WP captain Burger
Confused about the Currie Cup?
WP captain Burger
By Annie
September 21 2005
South Africa's premier rugby competition, the Currie Cup, is moving towards the final stages. A lot of people have said they have found it hard to follow the new set-up, to work out who is who, and who plays where. Here is a guide to those exact things, I hope it will be easy enough to understand!
WP captain Burger
September 21 2005
South Africa's premier rugby competition, the Currie Cup, is moving towards the final stages. A lot of people have said they have found it hard to follow the new set-up, to work out who is who, and who plays where. Here is a guide to those exact things, I hope it will be easy enough to understand!
Lets start off with the teams.
There are 14 teams in the Currie Cup. The easiest way to do this would be to split them up into their Provinces.
They are as follows:
The Blue Bulls.
The Blue Bulls rugby union is the governing body for rugby in Pretoria, Gauteng Province(east), and Limpopo Province. The Bulls play their home games in Pretoria.
Gauteng Province
There are two unions here, the Falcons, and the Golden Lions. The Falcons are made up of players from the East Rand and other municipalities to the east and south of Johannesburg. The Lions use players from Johannesburg and municipalities to its west. They play their home matches in Johannesburg.
Western Cape Province
The Western Cape have three provinces to choose from, the Boland Cavaliers - northern who play home matches in Wellington, the Eagles - eastern, their home games are in George, and Western province, who play at Newlands in Cape Town.
Free State Province
There are two unions here, the Free State Cheetahs - central and western, home matches in Bloemfontein, and the Griffons - eastern. Their home games are played in Welkom
The Eastern Cape Province contains two unions: Border Bulldogs - eastern (home matches in East London), and the Mighty Elephants - western (home matches in Port Elizabeth)
The following four provinces draw players from one entire province. Those four are the Griquas - Northern Cape Province (home matches in Kimberley) the Leopards - North West Province (home matches in Potchefstroom) the Natal Sharks - KwaZulu-Natal Province (home matches in Durban) and the Pumas - Mpumalanga Province (home matches in Witbank)
OK, that is the easy part over with! Now lets move onto the Currie Cup format.
The powers that be decided to change the format od the Currie Cup starting as from this season.The competition is now being run in a two-phase format. In the first phase, officially called the Qualifying Round, the 14 teams are divided into two equally sized sections, presently called Sections X and Y. Each section is conducted in a single round-robin format. Teams are awarded four points for a win, two for a draw, and none for a loss. Single bonus points are awarded to teams that score four or more tries in a match, and to teams that lose by seven points or less. The winner of a match can receive 4 or 5 points, while a loser can receive 0, 1, or 2 points.
At the end of the first phase, the four top teams in each section advance to the Currie Cup competition proper, known as the Premier Division. The bottom three in each section are sent to a secondary cup competition known as the First Division. Only the Premier Division teams will actually contest the Currie Cup. The Premier teams then play a round-robin against one another, with point totals starting at zero. Points are awarded as they are in the qualifying phase. The top four at the end of the round-robin then advance to knockout semifinals, followed by a one-off final.
And there we have it, simple hey?
There are 14 teams in the Currie Cup. The easiest way to do this would be to split them up into their Provinces.
They are as follows:
The Blue Bulls.
The Blue Bulls rugby union is the governing body for rugby in Pretoria, Gauteng Province(east), and Limpopo Province. The Bulls play their home games in Pretoria.
Gauteng Province
There are two unions here, the Falcons, and the Golden Lions. The Falcons are made up of players from the East Rand and other municipalities to the east and south of Johannesburg. The Lions use players from Johannesburg and municipalities to its west. They play their home matches in Johannesburg.
Western Cape Province
The Western Cape have three provinces to choose from, the Boland Cavaliers - northern who play home matches in Wellington, the Eagles - eastern, their home games are in George, and Western province, who play at Newlands in Cape Town.
Free State Province
There are two unions here, the Free State Cheetahs - central and western, home matches in Bloemfontein, and the Griffons - eastern. Their home games are played in Welkom
The Eastern Cape Province contains two unions: Border Bulldogs - eastern (home matches in East London), and the Mighty Elephants - western (home matches in Port Elizabeth)
The following four provinces draw players from one entire province. Those four are the Griquas - Northern Cape Province (home matches in Kimberley) the Leopards - North West Province (home matches in Potchefstroom) the Natal Sharks - KwaZulu-Natal Province (home matches in Durban) and the Pumas - Mpumalanga Province (home matches in Witbank)
OK, that is the easy part over with! Now lets move onto the Currie Cup format.
The powers that be decided to change the format od the Currie Cup starting as from this season.The competition is now being run in a two-phase format. In the first phase, officially called the Qualifying Round, the 14 teams are divided into two equally sized sections, presently called Sections X and Y. Each section is conducted in a single round-robin format. Teams are awarded four points for a win, two for a draw, and none for a loss. Single bonus points are awarded to teams that score four or more tries in a match, and to teams that lose by seven points or less. The winner of a match can receive 4 or 5 points, while a loser can receive 0, 1, or 2 points.
At the end of the first phase, the four top teams in each section advance to the Currie Cup competition proper, known as the Premier Division. The bottom three in each section are sent to a secondary cup competition known as the First Division. Only the Premier Division teams will actually contest the Currie Cup. The Premier teams then play a round-robin against one another, with point totals starting at zero. Points are awarded as they are in the qualifying phase. The top four at the end of the round-robin then advance to knockout semifinals, followed by a one-off final.
And there we have it, simple hey?
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