Currie Cup heading for preservation of World Cup t

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   https://www.supersport.com/rugby/currie-cup/news/190826_Currie_Cup_heading_for_preservation_of_World_Cup_trend
The 2019 Currie Cup looks like preserving what has become the trend in World Cup years with the Toyota Free State Cheetahs and Emirates Lions emerging as the favourites to lift the golden trophy.
In 2007 the two teams that used to make up the Cats in Super Rugby met in Bloemfontein, with the Cheetahs winning comfortably to retain a trophy they’d won in 2005 in a spectacular upset against the Vodacom Blue Bulls at Loftus (remember Ollie le Roux smoking a cigar afterwards and Meyer Bosman’s winning try) and shared with the Bulls after an epic extra time draw with the Bulls the year before.
In the next World Cup year, 2011, it was the Lions who made up for their 2007 disappointment by unexpectedly thumping the Sharks in the Johannesburg final. That was the year that John Mitchell was coaching the Lions, and their victory was their first in the Currie Cup in 12 years. And yup, their previous Currie Cup triumph was also in a World Cup year - 1999.
ENCOURAGING PATTERN FOR THE LIONS
In fact if you are a Lions supporter you might be detecting an encouraging pattern emerging here, for the only time the Lions have won the Currie Cup since 2011 was in 2015. Yes, another World Cup year. That was effectively the Currie Cup campaign that set the Lions up for their three year dominance of the local conference in Super Rugby and three successive strong challenges for the Super Rugby title itself.
The Lions aren’t quite in the same position now that they were in the last World Cup year, when a developing team that had stayed together over a long period of time had reached the point where it was maturing. They now have a young side filled with players who have either played no Super Rugby or little Super Rugby.
But lifting the trophy again, so making it three Currie Cup wins in three World Cup years, will certainly imbue the young Johannesburg team with the confidence needed to be competitive in Super Rugby.
QUALITY QUESTIONED
Not that we should be comparing the Currie Cup with Super Rugby, for it was again evident at the weekend in an admittedly exciting climax to the league phase of the season that there is a wide chasm. The high scores delivered in the games in Bloemfontein and Pretoria were evidence enough that defences haven’t been as good as they should have been.
We saw some spectacular tries, and some spectacular tries, but it might be hard to argue with anyone who would want to contend that it was actually spectacular rubbish. And the fact that the team that at this point looks most likely to win it, the Cheetahs, has generally struggled to make an impression in the northern hemisphere competition, the GuinnessPRO14, that they participate in might not be the best advertisement for the strength of the South African domestic game.
IT WAS AN ABSORBING FINAL ROUND
What is inarguable though is that the final round was absorbing, and the play-offs are likely to be the same. The Lions did well to win a closely fought game in Kimberley against a Griquas team that came back strongly at them, but the performance of the week was undeniably the Cheetahs’ magnificent come from behind win over Western Province.
It’s been a long time since WP have failed to make the play-off phase of the Currie Cup, and one of the shocking aspects of the final log is that two of the traditional powerhouses both finished outside of the top four. Indeed, there was a period on Saturday afternoon when it looked like the Bulls might be headed for last position, seventh, which would have meant they’d have to play a promotion-relegation game.
They avoided that with a spirited comeback against a Sharks team that already had the match won, and were sure of their place in the top four. Not that the Sharks should be crazily happy either, for fourth place is not good enough if you judge them on their standards post-1990. They profited from a bit of luck in their campaign, and did so again at Loftus when the Bulls’ Johnny Kotze was red carded.
They have a mountain to climb when they go to Bloemfontein for their semifinal, but given how the ball has bounced their way recently they might just feel the stars are aligned in their favour. The Cheetahs though will start as strong favourites to overturn the narrow defeat they suffered to the Sharks in Durban a couple of weeks back and set up a repeat of the 2007 final, and at the same venue.
