GAVIN RICH: Lacklustre Currie Cup needs some spit and polish

The Currie Cup final marked the official end of the SA domestic season and in terms of what was dished up for the spectators it was a good game to finish with.

For once there were no cards that influenced the outcome or flow of the game, and there were no driving maul tries in the Bloemfontein decider between the Cheetahs and the Pumas. The second Cheetahs try was set up by a good maul but the ball had been moved down the line by the time it was dotted down.

This may be an indication of good maul defence from both sides, but it also pointed to good discipline. The game was superbly handled by referee Cwengile Jadezweni, who was handling his second Currie Cup final and is fast emerging as the next best to Jaco Peyper. He has a calm and efficient yet firm way about him, he is decisive and he put a quick stop to any potential for tetchy moments in the game to blow up.

But while the game was well refereed and a pulsating, entertaining match-up between two determined teams that threw all the emotion you would expect for a final into their respective efforts, I did wonder during it and afterwards how many others experienced it in the way I did.

I wasn’t working on the game and watched at a friend’s in Durban, with a few people connected with the sport present. Though everyone was appreciative of the fare dished up, it felt like everyone was drifting in and out of the game, with conversation moving repeatedly to topics that had nothing to do with what we were watching.

Within 10 minutes of the final whistle sounding the final was not referenced again. Of course, Cheetahs and Pumas supporters wouldn’t have had that experience. To them it would have felt like a typical Currie Cup final, with tension high and complete engagement with the game.

Deflecting interest

There would have been much emotion from both sets of supporters afterwards, with the Cheetahs fans this time experiencing the joy that the Pumas fans did when their side beat Griquas in Kimberley in last year’s final.

But the absence of a long history of rivalry at this stage of the competition between the two competing teams would have played a role in deflecting the interest of neutrals. And that sums up the Currie Cup as a competition in its modern incarnation.

Even if one of the top four provinces had made the final, the knowledge that they were fielding a second string team would have prevented the level of engagement there was in most of the historical encounters highlighted by SuperSport in the build-up. It has been a long time since the Currie Cup was seen as the pinnacle of local rugby achievement, but just lately, with the United Rugby Championship (URC) franchises having to divide their attention and resources too many ways, it has definitely swung even more in the direction of being a development competition, like the old Vodacom Cup, than it already was.

There is a lot that is positive about the competition if you see it as what it is. It is hard to disagree with Sharks Currie Cup coach Joey Mongalo that Ireland should be envious. They would love to have a similar vehicle to broaden the playing base in that country. So would most other nations. Much raw talent is coming through in SA, and the Currie Cup contributes hugely to the production line.

Better idea

But it is also hard to disagree with those who wonder whether it should continue to be known as the Currie Cup, given that the modern competition is now so different to what it was. I think it was Gert Smal, who was coaching the Bulls but won the competition twice as coach of Western Province and several times as a player, who said last year that the trophy should be put in a museum.

Perhaps that is going a bit far. A local administrator might have come up with a better idea in a recent conversation — the other 10 teams should play an extended competition, with the top four in that competition then joining the four URC teams in a condensed Currie Cup main event, possibly played to a knock-out format.

Then there would be more chance of the ultimate winner being recognised as the top team in the country, and there would be less chance of the rugby public becoming disengaged with it when it reaches the deciding phase.

Finding time in the calendar would be an obstacle, as next year the URC will go back to being concluded in June. It was only completed in May this year because of the World Cup. But it is an alternative to the current format that is worthy of consideration and that, or something similar, may be a better option than putting the famous trophy into mothballs.