Currie Cup semis in history

Tension does not abate this weekend as an exciting Currie Cup season goes into the semifinals and the unpredictable. We look at semifinals down the years, not that they have all that long a history.

The first Currie Cup tournament was in 1892, the first Final in 1939 and the first semifinal in 1969. The Currie Cup was not in competition every year till 1969. It has been in competition 73 times and there have been semifinals 43 times - well over half the number of times the Currie Cup has been played.  One of them had the strangest occurrence of them all, a rugby intervention of the rarest kind.

Not that there is a lot of forecasting confidence in history in the case of semifinals. The Blue Bulls have the best record of winning semifinals though they just scraped in this year. Western Province have the second best record in semifinals but they are away again this year.  The Golden Lions do not have as a good a record as Western Province but they did the job on them last year. The Sharks do not have as good a record as the Blue Bulls.

Western Province have played the Golden Lions once before in a semifinal. That was last year when the Golden Lions won. The Sharks have played the Blue Bulls three times in semifinals in Durban, winning one and losing the other two.

Here are the appearances of the four teams (plus the Free State Cheetahs) in the 2011 semifinals:

Blue Bulls (a.k.a. Northern Transvaal): 16 semifinals, won 13

Western Province 18 semifinals - won 13

Golden Lions (a.k.a. Transvaal and Gauteng Lions): 15 semifinals - won 8

Sharks (a.k.a. Natal): 17 semifinals - won 8

Free State Cheetahs (a.k.a. Orange Free State): 15 semifinals - won 6

The Currie Cup system was frequently the plaything of administrators and changed from year to year, as it keeps on doing.

The first Currie Cup Final was in 1939, the first semifinal in 1969 and what a dramatic match it was!

In the list of semifinals below, you will find years when there was just one semifinal. In those years the Currie Cup teams were divided into three sections which meant that two of the section winners had to play off for a place in the Final.

In 1973 there were four sections and so two semifinals.

In 1979 the 12 Currie Cup teams were divided into two sections. Section A was made up of strong teams, Section B of weaker teams but the best of the weaker teams played semifinals at home against the best of the Section A teams, with a remarkable result in 1984.

In 1986 there were two sections, A and B, but only a single semifinal - between the second-placed side in the A section and the top of the B Section.

Then the semis were scrapped and 1 played 2 in the Final.

In 1996 the number of provinces was reduced to 14 and they all competed in two sections. This led to quarterfinals and then semifinals.

In 1998 there was a league system in which the top four teams qualified for the semifinals in which 1 played 4 and 2 played 3.

In 2003, the Rugby World Cup year, there were no semifinals.

In 2005 there were two sections and two semifinals. The top two teams in each section played each other in the semifinals.

In 2006, as now, the teams were divided in two sections but First Division, called the Currie Cup, had no chance at all of competing for the Currie Cup which suggests some kind of misnomer but instead the semifinals came from the Premier Division - 1 vs 4 and 2 vs 3.

There was a change in determining home venues. It used to go by age or previous matches. It changed so that position on the log determined home venues as it would for the Final as well. That system continues in 2012.

That means this year that there are three possible venues for the Final:

If the Sharks win, the Final will be in Durban.

If the Golden Lions win and the Sharks lose, the Final will be in Johannesburg.

If the Sharks and the Golden Lions lose, the Final will be at Newlands.

Only Pretoria is sure of not having a Currie Cup Final in 2012 - apart from Kimberley and Bloemfontein, that is. It could mean that if the Golden Lions will, the Currie Cup Champions will not play Super Rugby next year - and if the Free State Cheetahs get relegated they will play Super Rugby next year, but not Currie Cup rugby.

The semifinals are often forgotten affairs but the first one was one of the most memorable matches at Newlands since World War II.

That day Boland, captained by Dawie de Villiers were leading 11-3, after climbing into Western Province in the loose. Pietman Basson, Corné Krige's father-in-law, and Pierre Ackerman had scored tries, Ackerman's off an intercept followed by a thrilling 70-metre run.

The man who made the difference was the great, unique HO de Villiers, fullback for Western Province. He started running and it changed the game. He converted a try by Preston Robertson and then came into the line on the left of a scrum just inside Boland's half. He made an overlap for speedster Andy van der Watt who scored in the left corner. From touch, HO converted and the final whistle went. People charged onto the ground, as they were allowed to do in those friendly days, and swamped HO the Hero.