THE LAND OF WINE AND THE MOUNTAIN IS HOME TO WESTERN PROBLEMS
But back to Province. If there is a team that has performed substantially below par this season it is the one from Cape Town, with their final finishing position being nowhere near what should have been expected of a team that is dominated by players who have played Super Rugby.
There are probably several reasons why they bombed so spectacularly - their real failure to be fair was in the games prior to Bloemfontein, where there was always a good chance they’d lose - and the complacency that saw them drift in and out of games should be high on the list.
Perhaps too their coach John Dobson made a mistake when he opted to coach the Currie Cup side himself when he had so many other challenges on his plate now that he is effectively the man in charge as the Stormers coach for the next three years.
It has been well documented that the process of contracting players for next year has been nothing short of messy in the Cape, and top players who have committed to next year verbally had until recently still not been presented with contracts to sign.
You can ask John Mitchell about his experiences towards the end of his stint with the Lions and he’d tell you that problems between the players and what he would call “the upstairs”, meaning the administration, and the uncertainty about their futures (the Lions didn’t know if they were playing Super Rugby the following year back in 2012), has to impact on performance.
Perhaps that is at the heart of the WP failure this year for there is no other logical explanation for a team that was probably better on paper than the one that dominated the league phase of the competition in 2018. Dobson should maybe have taken on a temporary directorship for the period of the Currie Cup and given the coaching reins to someone less deflected by the internecine conflict that continues to make WP look like they could easily be better known as “Western Problems”.
Weekend results
Tafel Lager Griquas 26 Xerox Golden Lions 27
Toyota Free State Cheetahs 38 DHL Western Province 33
Cell C Sharks 48 Vodacom Blue Bulls 40
Semifinals (both Saturday)
Xerox Golden Lions v Tafel Lager Griquas (Johannesburg, 2pm)
Toyota Free State Cheetahs v Cell C Sharks (Bloemfontein, 5pm)

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Transvaal Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Admin Group Joined: 30-Mar-2016 Status: Offline Points: 39071	Post Options Post Reply Quote Transvaal Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: Currie Cup heading for preservation of World Cup t Posted: 29-Aug-2019 at 7:34am
	https://www.supersport.com/rugby/currie-cup/news/190826_Currie_Cup_heading_for_preservation_of_World_Cup_trend The 2019 Currie Cup looks like preserving what has become the trend in World Cup years with the Toyota Free State Cheetahs and Emirates Lions emerging as the favourites to lift the golden trophy. In 2007 the two teams that used to make up the Cats in Super Rugby met in Bloemfontein, with the Cheetahs winning comfortably to retain a trophy they’d won in 2005 in a spectacular upset against the Vodacom Blue Bulls at Loftus (remember Ollie le Roux smoking a cigar afterwards and Meyer Bosman’s winning try) and shared with the Bulls after an epic extra time draw with the Bulls the year before. In the next World Cup year, 2011, it was the Lions who made up for their 2007 disappointment by unexpectedly thumping the Sharks in the Johannesburg final. That was the year that John Mitchell was coaching the Lions, and their victory was their first in the Currie Cup in 12 years. And yup, their previous Currie Cup triumph was also in a World Cup year - 1999. ENCOURAGING PATTERN FOR THE LIONS In fact if you are a Lions supporter you might be detecting an encouraging pattern emerging here, for the only time the Lions have won the Currie Cup since 2011 was in 2015. Yes, another World Cup year. That was effectively the Currie Cup campaign that set the Lions up for their three year dominance of the local conference in Super Rugby and three successive strong challenges for the Super Rugby title itself. The Lions aren’t quite in the same position now that they were in the last World Cup year, when a developing team that had stayed together over a long period of time had reached the point where it was maturing. They now have a young side filled with players who have either played no Super Rugby or little Super Rugby. But lifting the trophy again, so making it three Currie Cup wins in three World Cup years, will certainly imbue the young Johannesburg team with the confidence needed to be competitive in Super Rugby. QUALITY QUESTIONED Not