/ 6 October 2006

Currie Cup is alive and kicking

Over the past 10 years there have been times when it seemed the Currie Cup was about to die. No one cared about the oldest provincial rugby competition in the world because it was at the wrong end of the season and either through injury or exclusion clauses it tended not to feature the best players in the country.

The Currie Cup ended the season with a whimper, not a bang, especially during a four-year period of dominance by the Bulls under the coaching of Heyneke Meyer. The Bulls seemed to have perfected the art of intimidating local opposition in precisely inverse proportion to the way they rolled over in overseas Super 12 or 14 fixtures.

The mould was broken in glorious fashion last season, when Free State won the cup for the second time in their history. The Cheetahs beat the Bulls at Loftus Versfeld in the biggest upset since Natal beat the same Blue meanies in 1990.

At the time it seemed a glorious one-off, as insubstantial as the smoke trailing from Ollie le Roux’s post-match cigar. But under the coaching regime of Rassie Erasmus, the Cheetahs have proved themselves the best side in the country.

”DJ Rassie”, as he has become known thanks to tactical light shows beamed from the Vodacom Park roof, has proved repeatedly that his team can play. He has done so with a fine disregard for some of the fundamentals of South African rugby.

Size matters less to Erasmus than talent when it comes to the pack. He has some mighty front-row muscle to call on, but a miniscule back row and a pair of locks who would have sand kicked in their faces if they lived in Pretoria. Moreover, he has a kicking flyhalf who is the very antithesis of what Free State rugby is supposed to be all about.

Erasmus cares nothing for perception and everything for achievement. At Loftus last week, for instance, his team lost 41-31 to the Bulls, but the most significant moment was when the fourth Cheetah try was scored. It meant that, come what may they would host a semifinal in Bloemfontein and, if successful, the final at the same venue a week later.

This week’s opponents are the Sharks, the team that lost 34-32 in the same fixture a fortnight ago. The Sharks have not won in Bloemfontein for some time, and should start as underdogs, but their coach, Dick Muir, is cut from the same cloth as Erasmus. Muir has a vast reservoir of talent at his disposal and his toughest task each week is to focus his charges on the task at hand.

There were times this year when it seemed inevitable that the Sharks would not just make the semifinals, but top the log. They had a perfect blend of youth and experience and a poacher turned gamekeeper of a coach prepared to give them enough rope.

While they might have under-achieved, it may be that the Sharks finishing fourth is the worst thing that could have happened to Free State. In Bloemfontein they would expect to beat the other qualifiers, the Bulls and Western Province, more often than not. But the Sharks are, to coin a phrase, a different kettle of fish.

The good news is that whichever side wins we are guaranteed a free spirit in the final. The likelihood is that the winner will have to beat the Bulls in the final, for the fifth successive year. After a miserable early season run new coach Pote Human has a team bang on form at precisely the right time. He has, in addition, the best (fit) rugby player in the country, in Pierre Spies.

Spies is the talk of the town; a Rolls Royce of a player who could help the Boks win the World Cup next year.

If Western Province had Schalk Burger to call on they might have a chance and if Santa Claus is prepared for an early request let him please bring a full cure for the colossus of Wellington. Imagine the sight of Burger and Spies playing on either side of the Springbok scrum. But without Burger, Province are doomed to fail.

Fortunately, the results of both games are immaterial. Erasmus and Muir, in particular, have brought a sense of adventure back to our domestic rugby and the ultimate beneficiary will be the national side. In 2002 we looked forward in fear to the World Cup. In 2006 we look ahead with hope, thanks to the brio displayed in our oldest contest.