The Lions and Cheetahs got a decent hiding in their semifinal games, not because they are weaker or badly coached, but I believe the Sharks and WP players were just a little bit hungrier than their competitors.
The final between the Sharks and WP will be a brilliant game to watch. Both sides will have their full strength of Bok players back and this final is actually a Super rugby game. It is actually sad that players who carried the teams during the time when the Boks where away are not going to be selected for the final. Sad for many, but many would say the best team available must play.
SA players are over-played and they need serious rest periods to recover from small niggling injuries, which could end up as serious long term injuries. Millions of rands are spent yearly in the medical industry to ensure our national and provincial heroes are medically fit and cleared to compete.
All professional players must have an income protection insurance to cover them when they are injured. Most unions cover their player’s salaries for three months and then their income protection insurance will kick in to ensure they have salaries paid out. Some unions, maximum four, will cover players’ salaries for six months and then only their income protection will commence.
The Sharks, WP and Bulls look after their players very well, in this regard. It is also sad that many players, especially if they reach the end of their careers, abuse the system and submit false claims. The insurers are now very strict, and there is also an audit in process to find out which players are culprits of these fraudulent actions. Million and millions are paid out annually for claims.
Income protection insurance does not cover a player should he be banned due to foul play. This is also great, because players must think twice before they commit to dirty and illegal play. If this was covered players would not care if they were suspended for a period of time, because they would have earned their salaries.
Coming back to the Currie Cup final, I believe that the Sharks might just tip the scale in their favour due to their great pack of forwards. Maybe this could count against them, because the Boks in the sides might hold back as they do not want to be injured for the end of the year tour to the UK. This would be worth hundreds of thousands rands of lost of income.
