A curdling Currie Cup showing

Former Springbok rugby captain John Smit, now a TV commentator, best summed up Saturday’s Currie Cup marathon, 100-minute rugby final between the Bulls and the Sharks by commenting wryly: “It wasn’t a pretty game…”

Some of the most entertaining parts of the tense encounter came other than from the rugby itself.

Firstly, referee Jaco Peyper was in top form with his on-field chirps, picked up by broadcast microphones.

Sharks scrumhalf Jaden Hendrikse was unnecessarily vocal in pointing out areas Peyper should look out for.

“You’ve got a lot of advice for your first Currie Cup,” Peyper chirped as SuperSport commentators Matt Pearce and Hanyani Shimange bellowed with laughter on air.

Then, towards the end, Peyper had a bit of advice of his own for one of the country’s most respected rugby figures in Bulls captain Duane Vermeulen.

“Duane, you know from playing for the Springboks … you used to hate it when New Zealand did that,” he said.

And then there was Mother Nature.

Lightning in the Pretoria area saw everyone ordered off the Loftus Versfeld pitch for a while.

The record, which is more important than the beauty, shows the Bulls bashed out an unattractive 26-19 win.

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