Lions and Cheetahs to face off in Currie Cup final
Xerox Golden Lions vs Toyota Cheetahs in Currie Cup final.
Xerox Golden Lions will travel to Bloemfontein to face their old rivals in the Free State, The Toyota Cheetahs.
It is expected that this will be a cat fight of note as both teams are in dire need of lifting the Currie Cup on Saturday.
The final of the Currie Cup will take place on September 7 in Bloemfontein at 5pm.
The Lions booked their place in the top two in the first semi-final as they held on in a hard-fought clash against a spirited Tafel Lager Griquas outfit in Johannesburg for a 34-19 victory, while a late charge by log-leaders Cheetahs saw them overturn a 20-11 half-time deficit against the Cell C Sharks for a 51-30 victory.
This Saturday’s final will mark the Cheetahs’ first appearance in the grand finale since 2016, while the Lions will have a shot at the title for the first time since 2015.
The Lions will run out in their 22nd Currie Cup final and will do so in the not so unfamiliar royal blue jersey to commemorate 130 years of domestic rugby.
It might sound strange, but a blue jersey is not that foreign to the men from Johannesburg. Originally, Transvaal wore dark blue and white jerseys, blue shorts and blue-and-white socks. It is not exactly clear when the colour change occurred to the now familiar red and white. However, it is believed that beating a touring British Isles team in 1903 may have been the defining moment to switch to red and white, with black and gold added subsequently.
When the union celebrated it’s 125 years in 2014, a commemorative blue jersey also saw the light.
The Golden Lions Rugby Union (GLRU), formerly known as the Transvaal Rugby Union, changed to the Lions in 1993, then to the Gauteng Lions in 1997, before being rebranded the Golden Lions in 1998. More recently the name again changed, this time to Lions Rugby Company, which manages the professional side of the game while GLRU name is still used for Amateur Rugby.
The Currie Cup is steeped in history and tradition and dates back to 1889 and as such is one of the oldest rugby competitions in the world. The tournament has always been regarded as the cornerstone of South Africa’s rugby heritage, and the coveted gold trophy remains the most prestigious prize in South African domestic rugby.
The competition had its humble beginnings as an inter-town competition in 1884, but when the South African Rugby Board was founded in 1889 it decided to organise a national competition that would involve representative teams from all the major unions. The participating unions were Western Province, Griqualand West, Transvaal and Eastern Province. The first tournament was held in Kimberley and was won by Western Province. As a prize, they received a silver cup donated by the South African Rugby Board, now displayed at the SA Rugby Museum in Cape Town.
The Currie Cup Trophy
When the first overseas team to tour South Africa stepped ashore in 1891, they carried with them a particularly precious bit of cargo. Among the bags, boots and balls was a golden cup given to the British Isles squad by Sir Donald Currie, owner of Union-Castle Lines, the shipping company that transported them to the southern tip of Africa. The gold trophy was donated by Sir Donald Currie in 1891 before the arrival of the touring British Isles team. Currie was clear with his instructions – hand this trophy over to the team in South Africa that gives you the best game and after a spirited display, Griqualand West became the first-ever holders of the Currie Cup. To this day the trophy remains the holy grail of South African rugby. They then donated the trophy to the rugby board, and it became the prize for the Currie Cup competition. The inaugural Currie Cup tournament was held in 1892 with Western Province as the first winners. (Credit: GLRU)
