The Currie Cup is the main national rugby competition in South Africa. It is the oldest provincial contest 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 interprovincial cricket competition. In fact, Sir Donald also sponsored trophies in other sports at the time, such as football, rugby, water polo, and swimming.
In 1891, the Currie Cup rugby finally reached the South African shores along with the touring British Isles rugby team. He was going to introduce himself 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 interprovincial matches.
In the early days, the competition was a tournament played in one place. This continued until about 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.
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 undergone many changes to the tournament rules. There have been tournaments, league competitions, sometimes with finals and sometimes without. 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 the province of Limpopo
– The leopards of the Northwest province
– The Pumas of Mpumalanga
– Border Bulldogs and Eastern Province Kings, both from Eastern Cape
– The griffins and the cheetahs of the Free State of the Free State
– The Boland Cavaliers, SWD Eagles and Western Province of the Western Cape
– The hawks and golden lions of Gauteng
– Natal Sharks from KwaZulu-Natal
The Currie Cup tournament is divided into 6 teams that represent the first division and the other 8 teams that make up the first division. While the first division teams compete for the opportunity to keep the Currie Cup high, the first division teams play to join the first division.
Each division plays its games in a double round robin format in which each team plays against the other teams in the division, home and away.
The losing main team plays 2 relegation matches against the winning team of the first division for their place in the first division next year.
The Currie Cup has a long and varied history. It is a highly prized trophy and while professional rugby has replaced it to some extent, it remains the leading national competition in South African rugby.