SA’s ailing asset
18 Sep 2012
RYAN VREDE writes the Currie Cup has completely lost its prestige and is now no more than a platform for some young players to stake a claim for a Super Rugby contract.
I’ve watched every round of the tournament and have been completely uninspired. Certainly there are a handful of promising young players emerging, but overall the standard is decidedly mediocre for what used to be South Africa’s showpiece tournament. This of course has been the case for some time, but the quality on offer in 2012 is the lowest it has been in years, even with the current six-team format.
South Africans often boast of their bountiful player resources. This country is undoubtedly blessed in that regard, by quantity doesn’t translate to quality if the Currie Cup is an indication.
The quality will rise in the closing rounds of the league phase when the Springboks return and reach its climax in the playoffs. This is what South Africans will have to become used to – two and a half months of mediocrity followed by an injection of quality for a couple of weeks.
An extended Super Rugby tournament has contributed in part to this. The wizards at the South African Rugby Union who negotiated the Super Rugby deal did so at the expense of the world’s oldest domestic competition. This made financial sense to them, of course, as there was more cash to be made from broadcasting revenue and commercial opportunities that arose from Super Rugby than there were for the Currie Cup. Australia, with no domestic competition to rival South Africa or New Zealand, shafted their partners in the negotiation and emerged as the big winner, with more Australia derbies and a guaranteed team in the play-offs despite having the weakest conference.
More teams will be accommodated in Super Rugby in 2015, which is likely to mean the tournament cutting deeper into August. Where will that leave the Currie Cup? Will we see a one-round, five match league phase followed by semi-finals and a final? It would certainly heighten the stakes and make for more entertaining viewing, albeit not because of the quality of the product. Some club-standard players will continue to give their mates reason to toast with their TV cameos, when those players should have been watching from their couches. But this is what the Currie Cup has become – the playground of the ordinary.
There is no immediate solution on the horizon. There is no way Sanzar will trim Super Rugby to pit only the very best teams against each other and in so doing reducing the time it takes to complete the tournament. In an ideal world I’d have a Super 10 that starts in early February and finishes 11 weeks later, with a one-round, six-team Currie Cup commencing thereafter. If, for example, Western Province host the Sharks in 2012, they will travel to Kings Park in 2013.
This would allow Springboks players to compete in the Currie Cup before the June Tests. The game’s most important assets – the players and supporters – win, with a higher quality product and roughly the same amount of game time.
This is a pipe dream. The tournament that was once the pride of a nation is being reduced to rubble, serving as no more than an opportunity for aspirant young bucks to impress their coaches. So sad.
Follow Ryan on Twitter
Follow SA Rugby magazine on Twitter
614 Comments
Pages: [1] 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 … 13 » Show All
18 Sep 2012, 08:36 am
I also watch emotionally unattached just hoping to spot the youngsters that may make it in Superrugby.
18 Sep 2012, 08:37 am
Talking shyyyt, Dragon!!!!!
18 Sep 2012, 08:37 am
Bitter dragon
. Just because the Lions are doing well. I bet any South African rugby player will experience more emotion winning the Currie Cup than Super Rugby.
18 Sep 2012, 08:40 am
Was the standard any higher when the Bulls were sweeping everything aside or when the Lions won it last year in a RWC year?, suddenly when it’s highly likely that the Bulls are going for promotion/relegation game against the the Kings, now the standard is poor, nonsense I say.
This currie cup has proved a defining moment for WP, no more Duvenage wasting our ball, Groom is here
18 Sep 2012, 08:44 am
Divide the Super Rugby into domestic and international phases.
Call the domestic phase the Currie Cup top 6 unions to play.
Top 3 teams on the log play the top 3 teams from Oz and New Zealand.
Players get a decent break between the RC and the EOYT.
18 Sep 2012, 08:47 am
@gunther-5: I find it strange that last year I was the lone voice in saying the CC mustn’t be played in a RWC year, that a new competition played every 4 years is commenced.
