mistakes come from? Some might point to Sharks loose-head prop John Smit, who will need to hold the scrum firm against the destructive power of the Lions’ tight-head, Willie Meyer. Smit is still under 21 and as such might be expected to struggle.
But he is no ordinary youngster star struck by the big occasion: he captained the Baby Boks to victory against New Zealand in the final of the under-21 World Cup. It goes without saying that this is a significant step up, but Smit will not be short of a wise word from his colleagues if the going gets tough.
Some might suggest that the Sharks fly-half Clinton van Rensburg is heading for a fall, having barely established himself in the line-up at the very last minute. Certainly he must be ready to suffer by comparison with the glorious attacking skills of his opposite number, Le Roux. It will be first priority for the Sharks to stop quality ball reaching Le Roux, and Van Rensburg is likely to spend as much time putting that plan into practice as he will pondering what to do with ball in hand.
Ultimately, it is quite natural for finals to be disappointing affairs. There is too much at stake and the real mistakes tend to come from players who are hell-bent on avoiding them. In other words, hard though it is to communicate to young players, the Currie Cup final should be treated like just another game.
The romantic in me would like to see the safety-first tactics thrown out of the window in favour of the kind of pell-mell, attack at all costs match provided by Free State and Western Province in Bloemfontein two months ago. The cynic in me knows that it will not happen.
But just imagine, if we could start next season remembering the glory of Joubert in full sail, the crackling bursts of Le Roux and the kind of match which we will tell our grandchildren about. Give us that and we can forget about the World Cup. For now, at least.