Something had to give in the overcrowded rugby calendar in SA‚ and that something is the Currie Cup. SA Rugby announced the fixtures for the 127-year-old tournament on Monday showing that the seven teams making up the premier division of the competition will only play a single round of pool fixtures. They will play only six matches before the semifinals‚ doing away with a home and away round-robin. While there are obvious benefits in taking a less-is-more approach as well as easing the burden on players‚ it is unbalancing the format‚ as some teams will have tougher away schedules than others. But in a competitive market‚ with player welfare and commercial considerations to balance as the tournament overlaps with the Rugby Championship and PRO14 as well as doing away with poorly attended and poorly viewed midweek games‚ it was a logical step. The seven teams that participated in the competition last season — champions Western Province‚ the Sharks‚ Golden Lions‚ Blue Bulls‚ Free State...
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