Currie Cup final: Not much to separate Lions and Sharks

Saturday’s Currie Cup final between the home team, the Lions, and the visitors from Durban, the Sharks, will be just the sixth time the teams meet in the grand final of the oldest provincial rugby competition in the world.

And while the Lions will be playing on home soil, to go with topping the points table at the end of the regular season, to be regarded the hot favourites, the Sharks are not to be underestimated.

The Lions lost just once in their 10 league matches, to the Sharks, and at Ellis Park, on July 27. The visitors outscored the Lions four tries to three on that day to win 35-22 to kick-start their season.

The Durbanites thus know they can match and beat the Lions, on their home turf, and they’ll also enter the match in the knowledge they got the better of the Bulls at Loftus in last week’s semi-final, though the clash ended 40-all, after extra time.

The Lions, for their part and despite dominating the competition in the latter stages of the regular season, snuck past the Cheetahs 43-34.

Five previous finals

History also tells us there’s not much between the Lions and Sharks when it comes to the Currie Cup final.
Natal (the Sharks) shocked the then Transvaal 14-13 in their first final meeting at Ellis Park in 1992, just for Transvaal to get their revenge the next year, in Durban, when they beat Natal 21-15.

Three years later in 1996, the Sharks again triumphed at Ellis Park, winning 33-15, proving yet again they don’t fear the highveld or playing in Doornfontein.

The Lions though have enjoyed superiority over the Sharks in the teams’ last two meetings – in 1999, winning 32-9 in Durban and in 2011, winning 42-16 at Ellis Park.

This weekend, the Lions will be gunning for just their 12th Currie Cup title, their last coming in 2015, while the Sharks are hunting a ninth title, their last victory coming in 2018.

It will be interesting to see who the respective coaches pick in their matchday squads this weekend – will they stick with the men who did the business last weekend or bring in a few more senior, United Rugby Championship players, especially with that competition getting underway for the South Africans teams next weekend?