10 July 2019, by: Quintin van Jaarsveld
CURRIE CUP PREDICTIONS – ROUND 1
The 2019 Currie Cup will get underway in earnest when the defending-champion Sharks host Griquas at Kings Park on Friday evening.
The status quo remains in terms of the participating teams and truncated format. Each of the seven sides – the Sharks, Blue Bulls, Free State Cheetahs, Golden Lions, Griquas, Pumas and Western Province – will play each other just once in the league phase, with the top four advancing to the semi-finals, so there is no room for error.
Once the crown jewel of South African rugby, the Currie Cup has dissolved into a development competition in recent years – a building block for the more revered Super Rugby and PRO14 tournaments.
However, there are still some big names who’ll be in action, plus a host of Junior Springboks making the jump to senior rugby, which should make for interesting viewing.
The major change this year is the new time slot, due to the World Cup kicking off in September. It also means that the competition won’t overlap with the PRO14, so a full-strength Cheetahs side will have a fair shake at reclaiming the silverware. The Bloemfontein-based union have a bye in the opening round, though.
The Sharks-Griquas clash is the only Friday fixture, while Saturday’s matches see the Golden Lions and Western Province play host to the Pumas and Blue Bulls respectively.
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