The Currie Cup final kicks off at 5pm on Saturday and promises to be a very good game. The one thing we all know about streaks is that they eventually come to an end. Province, who last tasted Currie Cup success back in 2001, will want to lose the label of “Chokers”. The Sharks have been the top team in this year’s compo and are on a roll. No doubt the Sharks and their thousands of fans, who might not turn up on matchday because of high ticket prices (R350) and the prediction of rain, will be hoping this result goes according the form book.
Here are the teams and the high schools they attended.
| SHARKS | School | WP | School | |
| 15 | Louis Ludik | EG Jansen | Gio Aplon | Hawston |
| 14 | Lwazi Mvovo | Maria Louw | Gerhard vd Heever | Affies |
| 13 | Paul Jordaan | Grey College | Juan de Jongh | Hugenote |
| 12 | Tim Whitehead | Grey High | Damian de Allende | Milnerton |
| 11 | JP Pietersen | Generaal Hertzog | Bryan Habana | KES |
| 10 | Pat Lambie | Michaelhouse | Demetri Catrakilis | St Johns |
| 9 | Cobus Reinach | Grey College | Nic Groom | Rondebosch |
| 8 | Keegan Daniel | Dale College | Duane Vermeulen | Nelspruit |
| 7 | Willem Alberts | Monument | Don Armand | Maritzburg College |
| 6 | Marcell Coetzee | Port Natal | Deon Fourie | Pietersburg |
| 5 | Anton Bresler | DHS | De Kok Steenkamp | Paarl Boys High |
| 4 | Steven Sykes | Marlow | Eben Etsebeth | Tygerberg |
| 3 | Jannie Du Plessis | Grey College | Frans Malherbe | Paarl Boys High |
| 2 | Craig Burden | Maritzburg College | Scarra Ntubeni | KES |
| 1 | Beast Mtawarira | Peterhouse | Steven Kitshoff | Paul Roos |
| 16 | Kyle Cooper | Glenwood | Deon Carstens | Boland Landbou |
| 17 | Klerksdorp | Brok Harris | Bastion | |
| 18 | Jandre Marais | Welkom Gym | Wilhelm vd Sluys | Paarl Boys High |
| 19 | Jean Deysel | Hentie Cilliers | Jebb Sinclair | Canada |
| 20 | Charl McLeod | Wonderboom | Louis Schreuder | Paarl Gym |
| 21 | Meyer Bosman | Oakdale | Marcel Brache | Rondebosch |
| 22 | Odwa Ndungane | Hudson Park | Joe Pietersen | Grey College |
@Andre T: It is unfortunately a family name, not much one can do about that. You are probably right on the PBH budget increase though, the old boys have deep pockets, but the question is, after so many investments without return, will they fund the Paarl’s biggest girl’s school indefinitely?
@Prontus: Where did you get this kak name? Don’t worry about the Paarl hoops, the budget has been increased.
@BoishaaiPa: Hope that tide turns in the Paarl soon as well, there the hoops are still very yellow, maroon and green, not?
@BOG: The cabinet story is so overated its not even funny anymore…besides…there were a couple of u/19 and u/21 CC Cups there over the years. The same boys who played in those teams are now doing it for the seniors. The tide is turning my friends and its got a distinctly blue and white hoops look to it!….
@BOG: You are starting a new point – the question was quite simple – did Peyper look biased.
Cheetahs – good. Lovely. That is next season and ek gaan nie n hond uit n bos uitjaag nie.
Lions – f@#$ed by the fickle finger of SARFU. With no S15 the best players will go elsewhere. Their only chance at redemption is if there is a promotion relegation match at the end of the 2013 S15, or it will be similar to the Sharks of the 80’s – a rule change to get them back into the top flight.
Still can’t believe the Sharks even made it to the finals. The finals were last Saturday at Ellis Park. The best team didn’t win the cup this year. It does happen sometimes.
LONG LIVE THE LION
2013 Vodacom Cup Winners
@Gungets Tuft: You are all missing the point. What you do need, are more grey sharks in the side, to give you the required “bite”. With the return of Bissie and Frans Steyn, you will have 5. Will that be enough? Against the Bulls and the Stormers, probably, but against the Cheetahs, no. Next year, with all the sick, lame and lazy back to good health, they are going to be a force.
