Sharks win ABSA Currie Cup final




© Gallo Images



Sharks win the Currie Cup whipping Western Province with a score of 33 - 19! Suffice to say, all us KZN folk are more than thrilled, especially so having beaten the lads in their own back yard! Western Province may have beaten us at home 3 weeks ago, robbing us of the chance of a home final, but alas, we won the game that mattered!

So I may be a little late on this in the online world (and the world of Sunday papers') but I'm still ahead of the week day papers right? SO that counts for something, ne? (I hope).

I'm not going to get into the nitty gritty because quite frankly, as much as I love the game of rugby, and our guys in black and white, I simply do not understand all the technicalities of the game. And whenever I think I might just be catching on, the rules of the game change (yet again).

So I'm just going to go into the basics (which is basically stating the obvious) and for more info there's a gazillion articles already published, and more to come this week...

The Sharks went into this game as underdogs and with everything counting against them. The fans were min with Western Province coming out in full force and ready to boo our boys in black and white at every chance. They were below Province in points... Basically, unless you were a Sharks fan, you had it pinned that Province was going to win this one. And even as a Shark's fan it was more just blind loyalty and hope that we would bring the cup home.

Patrick Lambie put the first points on the score board with a penalty. And Charl McLeod scored a beautiful try which was converted by Lambie to bring the score further along. However, Western Province made a comeback with their own converted try by Damien de Allende. They managed to pull another 2 penalties bringing their half time score to 13 with the Sharks at 19 thanks to a few more penalties by Lambie and a drop goal.

All in all  Province managed to pull in a couple more penalties that brought them up to 19. McLeod scored 2 tries. Lambie scored 5 penalties, 2 drop goals and 1 conversion. Lambie did manage to get us on our feet quite a bit by missing 3 penalties and a conversion. It was really annoying that he missed those, but seen as we won I'll give him some grace - he did manage to score when it mattered most and he redeemed himself with the 2 drop goals. so we forgive you Lambie, but please work harder so this doesn't happen again.

For some history...

Picture taken from the Sharks website of the Sharks after the 1990 Currie Cup win with the trophy.

The Sharks won their first Currie Cup in 1990 beating Northern Transvaal (I'm thinking these are the Blue Bulls) 18 - 12. This was their first win in years of strife and toil at Currie Cup level rugby - finally building their team and bringing it up to A-level. "That 1990 victory was the catalyst for further Currie Cup success, as McIntosh set about ensuring continuity that culminated in Natal being labelled the “team of the ‘90s” a decade later" - according to the Sharks website (which you can check out for more interesting info on the Sharks Currie Cup history: http://www.sharksrugby.co.za/general/content/currie-cup-history)

The Currie Cup itself is named after a dear bloke from Glasgow, Donald Currie. Strangely enough the first Currie Cup trophy was given to a cricket team! Who would have ever thought! I found this piece of info on the SA Rugby Stats website: "When the first foreign cricket team came to South Africa the following year, Sir Donald gave the captain, Major Warton, a cup to present to the team that played best against the tourists, with the intention that it become a floating trophy for inter-provincial competitions. This was the first Currie Cup."

"When the first overseas team to tour South Africa stepped ashore in 1891 they carried with them a particularly precious bit of cargo. Among the bags, boots and balls was a golden cup given to the British Isles squad by Sir Donald Currie, owner of Union-Castle Lines, the shipping company that transported them to the southern tip of Africa.

The gold trophy was donated by Sir Donald Currie in 1891 before the arrival of the touring British Isles team. Sir Donald was clear with his instructions — “hand this trophy over to the team in South Africa that gives you the best game” and after a spirited display, Griqualand West became the first ever holders of the Currie Cup.

The Currie Cup trophy was donated to the rugby board and it became the prize for the Currie Cup competition. To this day the trophy remains the holy grail of South African rugby." (Courtesy of SA Rugby Stats).

For more info on the history of the Currie Cup: http://sarugbystats.co.za/currie-cup-history/

Its all rather strange and super interesting info, I will be sure to read up more on it at some point. But for now -  THE SHARKS WON!!!! SHARKS FOREVER! BLACK & WHITE - NOTHING ELSE MATTERS! WOOHOOO!!! :D