The Currie Cup – South Africa’s premier national rugby competition
The Currie Cup is South Africa’s premier national rugby union competition. It is the oldest provincial competition in the world, dating back to 1889.
Sir Donald Currie first brought a Currie Cup from Glasgow in 1888. Little is known that the cup was designated to be awarded to the winner of an inter-provincial cricket competition. In fact, Sir Donald also sponsored trophies in other sports at the time, including football, rugby union, water polo, and swimming.
In 1891, rugby’s Currie Cup finally reached South African shores along with the British Isles rugby team. He was to be presented to the team that gave the touring team the best game. It was then gifted to the SA Rugby Union where it became the trophy for inter-province matches.
In the early days, the competition was a tournament played in one location. This continued until around 1922, when a league system was introduced, sometimes with 2 divisions and a final, sometimes with the best team in the league winning. It was not always played every year as well.
The first final was held in 1939 and since 1968 it has been held annually. Only 6 teams have won the Currie Cup: Western Province, Griquas, Blue Bulls, Golden Lions, Free State Cheetahs, Natal Sharks.
How does the Currie Cup work?
Over the years, the Currie Cup has seen many changes to the tournament rules. There have been tournaments, league competitions, sometimes with finals and sometimes without finals. Sometimes there were only a few teams playing in the competition.
Today, there are 14 teams playing in the tournament:
– The Griquas of the Northern Cape Province
– The Blue Bulls of Gauteng and Limpopo Province
– The leopards of the North West Province
– The Mpumalanga Cougars
– The Border Bulldogs and the Kings of the Eastern Province, both from the Eastern Cape
– The Free State Griffons and Cheetahs of the Free State
– The Boland Cavaliers, SWD Eagles and Western Province of the Western Cape
– The falcons and golden lions of Gauteng
– KwaZulu-Natal Natal Sharks
The Currie Cup tournament is divided into 6 teams that represent the top division and the other 8 teams that make up the top division. While the main division teams compete for the chance to hold the Currie Cup aloft, the main division teams play to join the main division.
Each division plays its games in a round-robin format where each team plays every other team in the division, home and away.
The losing main team plays 2 relegation games against the first division winning team for their place in the next year’s main division.
The Currie Cup has a long and varied history. It is a highly prized trophy and although it has been superseded by professional rugby to some extent, it remains the main domestic competition in South African rugby union.
Leave a Reply