@GreenBlooded: I don’t think Jako had a great game but WP just cannot accept that Steven Kitshoff is not the king of the world. Jannie ate him alive, it was only after Jannie went off that the WP scrum started getting any go-forward. A lot of the penalties came from there. Look, Jako missed some stuff, so did the ARs, but that is life in the fast lane and it was not biased. Personally I think it was too early in Jako’s life for a final. I thought the loose was blown too loosely {snigger} and that WP got the better of that situation. Joubert would have blown it more severely, Lawrence even more than that.
Simple put, I don’t think the ref influenced the result. The margin was about right for the difference between the teams on the day, if the Sharks had sneaked the 7-pointer at the end (and then the extra time result!?!?) it would have been an injustice. Okes must just move on from ref bashing. The average spectator, me included, does not understand the laws properly, and watch the match through glasses tinted the colour of their team. Result is in, engraved on the CC, I saw it on Wikipedia and in the Tribune.
@Gungets Tuft: Yup – but I think WP wanted it even more than that. You are quite right – the loss wasn’t due to one player and it seldom ever is. I do think our lineout let us down in particular but I just think the WP had just that little bit extra in the tank which got them the win.
I was at the tank and you do miss a lot of the replays, ref’s commentary etc that you get on TV. I head a few comments afterwards about Jaco Peyper being ‘hostile’ to WP and being on the Sharks side. Whilst I don’t EVER beleive this is the case, was there anything in his performance that might have given rise to this?
@Gungets Tuft: Well said. Regardless of the game or the trophy, when something like that happens the player is their worst critic and will have to deal with those demons.
@BoishaaiPa: I was rather sad to see that the photos on News24 show quite a poor turnout for the victory parade and most of the team on the bus were busy on their phones.
@Greenwood: Ja, Kyle is going to have nightmares about that but …
If Louis Ludick – an EG Jansen boy had dummied instead of passing when running up the wing, or Lwazi, a Maria Louw boy had given a slightly better pass to Lambie – a Michaelhhouse boy – who probably overran the ball slightly. Or if my auntie had balls (she doesn’t or she would be my uncle) … can carry on all day. In exactly the same way as we should when discussing our schoolboy teams, we know that it is firstly a team game, so putting a name or face to a loss is wildly unfair, and secondly it is not as if the oke was playing with a 1/2 heart or anything. As much as us supporters wanted victory, Kyle and the Sharks wanted it 1000 times more. I hope each of these players get to win the CC at some stage, might be the only way to exorcise the ghosts …
The CC final – Ouch ! poor Kyle Cooper a GOB knocking the ball on 5M out – Cooper had an excellant game when he came on and had some good go forawrd drives – never mind Kyle GWD still proud of you
At last – this site is going national – getting bit tired of GW, Wville , College ,NW and Horsie verbally slogging in out
@All Black: I bought the last Oak display cabinet at Newlands. It was unused for such a long time and they needed the space, I used the shavings to smoke some Cape snoek, though I am sure that they can come to some temporary arrangement for the next year.
@BoishaaiPa: Love that chirp from Bog. Alien or not it is in Cape Town. Not to worry about any rust though, it will be back soon. Durban salt air is less abrasive. A bit concerned about all the youngsters coming through in the Cape though. Going to be a tough few years against WP.
@BOG: Dont worry Bog, The youngsters in the Cape that dont know the Cup that well is no older than 12 years and their Dads and Grandads have educated them well enough because they have seen it often enough!…Having been in the Cape for 30 times or so, the WP folks are quite use to it…Now If they have only seen it 4 times in 100 years like some other provinces I would have been worried!
@star: Sthi has been a regular starter ahead of Chippy this season. Sthi played really well. He had it a little easier than expected in the scrums because surprisingly Beerwinkel started ahead of Neethling Fouche but there must have been tremendous pressure applied by the big Bulls 2nd row. But what I have noticed is a real evening out of the scrums this year. Unlike at school, the bigger packs are not shoving the smaller guys off the ball anymore and the Bulls even took strain on their own put in with Province seeming to get the better of them. Sthi had a few good carries in the 1st half, not big carries but in the contact he went forward to hit the deck and set the next phase ahead of where he received the ball. A lot of the time it was big defence for which the WP forwards were earning credit.
