The Currie Cup is South Africa's premier domestic rugby union competition featuring teams representing either entire provinces or substantial regions within provinces. Although it is the premier domestic competition, four South African franchises also compete in the United Rugby Championship competition, including for the 'South African Shield'. for the highest placed South African team.
Steeped in history and tradition, the Currie Cup dates back to 1891. The tournament is regarded as the cornerstone of South Africa's rugby heritage, and the coveted gold trophy remains the most prestigious prize in South African domestic rugby.[1]
History
The Currie Cup is one of the oldest rugby competitions,[2] with the first games played in 1889 but it was only in 1892 that it became officially known as the Currie Cup. The competition had its humble beginnings as an inter-province competition in 1884, but when the South African Rugby Board was founded in 1889 it decided to organize a national competition that would involve representative teams from all the major unions. The original participating unions were Western Province, Griqualand West, Transvaal and Eastern Province. The first tournament was held in Kimberley and was won by Western Province. For a prize they received a silver cup donated by the South African Rugby Board, now displayed at the SA Rugby Museum in Cape Town. The story of how the Currie Cup came to be comes from the first overseas rugby team to tour South Africa in 1891, The British Isles, who carried with them a particularly precious bit of cargo. Among the bags, boots and balls was a golden cup given to them by Sir Donald Currie, owner of Union-Castle Lines, the shipping company that transported them to the southern tip of Africa. Sir Donald was clear with his instructions – hand this trophy over to the team in South Africa that gives the best game; and after a spirited display where the unbeaten British Lions narrowly won 3–0, Griqualand West became the first ever holders of the Currie Cup. They then handed the trophy over to the South African rugby board and it became the floating trophy for the Currie Cup competition. The inaugural Currie Cup tournament was thus held in 1892 with Western Province earning the honour of holding it aloft as the first official winners.
The Currie Cup trophy
The competition missed a few years here and there for reasons such as war and the like, but in 1968 it became a fully fledged annual showpiece.
Western Province dominated the competition's early years, and by 1920 the team from Cape Town had already secured the trophy 10 times. Only Griqualand West could halt the rampant WP side and win the trophy in 1899 and 1911. In 1922 the Transvaal won the competition for the first time, however Western Province would continue to dominate the Currie Cup throughout the 1920s and 1930s, winning the trophy a further 4 times and sharing it twice with Border. In 1939 the trophy returned to Johannesburg for only the second time after Transvaal defeated Western Province in Cape Town. This was the first time WP had lost a final at their home ground Newlands. The Currie Cup went into hiatus during the Second World War but resumed in 1946 when Northern Transvaal claimed their first ever trophy by beating Western Province 11–9 in the final at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria.
The late 1940s and early 1950s were dominated by Transvaal who would win the trophy in 1950 and 1952, however in 1954 the Currie Cup would finally return south following Western Province's narrow 11–8 victory over Northern Transvaal in the final at Newlands in Cape Town.
At the end of the apartheid 1980s, South African rugby supporters were treated to two of the most memorable Currie Cup finals. In 1989 winger Carel du Plessis scored a last-minute try as WP managed to draw with Northern Transvaal 16-all, Riaan Gouws missed the conversion which would have given WP its 6th title of the decade a feat which has never been achieved. The following year the Blue Bulls slipped up, though, and Natal sneaked home 18–12, inspired by fly-half Joel Stransky. The 1990s saw further improvement by Natal and the rise of Francois Pienaar's Transvaal. Since the end of apartheid in 1990–4, and the age of professionalism in rugby union in the early 1990s, the Currie Cup has become much more competitive with no team able to carve out an era of dominance like that of WP in the early years or Northern Transvaal in the 1970s and 1980s.
Whilst these days the competition lags behind the United Rugby Championship and The Rugby Championship (previously the Tri-Nations) in the order of importance, the Currie Cup still holds a special place amongst South African rugby supporters and players, with the trophy very much still the holy grail of the South African domestic rugby.[3]
In order to adjust to the European competition calendar, from the 2024 season the Currie Cup will take place in a new window. It is to be played between July and late September.[4]
Teams
The following 14 provincial unions participate in the Currie Cup:
Map of South Africa displaying the borders of the 14 teams in the Currie Cup
Between 1892 and 1920, the competition was held as a centralised tournament, with the team with the best record crowned as the winner. Between 1922 and 1936 (as well as in three tournaments between 1957 and 1966), the winner was the team with the best record following a round-robin competition. In all the other seasons, a final was played to determine the champion.
In addition to the winners above, Western Province also won the South African Rugby Board Trophy in 1889. This tournament was effectively the precursor to the Currie Cup, which started in 1892.
1 Western Province and Transvaal did not compete. 2 Contested over two seasons. 3 Transvaal were renamed the Gauteng Lions; now known as Golden Lions. 4 Orange Free State were renamed the Free State Cheetahs. 5 Northern Transvaal were renamed the Blue Bulls. 6 Natal were renamed the Sharks. 7 Contested between November and January due to COVID-19 pandemic. 8 Final went to extra-time.
Currie Cup First Division
Currie Cup First Division Champions and Finals Results
1 The 2020 Currie Cup First Division was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 2 The final went into extra time. It remained 27 all after the time was up and Boland was determined champions due to scoring more tries in the final.
South African Rugby Union announced that fans would get a chance to vote and select their own Currie Cup Select XV. Two matches were played in 2021 and 2022.
Naas Botha 11 (Northern Transvaal—between 1977 and 1991)
Broadcasting rights
SuperSport broadcasts live Currie Cup matches in South Africa.
Sky Sports broadcasts live Currie Cup matches in Ireland and the United Kingdom.
FloSports airs live Currie Cup matches in the Americas via online streaming.
Nine Network airs Currie Cup matches live in Australia through streaming service Stan. Previously matches were aired on Fox Sports.[6]
RugbyPass airs live Currie Cup matches via online streaming in certain countries in Asia (Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, China, East Timor, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Laos, Macau, Malaysia, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam), European Economic Area (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden), and Eastern Europe (Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia, & Herzegovina, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Russia, Serbia, Turkey, Ukraine).[7]