18 Sep 2012, 08:51 am
@XhosaKid-6:
WC year or not.
It doesn’t matter.
Besides you were just sad that the Lions put your Bok laden stormers team out on its ***.
There is a pdivvie quota thread.
I’ll see you there.
18 Sep 2012, 08:56 am
@gunther-7: PDV quota thread??, BTW, I called for the new “Challege Cup” long before the Lions or any team made it to the play-offs, who won the CC in 2007?, I suspect that Bulls will be winning the 2015 ” Challenge Cup”
18 Sep 2012, 08:58 am
@Lions_Soutie-3:
agreed.
i am reinvesting my emotions right back into the cc and salute the lions efforts so far, since last season and this season, which is pretty good by them considering the kak going on behind the scenes.
am working on proposals to make to the unions and saru with ideas on geeting the crowds back to a wonderful comp.
18 Sep 2012, 09:07 am
The window to play the currie cup is getting smaller and soon superrugby will kill it.
The small unions will be the big losers, fark them, those amateur schmucks will get what is coming to them – death by lack of funding.
As long as the big city unions are there to plunder and rape the small guys (and each other) and play top class rugby who cares about the Currie Cup – it will probably be incorporated into superrugby.
18 Sep 2012, 09:28 am
S15 can be amended so that the two leg derby rounds are completed before the inter-conference leg begins. This will be the new Currie Cup, with full strength squads & points earned also count toward the S15 log (to prevent teams from resting players)
18 Sep 2012, 09:33 am
Have to blame saru here, they sold our beloved currie cup down the river. Super Rugby is way, way too long should only ever be 12 teams and really should be completed by end of May. That way our players would be ready for Test Rugby, rested and prepared. We would have a far better Currie Cup as well. This time of year our Test Rugby should have been completed already, with Bok players returning to Currie Cup and the excitement would only really be starting now. Instead our Currie Cup is looking more like a Vodacom Cup, that is a shame, the best and oldest domestic competition ruined by saru’s greed.
18 Sep 2012, 09:35 am
Lets be clear about this……I cannot remember the Bulls being as rubbish, which is even more worrying as the CC is completely kak.
some oke above posted that SA players would be happier to win the CC than the superrugby trophy.
what absolute shite.
The Bulls on their CC charge of 2002 – included many boks with the superrugby and trinations both being shorter competitions. Hell, even the bulls 2009 win vs cheetahs was a test match calibre starting 15 on the park.
how does the promotion/relegation actually work anyway? Is there a play off game? not that I really care because player wise there is a huge bonus to not being on form and in the CC 1st division. Basically, none of your players will get selected for the end of year tour which gives your entire squad a proper rest and recuperration period before superrugby.
As I see it, being relegated buys your union almost 2 seasons of good player management….obviously the union loses some cash but then, I did say BUYS you time.
18 Sep 2012, 09:37 am
If it is the integrity of the currie cup that needs saving, by that I mean a tournament featuring springboks.
Then I would like to see an FA cup-style straight knockout competition played between the RC & EOYT(october).
But I would also like to add that I personally have enjoyed the currie cup more than any other tournament the last couple of years.
I enjoy clubstandard players, as Ryan calls them, playing with a hell of a lot more passion than some capped springboks.
I like it when some these young guns make some supposed superstars look silly .
I enjoy it just as much when these young guns get schooled by an experienced player.
The CC has got it all and if you cant see that Ryan, then why are you even watching?
18 Sep 2012, 09:40 am
Are the Boks playing in the currie cup this year? The last Bok game is on the 6 October. The last currie cup game if I am not mistaken is 13th October. Not enough time for them to fit in.
18 Sep 2012, 09:40 am
What is Ryan Vrede talking about, the Blue Bulls v Griquas match on Saturday was far more entertaining then the Dunedin fiasco where mediocrity truly shone.
