Flyhalves Steyn, Bosch in the spotlight in Currie Cup final

Currie Cup finals have that special ability about them to grip the country and no-one can really say they sit on the fence.

On Saturday the Bulls will host the Sharks in this season’s final at Loftus – something which has become an historic event as it has never before taking place in January and never before in an empty stadium, and it will probably never happen like this again.

Despite the inclement weather, the Bulls are in prime position to complete the perfect double after they earlier clinched the Super Rugby Unlocked trophy. It’s tough to see the Sharks upstaging them in Pretoria.

But this final will be about so much more, with competitions like the Rainbow Cup, the Franchise Cup and the tour of the British and Irish Lions on the cards later in the year.

National Director of Rugby Rassie Erasmus and Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber will obviously be looking at the contest with different eyes to most of us.

With a view on the Lions tour the flyhalf debate has been one of the hotter topics with incumbent Bok pivot Handre Pollard still on the injured list.

It is of course hoped that Pollard will recover in time to wear that No 10 jumper in July. This, however, does not mean there are not other No 10s knocking at the door.

Despite his 36 years, Bulls flyhalf Morne Steyn has been the centre of attraction and he has seemingly lost little of his sound game management and his top-class goal-kicking ability.

His direct dual with the Sharks’ Curwin Bosch – who is 13 years younger than Steyn – should make for interesting viewing on Saturday.

Lions flyhalf Elton Jantjies though is still the official backup to Pollard and would be the logical replacement for Pollard if the latter were not available.

Jantjies though has taken some flak for his average performance in the semifinal of the Currie Cup last weekend at Loftus against the Bulls.

But in Jantjies’ defence, he has little to prove and has been on the top of his game for all of 10 years, and with the benefit of hindsight he didn’t always get the quality ball to work with at Loftus.

An additional benefit for Steyn is that the Bulls have managed him well over the last few months, with the very capable Chris Smith filling in on regular occasions. Steyn must still be very fresh.

With the flyhalf depth in the country as strong as it has been for a while, the debate about who is next in line to follow-up Pollard or stand-in if needed, is therefore far from settled.

Rudolph Jacobs

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