Success garnered at WC must create a base for the future

The Currie Cup has exploded onto the scene, and given the concurrence of the United Rugby Championship, the tournament is very much in the South African rugby consciousness.

At least that’s my evolving view.

Many will disagree but the nature of the start to this year’s Currie Cup season tells me there is reason to be enthusiastic that this will not be an “afterthought” when it comes to public interest, and it certainly won’t be an afterthought for the players and coaches.

The Cheetahs veterans Frans Steyn and Ruan Pienaar want to make one final statement in the Currie Cup, Griquas want to go one better than hosting last season’s final and Jimmy Stonehouse’s defending champions, the Pumas, want to prove that last season was no one-off history-making moment.

The Pumas want more silverware.

It has been a brilliant start for some and bizarre for others, with no one predicting Jake White’s Bulls would concede more than 100 points in their first two home matches.

Back-to-back Bulls defeats have got everyone talking, as has the nature of these defeats. They have been emphatic.

By default more than design, the Currie Cup has reclaimed its identity. The general interest is there because so many URC players remain involved when the tournament schedule does not overlap. The URC also finishes before the Currie Cup is completed, which makes for stronger squads in the play-offs.

In just two rounds, the emerging talent is obvious; a very young Western Province side has beaten a Bulls side stacked with URC players and the Pumas — last year’s champions — have gone two from two against Bulls and Lions sides that both play in competitions that feature among the best in Europe.

As much as Jake is insisting that all is good in Pretoria, the Bulls have now lost nine of their last 11 matches across three different tournaments. In many respects, the team beaten by Western Province’s kids was

It is no longer being treated as a developmental tournament, and the prospect of a rugby treble is too enticing to ignore

more URC than the Currie Cup.

Where Jake refuses to call the current situation a crisis, that is the narrative that stands within the local media, and the analysis of the Bulls has not been flattering.

Considering the Bulls beat Leinster away from home not even a year ago to secure a spot in the final of the inaugural URC, the drastic fall-off has come as a huge shock.

Perhaps the Bulls’ woes are the first signs we’re seeing within South Africa of the potential strain of playing the same squad in three different tournaments, at the same time, across continents. Until now, the franchises have handled the load well, but the reality is that rugby is no longer a seasonal sport. These players have to get their bodies ready in different countries every week, but the mental strain is arguably as big a factor.

This is what makes the Currie Cup in its current state so exciting: top teams will have to get up for Currie Cup games, because it is no longer being treated as a developmental tournament, and the prospect of a rugby treble is too enticing to ignore.

Equally, Western Province, the Bulls, Sharks and Lions are met by smaller South African sides — like the Pumas — whose bread and butter is the next few months of the Currie Cup, and where they have a point to prove every time they take on one of the big four.

The Currie Cup is only two rounds down, but already it has added to the South African rugby calendar. It is showing the extent of the talent pool local to South Africa, calling into question the current situation with a Bulls side that just six months ago was so dominant, and proving that a tournament with such a rich history was never going to fade into the archives, but rather be reinvented to suit the modern game and modern playing schedule.