Today In history: Blue Bulls beat Western Province

Pretoria’s Blue Bulls beat Western Province 24–20 at Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria on 31 October 1998 to win the Currie Cup.

The Absa Currie Cup dates back to 1889 and is the premier domestic rugby competition in South Africa.

The iconic gold trophy was first presented to the South African provincial champions in 1892.

The trophy was donated by the owner of Castle Shipping, Sir Donald Currie, to WE Maclagan, captain of the first British Isles touring team on their departure for South Africa.

Currie instructed Maclagan that the trophy should be awarded to the first side to beat the tourists and thereafter become a floating trophy for the South African Inter-Provincial champions.

Although the tourists won all 19 of their matches, the cup was presented to Griqualand West, who had lost by only 3–0.

The Griquas in turn handed the trophy to the SA Rugby Board as per Currie’s instructions.

In the early years, there were no Cup finals with the team finishing at the top of the log being crowned champions.

The first ever Currie Cup final was played in 1939. During the early 1900s, the tournament was not played every year and it was also interrupted by the two world wars.

However, the competition has taken place every year from 1968 to the present day.

Information sourced from: South African History Online.