With three teams already securing their spots in the semifinals of the Carling Currie Cup, Saturday’s final round comes down to one important fixture between the Airlink Pumas and Toyota Cheetahs for the final spot in the playoffs.
Both sides suffered losses in their penultimate league games, with the particularly cruel blow for the Pumas coming at the end of a humdinger on Sunday when Joseph Dweba scored a 79th minute rolling maul try and Jurie Mathee converted to deny them a bonus point in a game they could have won.
Similarly the Toyota Cheetahs went down to Suzuki Griquas in their derby match on Friday, dealing the Bloemfontein side another blow as they look to salvage something from the Currie Cup.
Now the two sides meet this weekend in a winner takes all clash that will precede the massive test in Cape Town and will determine which side’s season has been a success and which will be deemed a failure.
Both the Cheetahs and Pumas have won the Currie Cup in the past few years and both were hoping to repeat that success but the form of the bigger unions in the second half of the competition has seen them struggle to keep the pace.
And even if they do get into the semis, the prospects are not looking good for either as they will have to play an away semifinal against teams that are looking to prepare for the Vodacom United Rugby Championship.
However, there is something to be said for the way the complexion of the competition has changed in the last week, and the introduction by the big franchises of URC players in the mix. While it is understandable that some teams want to use the latter rounds of the Currie Cup to substitute warm-up games to prepare for the URC, the message sent out to the younger players in the competition cannot be louder.
Now that it seems the opening derbies in the URC will be shifted to ensure they don’t clash with the Currie Cup final, some teams have shifted their priorities to winning the Currie Cup with URC players.
Nowhere was that more apparent than at Midstream College on Friday when the previously unbeaten Vodacom Blue Bulls were blitzed by the Fidelity ADT Lions who changed the entire coaching line up, and the entire team from a young bunch to their full URC side and the difference in class was immediately apparent.
The Lions have made it clear they want to win the Currie Cup with a URC side, and that is their right, but it does leave a bit of a bad taste in the mouth as the young players who got them into second spot and young coach Mzwakhe Nkosi are now an afterthought?
It will also force other sides - like the Bulls - to review their policy of not playing frontline URC players en masse in the Currie Cup, if they want to win the competition.
Of course, there is no guarantee the Lions will win the Currie Cup, and the move could come back to haunt them late in the URC - especially as they have only 44 contracted players to the other franchises’ 50 plus, and four hard games may take their toll at the end of a big season next year.
Still, that seems to be of little worry to the Joburg union who haven’t won a Currie Cup since 2015, which sparked their golden run under Johan Ackermann and Swys de Bruin in Super Rugby that led to three finals, a clue to the reasoning behind their switch.
The Sharks have always said they will use the latter rounds as a URC warm-up, while DHL Western Province have no hope of making the semifinals and therefore cannot use it as preparation for the URC.
They did have significant depth available against the Griffons with World Cup winner Makazole Mapimpi scoring a hat-trick alongside another by Eduan Keyter and a run for several of their new signings as well.
The Lions have the Novavit Griffons as their final league opponent this weekend, increasing the likelihood that they will finish top of the log, while the Bulls face the Sharks on Sunday to complete their round of fixtures. The Bulls bonus point last Friday against the Lions means they will finish second and host a home semi, while the Sharks, even if they win, can only finish third.
The other fixture is the Griquas v Western Province game on Friday which has no significance other than pride for both teams.
RESULTS
Suzuki Griquas 44 Toyota Cheetahs 31
Vodacom Bulls 33 Fidelity ADT Lions 57
Hollywoodbets Sharks 75 Novavit Griffons 17
DHL Western Province 39 Airlink Pumas 30
FIXTURES
Friday
Suzuki Griquas v DHL Western Province (15h00)
Fidelity ADT Lions v Novavit Griffons (17h00)
Saturday
Airlink Pumas v Toyota Cheetahs (13h30)
Sunday
Hollywoodbets Sharks v Vodacom Blue Bulls (15h00)