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/ 21 October 2005
While the game’s administrators appear to want the Currie Cup to go away, the paying public has other ideas — or certain sections of the paying public, anyway. Early on Monday morning the crowds were already snaking out into the street outside Loftus Versfeld and tickets for Saturday’s Currie Cup final between the Blue Bulls and the Cheetahs were sold out in six hours.
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/ 14 October 2005
The most pointlessly complex Currie Cup system of all time has finally produced exactly the same semifinal match-ups as last year. The main difference is that a year ago, when eight teams contested the Currie Cup, it was a reversion to strength against strength and, what with the Springboks winning the Tri-Nations and all, it was considered something of a vintage season.
As hirings and firings go, you couldn’t get a much greater contrast than the two that happened in South African rugby this week. The Griqualand West Rugby Union passed a vote of no confidence in its president, Baby Richards, accusing him of failing to vote in the manner instructed by his union.
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/ 30 September 2005
If the Currie Cup were an animal it would be on the endangered species list. A decade ago, it was regarded as the toughest domestic competition in the world, but in the wake of professionalism, a bunch of well-meaning administrators mucked it up.
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/ 23 September 2005
Can it really be two whole years since Gary Player, in the gloaming at The Links, rolled back the years and wanted to box with Jack Nicklaus over the result of the Presidents Cup? This week, battle is rejoined at the Robert Trent Jones course in Virginia, the venue for all three of the previous encounters held on American soil.
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/ 9 September 2005
If the 2004 Tri-Nations will be remembered for Jake White’s miraculous revivification of the Springboks, what of its 2005 counterpart? From a parochial perspective, South Africa can hold their heads high despite a second-place finish, but from an international perspective the 2005 tournament will be remembered for the implosion of Australia.
The Springboks will play their final match of the 2005 Tri-Nations against New Zealand on Saturday. A win will give them back-to-back titles in the competition, something only achieved previously by their opponents. Defeat will almost certainly mean second place in the log, for no one in their right mind believes that in the current circumstances Australia can win in New Zealand a week later.
It is just one month since the Springboks flew home from Australia with their tails between their legs, having been drubbed 30-12 by the Wallabies in Sydney. Back then Bok coach Jake White was being castigated for playing too few players of colour, and for imagining that he could beat Australia by kicking the ball to them.
Four years is a long time in rugby. Four years ago, when South Africa last played a Test against New Zealand in Cape Town, Harry Viljoen was the Springbok coach and Wayne Smith was in charge of the All Blacks. Both teams have changed coach twice since then and both have suffered plenty of false dawns along the way.
If rugby Test matches were as easy to predict as Tour de France winners, the Wallabies could save a lot of money in hotel costs by packing their bags and flying home before Saturday’s Test against South Africa in Pretoria. In fact, one of their squad — reserve scrumhalf Matt Henjak — has already done so.