The biggest upset was in 1984 when Natal of the B Section beat the Free State of the A Section to make the Final at Newlands. Free State were all set for the Final. They dished out tickets - and then lost in Durban. There was a scramble for them to get the tickets together and off to Durban for Natal to use in a Final in which they gave a good account of themselves.

The strangest occurrence was the one in 2010 when the Blue Bulls played the Sharks. Not only did the Blue Bulls invade but so did a swarm of bees. The bees descended onto the field before the players did and the kick-off had to be delayed for 40 minutes while they were, smokily, encouraged to swarm off.

Semifinal matches and results

1969

Western Province vs Boland 13-11 at Newlands

1970

Northern Transvaal vs Natal, 24-8 in Durban

1971

Transvaal vs Natal, 16-9 in Johannesburg

 

1973

Northern Transvaal vs Rhodesia, 20-7 in Pretoria

Orange Free State vs Western Province, 19-15 at Newlands

1974

Transvaal vs Eastern Province, 30-6 in Johannesburg

1979

Northern Transvaal vs Eastern Province, 16-6 in Port Elizabeth

Western Province vs Griqualand West, 20-15 in Kimberley

1980

Northern Transvaal vs South Eastern Transvaal, 49-6 in Pretoria

Western Province vs Eastern Province, 21-13 in Port Elizabeth

1981

Northern Transvaal vs Northern Free State, 36-12 in Pretoria

Orange Free State vs Eastern Transvaal, 28-15 in Springs

1982

Western Province vs Natal, 47-18 at Newlands

Northern Transvaal vs Northern Free State, 24-21 in Welkom

1983

Northern Transvaal vs Northern Free State, 32-15 in Pretoria

Western Province vs Natal, 7-3 in Durban

1984

Natal vs Orange Free State, 26-15 in Durban

Western Province vs Eastern Transvaal, 53-0 at Newlands

1987

Transvaal vs South West Africa, 12-9 in Windhoek

 

1988

Western Province vs Northern Free State, 26-9 in Welkom

1989

Western Province vs Western Transvaal, 71-9 in Potchefstroom

 

1996

Natal vs Orange Free State, 35-20 in Durban

Transvaal vs Northern Transvaal, 31-21 in Pretoria

1997

Western Province vs Gauteng Lions, 38-18 at Newlands

Free State Cheetahs vs Natal, 40-22 in Durban

1998

Western Province vs Griqualand West, 24-11 in Kimberley

Blue Bulls vs Natal, 31-17 in Pretoria

1999

Natal vs Free State, 45-17 in Durban

Golden Lions vs South Western Districts Eagles, 81-21 in George

2000

Natal vs Free State Cheetahs, 29-15 in Durban

Western Province vs Golden Lions, 43-22 at Newlands

2001

Natal  vs Golden Lions, 16-9 in Durban

Western Province vs Free State Cheetahs, 40-18 at Newlands

2002

Blue Bulls vs Natal, 22-19 in Durban

Golden Lions vs State Cheetahs, 43-29 in Bloemfontein

2004

Blue Bulls vs Golden Lions, 40-33 in Pretoria

Free State Cheetahs vs Western Province 17-11 at Newlands

2005

Blue Bulls vs Golden Lions, 31-23 in Pretoria

Free State Cheetahs vs Western Province, 16-11 at Newlands

2006

Free State Cheetahs vs Sharks, 30-14 in Bloemfontein

Blue Bulls vs Western Province, 45-30 in Pretoria

2007

Free State Cheetahs vs Blue Bulls, 11-6 in Bloemfontein

Golden Lions vs Sharks, 19-12 in Durban

2008

Blue Bulls vs Free State Cheetahs, 31-19 in Pretoria

Sharks vs Golden Lions, 29-14 in Durban

2009

Free State vs Sharks vs Cheetahs, 23-21  in Durban

Blue Bulls vs Western Province, 21-19 at Newlands

2010

Sharks vs Blue Bulls, 16-12 in Durban

Western Province vs Free State Cheetahs, 31-7 at Newlands

2011

Sharks vs Free State Cheetahs 20-13 in Durban

Golden Lions vs Western Province 29-20 in Johannesburg