@ Beet-How did Sithole do? It is interesting that he seems to be preferred to last years KZN captain ” Chippy” Oelofse.
@BoishaaiPa: The u19 final turned out to be the best match of the day. Unbelievable character shown by the WP boys who looked like a middleweight boxer that had been bashed into submission by a heavyweight. But somehow from somewhere they found the energy to deliver a knockout blow. I want to say Justin Geduld was MotM but so many boys put their bodies on the line in defence to make sure that Cup went back with them to the Cape.
@BoishaaiPa: The Sharks are shocking at PR. A few weeks back the Sharks u19 game against SWD was postponed and then moved to the outer field as well. A bunch of official at the entrances to KP stood around doing nothing. No one was interested in communcating with spectators who were entering the stadium. Ridiculous!
@BoishaaiPa: I hope that you have introduced an educational program in the Cape to present the younger generation with photos of the cup. It could be embarrassing if the cup is attacked as an alien.
@BOG: Apart from these 2 exceptional talents, Tim Swiel and Pollard will be in the mix at some stage in the near future as well, the former in my opinion being the most gifted of the lot.
Agreed, the weather has been bad for some time and surely the logistics should have been in place for this possible move of venue. Kudus with the win though, testimony to the good work currently done at junior levels in the WC.
Beet, I know you must still be hurting after Saturday, but when can we expect a decent match report for the u/19 Finals? I nearly got a heart attack when the game was moved and not shown on TV. You will not know how I cursed Durban, the weather, Kingspark, Strauli and everything to do with Natal rugby because they moved the game to the B-field!….I spoke to Freddie’s dad on the phone who at 11:30 was standing in front of the Kingspark gates and did not know the game moved!…I am actually more pissed off at Supersport for they knew there was a possibility of the match being moved and could at least get one camera over to the B-field and record the match..Sadly, I will not be able to see the game at all now!.
@HORSEFLY NO.1: 55 mtrs? Goodness me! In rugby terms, that is a pitching wedge at international level. On a good day, Goosen has put them over from 67 mtrs, and that is secondary to his playing skills.(Its on Youtube- GCB vs Paul Roos) No, by grace and good health, I believe that he will become an alltime great- internationally! As I said, we will see level playing fields in the first 1-2 months of S14 plus the Kings.
@BOG:
i guess SA is very lucky to have two of those’one that comes around every ten yrs’ kind of players because Lambie is definitely one. once Lambie can kick from 55m Goosen will have nothing on him
@BOG: Lambie does not shy away from the rough stuff. Did you see him yesterday? He puts in the tackles and hit’s the rucks when neccessary. He’s an all round flyhalf with the full skill set PLUS an uncanny ability to read the game.
@HORSEFLY NO.1: Have you only recently started the game called rugby? I am not saying that Lambie is useless, but having watched Goosen from primary school level, he is not just a good and skillful player. He is a rare talent, one that comes around every ten yrs and I was privilaged two see 2 such players(along with Serfontein)in the same team. He is “injury prone” because he puts his body on the line. For the first few yrs, at least, he should restrain himself,(like the other FHs do- Naas Botha took it to the extreme) but that should settle. And I guess the first month or two of next yrs S15, should provide some answers.
@BOG:
i rate Lambie as a better all round player than Johan Goosen, also a lot less injury prone. im also not too sure that Goosen can pass the ball really :grin:
till Lambie gets his proper chance i guess we will never really know whos better at international level
@GreenBlooded: Just one minor obstacle in his way- its called Johan Goosen. And unlike Naas Botha, he can tackle and knows the name of his inside centre. What is more, Lambie will feel a “little uncomfortable” :razz: :razz:
between Reinach/Van Zyl, Venter, Steyn, Jordaan, Serfontein in one or two years time(in green) Otherwise, I just hope that the people in Cape Town dont think that the cup is a UFO
@GreenBlooded:
)
yeah Pat did have a good game and i think his kicking for poles has improved massively in the past year which is good because he did have that habit of missing his first kick before kicking them over. ood to see hes over that. i think the Sharks are really missing Bissie though. some of those throws were horrible. i also think that Plum shouldnt have changed Jannie, scrum disintergrated after that. also, Odwa ndungane and Jean Deysel should have started. lwazi and willem are not in their best form.
lastly, i wish heyneke would have Etzebeth and Bresler play together for the boks(not just Bresler is a dhs old boy
@HORSEFLY NO.1: Haha – nice dig Horsey.
