News

Same again for Currie Cup semis

October 10 2008

The Sharks host the Lions in the first of the two Currie Cup semi-final matches at ABSA Stadium in Durban on Saturday, with the Blue Bulls doing the same against the Cheetahs later on the same day.

If you get the feeling you've seen this semi-final line-up somewhere before, you aren't imagining things.

The Lions, the Sharks, the Free State Cheetahs and the Blue Bulls also made up the four semi-finalists last season, when the Lions won away (19-12) to the Sharks and the Cheetahs won at home (11-6) against the Bulls.

These four teams also made up the semi-finals line-up in 2002, when the Lions won away (43-29) to the Cheetahs and the Bulls won away (22-19) to the Sharks.

Of the four teams in the semi-finals this weekend, the Bulls and the Cheetahs have won the Currie Cup six times between them since the 2002 season.

The Cheetahs, of course, are the defending champions, with the Bulls sharing the title with the Free Staters in 2006.

The Sharks last won the Currie Cup in 1996, with the Lions triumphing the last time in 1999 when they beat the Sharks in Durban in the final.

This year, you would not be particularly brave if you opted to back home victories in both matches.

While the Lions did buck the trend twelve months ago, just to prove to everyone that these play-off games are indeed a great leveller, both the Sharks and the Bulls - playing at full strength - are in such good form that it is hard to see either of them halted in their march to what should be a replay of last year's Super 14 decider.

Currie Cup semi-finals were played for the first time in 1954 when the then Northern Transvaal (Blue Bulls) beat the then Free State (Cheetahs) 9-8 in Bloemfontein.

Semi-finals having taken place intermittently since then, with breaks in the 1960's, the 70's, the 80's and the 90's. The last time a semi-final did not take place in the 21st century was in 2003 - a Rugby World Cup year.