that we should be comparing the Currie Cup with Super Rugby, for it was again evident at the weekend in an admittedly exciting climax to the league phase of the season that there is a wide chasm. The high scores delivered in the games in Bloemfontein and Pretoria were evidence enough that defences haven’t been as good as they should have been. We saw some spectacular tries, and some spectacular tries, but it might be hard to argue with anyone who would want to contend that it was actually spectacular rubbish. And the fact that the team that at this point looks most likely to win it, the Cheetahs, has generally struggled to make an impression in the northern hemisphere competition, the GuinnessPRO14, that they participate in might not be the best advertisement for the strength of the South African domestic game. IT WAS AN ABSORBING FINAL ROUND What is inarguable though is that the final round was absorbing, and the play-offs are likely to be the same. The Lions did well to win a closely fought game in Kimberley against a Griquas team that came back strongly at them, but the performance of the week was undeniably the Cheetahs’ magnificent come from behind win over Western Province. It’s been a long time since WP have failed to make the play-off phase of the Currie Cup, and one of the shocking aspects of the final log is that two of the traditional powerhouses both finished outside of the top four. Indeed, there was a period on Saturday afternoon when it looked like the Bulls might be headed for last position, seventh, which would have meant they’d have to play a promotion-relegation game. They avoided that with a spirited comeback against a Sharks team that already had the match won, and were sure of their place in the top four. Not that the Sharks should be crazily happy either, for fourth place is not good enough if you judge them on their standards post-1990. They profited from a bit of luck in their campaign, and did so again at Loftus when the Bulls’ Johnny Kotze was red carded. They have a mountain to climb when they go to Bloemfontein for their semifinal, but given how the ball has bounced their way recently they might just feel the stars are aligned in their favour. The Cheetahs though will start as strong favourites to overturn the narrow defeat they suffered to the Sharks in Durban a couple of weeks back and set up a repeat of the 2007 final, and at the same venue. THE LAND OF WINE AND THE MOUNTAIN IS HOME TO WESTERN PROBLEMS But back to Province. If there is a team that has performed substantially below par this season it is the one from Cape Town, with their final finishing position being nowhere near what should have been expected of a team that is dominated by players who have played Super Rugby. There are probably several reasons why they bombed so spectacularly - their real failure to be fair was in the games prior to Bloemfontein, where there was always a good chance they’d lose - and the complacency that saw them drift in and out of games should be high on the list. Perhaps too their coach John Dobson made a mistake when he opted to coach the Currie Cup side himself when he had so many other challenges on his plate now that he is effectively the man in charge as the Stormers coach for the next three years. It has been well documented that the process of contracting players for next year has been nothing short of messy in the Cape, and top players who have committed to next year verbally had until recently still not been presented with contracts to sign. You can ask John Mitchell about his experiences towards the end of his stint with the Lions and he’d tell you that problems between the players and what he would call “the upstairs”, meaning the administration, and the uncertainty about their futures (the Lions didn’t know if they were playing Super Rugby the following year back in 2012), has to impact on performance. Perhaps that is at the heart of the WP failure this year for there is no other logical explanation for a team that was probably better on paper than the one that dominated the league phase of the competition in 2018. Dobson should maybe have taken on a temporary directorship for the period of the Currie Cup and given the coaching reins to someone less deflected by the internecine conflict that continues to make WP look like they could easily be better known as “Western Problems”. Weekend results Tafel Lager Griquas 26 Xerox Golden Lions 27 Toyota Free State Cheetahs 38 DHL Western Province 33 Cell C Sharks 48 Vodacom Blue Bulls 40 Semifinals (both Saturday) Xerox Golden Lions v Tafel Lager Griquas (Johannesburg, 2pm) Toyota Free State Cheetahs v Cell C Sharks (Bloemfontein, 5pm)