Yup, quite simply WP were more hungry for the win last night and deserved the win. Still think that Patrick Lambie had an excellent game. He reminds me of Naas Botha – a great ability to read the game, turn up in the right spot at the right time, see the attacking opportunities and keep a cool head. I think he is going to be one of the greatest 10’s we have ever seen. Let’s hope SARU look after him and he doesn’t dissappear to some French or Japanese club. That would be sad.
Way too many handling errors for the Sharks!! their lineouts were also dominated and i felt they werent creative enough on attack which was what they needed! also, 16 MISSED TCKLES IN A FINAL LIKE THIS IS ABSOLUTELY HORRIBLE!!!
Dreadful performance by them as opposed to a very good one ny Province!
Kyle Copper why????? that last moment
i guess you shouldnt ever expect much from Glenwood oldboys should you??
@Bog As I’m reading your comment another OG Marcel vd Merwe goes down with a painful injury. Sad. He was in good form
@beet: You are right Beet, but I hope that you are not suggesting that they are sissies(LOL) Years ago, you could not tell the difference between the surfaces of the parade ground and the outer rugby and cricket fields.Things have certainly changed and I laugh when I hear visitors complain about the hardness of the fields.I recall (in August) standing at the posts on the one side and not being able to see the posts at the other end.We used to say-“Here comes Welkoms mine dumps” Perhaps they should practice on the tennis courts to “toughen up”
@star: No, most of the body parts increase in size, particularly the area in front of the anatomy, just above the belt.I hope you enjoyed the cricket at Michaelmas week? I did. The U 14 s who you enquired about, have come of age.
@BOG: I actually wanted to write about the unusually high number of injuries that members of the Grey 2010 backline had since leaving school. Goosen is the obvious one that springs to mind but Dries Swanepoel (who missed most of 2010 with injury) has suffered 2 crippling injuries since arriving at the Bulls and even a reliable player like wing Inus Kayser who is at FS suffered from a long term injury that kept him out for most of 2011. Then the likes of WSS, Serf, Isbell have all had their share of injuries since 2010 ended.
@ Bog- I thought that if you got to a certain age the ” body parts” fall off of their own accord. Feels like old times although “we are black, we are white” and never Grey. Sorry just got caught up in the Final fever.
@beet: Despite all the “exchange” of body parts, my brain(and senses) have remained in tact. That of course means that I am still a Cheetah supporter. I know that many will say that this is the clearest proof that I lost it.If things continue as they are,, there will be more OGs in other franchises, which is going to test my loyalty, but also make a switch easier.As happy as I am to see that Jordaan is making advances in Durban, I am concerned about all the centres in Pretoria and that with a FS coach. Things are certainly looking up for 2013. I am not close to the rugby there, but I do hope that the coach who joined in the second half of the season,will be back. I think that he made a difference.
@BOG: Hey. Welcome Bog.
Andre told me that you were now a lady on the 365 blog. Next year promised to be another Greyt year for your school, so I thought you were maybe saving your fingers and/or thumbs for a lot of typing/texting in 2013.
Welcome Bog. Glad to see you managed to read my message on 365 before Oom Paul removed it. Thankfully that doesn’t happen here…………yet.
So, Beet this is where you have been hiding! I was provoked into making comments at 365 which led to a banning order. I was then required to undergo a sex change which allowed me to make a come-back there, albeit as a woman. Rather a drastic step to comment on SBR.I am happy that I found someone in Botshabello, who was able to re-attach the lost/amputated body parts, “lost” in the procedure and here I/we are in our former glory. Back to the rugby. I am happy to see that the number of “grey sharks” are gradually increasing again. Particularly Jordaan. How many times did I not tell you that he should be in the mix? And Reinach? What a find? It would not surprize me at all if both are in the squad for the EOYT
Nice to see a mix of schools with some of the lesser known rugby schools in the mix. It just shows that good talent will win through.
Good stuff Beet – great to have this info
GO SHARKS !!!!