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Expect a Currie Cup humdinger!

Brad Morgan

23 October 2008

The undoubted highlight of South Africa's sporting achievements in 2007 was winning the Rugby World Cup. The 2007 Super 14 final – an all South African affair between the Sharks and the Bulls - rated highly too. On Saturday in Durban it will be the Sharks versus the Bulls again, this time for the 2008 Currie Cup title.

Last year's final was the first to feature two South African teams, which, thus, guaranteed the first South African winner of the Super 14. In a dramatic game, Bryan Habana scored a converted try at the death to lift the Bulls to a 20-19 victory.

The 2007 Currie Cup final, meanwhile, was contested between the Cheetahs and the Lions after the Cheetahs defeated the Blue Bulls 11-6 in their semi-final, and the Lions beat the Sharks 19-12 in the other semi-final. The Cheetahs went on to claim the silverware with a 20-18 victory over the Lions in the final.

Springboks' return

This year's Currie Cup semi-finals featured exactly the same match-ups as 2007, but there was one very significant difference. The Springboks, who had been missing because of the Rugby World Cup a year ago, were available and the difference in the results speaks volumes about the impact the national players have made on this year's Currie Cup competition.

In the semi-finals, the Sharks comfortably beat the Lions 29-14 and the Bulls downed the Cheetahs 31-19, setting up what is, essentially, another big showdown between the 2007 Super 14 finalists. After last year's sensational title showdown, and with the two teams loaded with Springboks, the match is eagerly awaited.

Over the course of the Currie Cup season, the Sharks and the Blue Bulls have established themselves as the clear class of the competition and a bone-shattering, exciting final is expected.

Winning streaks

The Sharks are on a 10-game winning streak, including a 34-25 victory over the Bulls at the Absa Stadium, where the final will be played on Saturday. Since beating the Sharks (before the return of players from Springbok duty) 35-14 in Pretoria, the Bulls have won 10 of 12 matches, including five in succession.

While rugby is a team game, the individual match-ups, including the benches, are what will have the fans salivating, with the Sharks particularly deep in that department.

Only one player is set to miss the match due to injury. The unfortunate man is Bulls' winger Akona Ndungane, who will miss out on facing his twin, Odwa, in a battle for the biggest title in South African domestic rugby. Otherwise, it is a case of two full strength teams butting heads.

Comparisons

The Bulls start the highly-regarded Zane Kirchner at fullback. A well-rounded footballer, some regard him as a potential Springbok of the future.

The Sharks, meanwhile, counter with former Bok Stefan Terblanche. Although he no longer has the blistering pace he once possessed as a Springbok wing, Terblanche has been superb form in the number 15 jersey for the Sharks, doing a remarkably good impression of what Percy Montgomery did in the black and white in 2007.

Bryan Habana

John Mametsa replaces Akona Ndungane on the wing for the Blue Bulls, with 2007 International Rugby Board Player of the Year, Bryan Habana, on the left flank. Mametsa has played over 100 matches for the team from Pretoria and is an underrated finisher, while Habana remains one of the most dangerous players in the game. Strangely enough, he has played in only one Currie Cup final and was on the losing side, so he desperately wants a Currie Cup winners' medal to go with his World Cup and Super 14 successes.

The Sharks' wingers are Odwa Ndungane and JP Pietersen. Ndungane, who was awarded Springbok colours this year, is a solid player both on attack and defence. Pietersen, after struggling with his form through the Super 14, has found it again, which makes him one of the better finishers in South African rugby.

Marius Delport and Wynand Olivier team up in the midfield for the visitors. While Delport is a dependable player, Olivier has exhibited superb form in the Currie Cup. Jake White chose him for the Springboks, but Peter de Villiers has not; ironically, Olivier's form under White was average but, now that he is not in the national set-up, he has played like he belongs there. In the past, he has often played his best rugby against the Sharks.

Revitalised

Adrian Jacobs and Francois Steyn turn out at centre for the Sharks. Since being given an opportunity in the green and gold by De Villiers, Jacobs has been revitalised, showing off some of the finest attacking skills in the game. But his defence has also surprised in a good way.

Steyn, it seems, is at his best at inside centre. He is a big, strong man with great moves and the unpredictability that can win and lose games; in the 2007 Super 14 final, after the final whistle, he failed to kick the ball out and it was from that possession that the Bulls scored their winning try. Then again, Steyn owns the biggest boot in the game and any penalty within 60 metres of the posts is a potential three points for the Sharks.