18 Sep 2012, 09:55 am
Lions and Sharks sitting level points at the top of the CC like last year… And suddenly the standard is “ordinary”… Why?
Is it maybe because the North South “Traditional Powers” of SA rugby not ruling the roost with their one two mortarbomb or no try game respectively ?
I think so.
CC this year has been intriguing, with any team being able to beat the other on any given Saturday. A good competition so far.
18 Sep 2012, 09:57 am
@RL-10:
not on my watch.
18 Sep 2012, 10:07 am
i have thoroughly enjoyed watching the cc this year.
seriaas.
and i will watch it every weekend because i am not of the belief that the fringe boks or young talents that we see in the cc are deserving of the bs that ryan spins.
ffs, there are about 30 players missing from the cc and suddenly the 200 or so playing in the cc are k u k?
what a load of sh it.
probably ryans sour grapes because the wp thugs were soundly beaten on the weekend.
18 Sep 2012, 10:07 am
RYAN VREDE writes the Currie Cup has completely lost it’s prestige and is now no more than a platform for some young players to stake a claim for a Super Rugby contract.
And it took you 8 years to figure this out?
18 Sep 2012, 10:09 am
Come on boys….the lions are doing well and winning games.
that is the complete opposite to their superrugby form.
that says everything withregards to the standard of their CC.
sure, enjoy the competition and the wins.
But do not confuse that with the calibre of player and rugby on offer.
18 Sep 2012, 10:11 am
@rangerman-19:
you need to take into account the number of players out injured as well after superrugby.
I’d say that there is closer to 50-60 quality players out.
18 Sep 2012, 10:12 am
Vrede you talk KAK my man. You are just p*ssed because YOUR team are looking staid, devoid of ideas and being blown to pieces.
The CC has been FAR more entertiaing than a large portion of the S15 this year AND 90% of the Sprinbok efforts to date. To see real, skillful backline play, attacking intent and even offloads! It is heaven watching the CC compared to the Boks at the moment. Granted defence seems less of a concern for a lot of the teams but if that is the common failing, then so be it. It still makes for much more entertaining rugby, when a team is concerned with scoring NOT praying for a penalty to sneak a win or a draw.
I do agree that CC has been shafted by SARU but to denigrate the players is, frankly, ludicrous. The majority of those playing CC now played in THIS YEAR’s S15 (injuries to a crop of the latter notwithstanding), how are they all useless youngsters all of a sudden? (Jantjies, Daniel, Deysel, Ndugane Twins, Brussow, Coenie, Taute, VERMEULEN, Ludik etc. etc.). The injection of 22 Springboks will NOT change the quality of the entire tournament… if that was the case how did the LIons WIN it last year, with the knock-out stages populated with all the returning Springboks?
Ryan stop conflating your rage at having a poor CC team with a slip in standards of this WONDERFUL, though severely trimmed down tournament. The fact that the crowds have been poor says nothing of the quality of play and everything about the complete OVERLOAD of rugby we have at the moment…. S15 attendance this year was also DOWN in SA and if the Boks continue on their dour path, expect less than full stadiums next year too.
18 Sep 2012, 10:17 am
@rangerman-19: Thugs is the right word… For too long, the Bulls and Stormers have been getting away with these “intimidation” tactics (nothing more than cowardly dumfck play) by SA refs in Super rugby and CC… For once refs/linesmen acted on this… The result – 15 men against 12… When last did any team have 3 men sent off? A farken disgrace…
This “traditoinal” ref leniency to the “traditional powers” is a real cause of the fckups at Test level as Greyling so clearly demonstrated on the weekend… But what Greyling did was nothing out of the ordinary that he and the other 8 of his mates, as well as the 8 from the other Southern “traditional power” get away with week in and week out in Super rugby and CC when reffed by SA refs.
A level playing field and less one eye in refs results in these disgraces we see.