Fourie du Preez and Morne Steyn are the Blue Bulls' halfbacks. Du Preez has returned to top form after a late start to the season due to injury. His intelligent kicking game, good service, and tenacious defence make him one of the best number nines in the game.

Improvement

Steyn, meanwhile, has improved immeasurably this season. A good kicker, he has become a more rounded player and (with former Springbok winger Pieter Roussouw coaching the backline) Steyn has got his backs moving smartly.

The Sharks' halfbacks are Ruan Pienaar and French international Freddie Michalak. Pienaar's skills set is similar to that of the Bulls' Du Preez. After being run in a number of different positions earlier in the season, he has rediscovered his best form at scrumhalf.

Michalak started off quietly for the Sharks, but during the course of the season his form has quietly become commanding, and excellent. Michalak also has the ability to see things others don't and he is able to produce moments of sublime brilliance.

The Bulls' loose trio of Pierre Spies, Wikus van Heerden, and Deon Stegmann is a well-balanced team. Spies is a big and fast ball-carrier, while Van Heerden brings size, power, and ball-winning ability to the mix. Stegmann, a smaller flank, is the Bulls' ball winner at ruck time and, arguably, somewhat underrated.

Potential match-winner

The Sharks counter with Ryan Kankowski, Jean Deysel, and Jacques Botes. Eighthman Kankowski is a potential match-winner; a former winger, he boasts tremendous pace and outstanding skills which have often resulted in fantastic tries. Deysel is the battering ram, a ball carrier who is able to make the hard yards, and a man who is responsible for a good number of turnovers. Botes is a superb ball-winner and excellent support player with a knack for scoring tries.

Victor Matfield leads the Blue Bulls from the second row, alongside fellow Springbok Danie Rossouw. Matfield is undoubtedly the best lineout forward in world rugby and the Bulls will try to pressure the Sharks in this aspect of the play. Rossouw, who has also played a lot at flank and eighthman, is an industrious and very physical player.

Sharks' skipper Johann Muller teams up with Steven Sykes in the home team's second row. Muller does the grunt work in the engine room and is a respected leader, while Sykes has emerged as a hard worker alongside his captain - a man with a good enough work rate to earn him a run at flank too.

Front row

Up front, the Bulls will start with Rayno Gerber at tighthead prop, Derick Kuun at hooker, and Gurthro Steenkamp at loosehead prop. Gerber is solid in the number three jersey, while hooker Kuun is a fiery presence in the loose. Steenkamp, meanwhile, will have the opportunity to show his worth in a game in which the man who replaced him in the Springbok line-up, Tendai "The Beast" Mtawarira, is also in action.

The dynamic Mtawarira has improved beyond all recognition this season and will spearhead the Sharks' assault in the tight phases, as well as playing a big role in the loose. Bismarck du Plessis is expected to start at hooker and the powerful number-two will fight Kuun's fire with fire. His brother, the no-nonsense Doctor Jannie, will pack down at tighthead.

With Bismarck du Plessis expected to start at hooker, the Sharks will have Springbok captain John Smit on the bench and his leadership contribution late in the game could be vital. The Sharks look as if they have a slight advantage in the front row and, with benches playing such a vital role nowadays, the Sharks appear to have the edge among the substitutes.

Benches

The home side boasts prop Deon Carstens, a Springbok who is playing the best rugby of his career; experienced Bok lock Albert van den Berg; yet another international in backline player Waylon Murray; flank Keegan Daniel, the top try scorer in the Currie Cup this season, under-rated centre Brad Barritt; and feisty scrumhalf and reliable kicker Rory Kockott.

The Bulls' bench includes hooker Chiliboy Ralepelle, who has played little at the top level since he returned from a long-term injury; lock Juandre Kruger, who is a far less experienced campaigner than Albert van den Berg; prop Werner Kruger, who covers for the front row; promising young eighthman Dewald Potgieter; experienced backline utility player Tiger Mangweni; another unproven but exciting backline player in Burton Francis; and the talented scrumhalf Heini Adams, whose opportunities have been limited by injury and the presence of Fourie du Preez.

While the Bulls might have less proven depth than the Sharks, they have a proven record of success in finals and they boast far more experience than the Sharks in title-deciding contests; consider that the Sharks are attempting to win the Currie Cup for the first time since 1996! The Bulls have won the title four times since then.

So, predicting the outcome of Currie Cup final would be guess work, an exercise not deserving of the term "an educated guess". It will, at least, be a contest between the two best provincial teams in South Africa and one that is eagerly awaited after the fantastic Super 14 final of 2007.

All eyes will be on Durban's Absa Stadium at 16:30 on Saturday afternoon.