18 Sep 2012, 10:21 am
@rangerman-19:
agreed, absolutely. its been great and has seen some classy matches to date.
as frustratinog as the bulls have been in some of their crappier games they’ve also played some really exciting rugby in their better matches.
and i would say goes across the board for all the unions with griekwas especially putting in a fairytale effort. if anything i would like to see the premier division increased to an 8 or 10 team format.
18 Sep 2012, 10:22 am
@Heavens Game-17:
agreed.
its quality and is in fact far from decided yet.
18 Sep 2012, 10:23 am
@PissAnt-20: There is a direct correlation between Vrede’s sudden moment of clraity and the Bulls demise, in fact I would hasten to say its perfect R or rather -1
18 Sep 2012, 10:23 am
@Rooibaard2000-23:
again, i agree.
18 Sep 2012, 10:24 am
The Currie Cup is the NZ equivalent to the ITM Cup as far as I can tell.
You may argue it is more important, has more depth, has better standards yadda yada yada.
But it is at the end of the day, a provincial competition that employs players with skills generally below the standard required at S15 level.
It does not mean the Rugby being played is less enjoyable for fans. If anything the games can be more exciting, because the level of defense is less honed and more things happen.
The ITM Cup has a place and long may it last, but it will never ever be the old NPC, which is the ITM Cup by a different name.
The Currie Cup will continue, but at a different level from what it was 20 years ago. Unlike running boards on cars which disappeared through irrelevance.
18 Sep 2012, 10:25 am
@Brigadier Van Zyl-21: Especially the “calibre of player and rugby on offer” from the Bulls?
The calibre of rugby is pretty damn good, and certainly a lot more imaginative and watchable than calibre shown by the Boks since a couple of separate halves against England now long ago.
18 Sep 2012, 10:31 am
@XhosaKid-27:
ryan is not a bulls supporter.
18 Sep 2012, 10:31 am
@Brads-29:
exactly
@Heavens Game-30:
wrong, the enjoyment level is good….the calibre is shite.
18 Sep 2012, 10:36 am
@Brads-29: What you say demonstrates the difference between Currie Cup and the NZ domestic competition already… The fact that the NPC has changed name to the ITM Cup indicates that it is not as valued in NZ as the CC is in SA…
The ITM/NPC might be the next level down to Super rugby in NZ like the CC in SA, BUT the ITM cup is NOTHING like the Currie Cup in terms of its value for respective supporters in terms of tradition or rivalry… The CC is peerless in this regard and long may it continue.
You might have an ABSA placed before the CC, but I doubt the Currie Cup will be replaced with any sponsor name…
It is highly valued contrary to what some fool writers might put down in a sudden itch on a blog, or how ANZACs now value domestic comps… Not very much in comparison.
18 Sep 2012, 10:40 am
@XhosaKid-27:
Well obviously he is not aware that the CC viewership numbers for 2012 is actually up from 2011…
18 Sep 2012, 10:45 am
I reckon if we didn’t have Super Rugby and just had the Varsity Cup, Vodacom Cup and Currie Cup domestically and the Incoming Tour, Rugby Championship and the EOYT our game would improve tenfold.
How I miss the hype around the Currie Cup Semi and Final.
18 Sep 2012, 10:45 am
@Brigadier Van Zyl-32: I say wrong again… That is illogical.
Both Cheetahs and Lions are the same sides nearly who played Super Rugby. Griquas have lifted their level to compete… Sharks and WP have a few Super rugby players probably better than a couple of current Boks and decent youngsters coming through…
And the fabled Bulls depth packed with up and coming players who not so long ago were touted as Bok options such as Stander, Serfontein and even Brummer…
And yet you say the calibre is shy.te…?
Irrational.
I suspect the “shy.teness” of calibre is directly proportional to the Bulls position on the log more than anything else.
18 Sep 2012, 10:46 am
@Heavens Game-33:
What utter tosh.
Yes, the “Currie Cup” may never disappear, but you do not have the vision or farsighted gifts to know that the name will never change to the Coca Cola Currie Cup, Panasonic Currie Cup or God Knows what Currie Cup.
The name doesn’t make the competition.
But I will say this here and now.
The Currie Cup is the Premier domestic competition in SA.
It is however the 3rd tier of rugby played in SA.
18 Sep 2012, 10:49 am
@Rooibaard2000-23: Good post… And the enthusiasm for the CC by many SA supporters and its importance to SA should anger everyone that much more about SARUs willingness to sacrifice it on the altar of ANZAC expediency.
18 Sep 2012, 10:51 am
@Jeraldjay-35:
Where are these incoming tours supposed to come from.
Kenya, japan, Cook Islands….
All the top teams are already committed.
SA can’t operate in isolation of the rest of the Rugby world, cherry picking the best from the past and what is working today.
18 Sep 2012, 10:55 am
@Brads-37: My point was that the name CURRIE CUP will never be dropped… It is too important to SA rugby fans for that… Sponsors too like the association with a century old brand…
In comparison there is what? NPC, now ITM?
NOT even close to THE Currie Cup chap… You sometimes myopic Kiwis dont realise how much more important the CC is to SA supporters than the NPC/Whatever new name or whatever the Aussies may have.
It irritates honest supporters to have you fools even compare them… In some ways the CC can be more important than Super Rugby, especially the Semis and Final…
There is probably more rivalry there than half a season of Super Rugby put together…
18 Sep 2012, 10:57 am
@Brads-39:
The Incoming tour will come from one of the 6 nations as it does every year during June.
18 Sep 2012, 10:57 am
@Jeraldjay-35: The Currie Cup semis and final are still hyped… Its just that certain teams havent reached the final for a such long long time for some supporters to actually remember it.
18 Sep 2012, 10:59 am
@Heavens Game-38:
You are missing the point here.
If all the good innovative Rugby on display in the Currie Cup is not being picked up by South Africa’s S15 franchises, why is that the fault of the S15 competition.
You appear to be suggesting SA would be better off withdrawing from the S15 and muster their attack on the RC from the CC competition alone?
Is that your stance?
18 Sep 2012, 11:01 am
So the CC is fine and healthy as long as it’s all about the WP Blou Bulle rivalry? As soon as they falter, it’s gone down the drain?
This site needs to diversify its “writing” talent, and if that means retrenchments then so be it.
18 Sep 2012, 11:04 am
@Heavens Game-42:
Was at the Currie final at Kings Park in 2000.
I remember that game quite fondly even though its 12 years ago.
18 Sep 2012, 11:05 am
@Heavens Game-40:
So you are saying the name will never ever ever be prefaced by the name of a sponsor.
18 Sep 2012, 11:09 am
@Brads-43: No… You are being ridiculous and totally missing my point…
Let me be explicit: The Currie Cup is more important to Saffas than the Domestic comps of both Aus and NZ ot their supporters…
The passionate rivalry and naked provincialism of the Currie Cup is unrivalled… Still.
This provincialism can be a weakness for SA as demonstrated by Meyer giving more leeway to players he knows intimately from the Bulls setup over more in form and possibly superior players from other Provinces.
However this rivalry can also be a strength.
Now try see past your All Black obsessed myopia and realise that Rugby in some other countries is not just about the National Side or Super Rugby “franchises”… If not, then stop disrespecting the Currie Cup with a legacy and tradition stretching back more than a century.
18 Sep 2012, 11:10 am
@Brads-46: Chrissakes…
18 Sep 2012, 11:11 am
@Jeraldjay-41:
So mid year tours by 6N teams for 3 or 4 weeks, and back to S15 is good for you?.
While Aus, NZ, Arg etc battle it out at a level of magnitude above CC level.
That is like forced isolation in reverse.
18 Sep 2012, 11:12 am
@Jeraldjay-45:
… Good man
Pages: [1] 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 … 13 » Show All
Have your say
You must be logged in to post a comment.