Currie Cup semi-finals: Who’s going to pull off the shock win away from home?

There have been plenty of surprises over the years and playing in familiar surroundings is no guarantee of a passage into the final.

The Transvaal Currie Cup winning team from 1994 included from left, the late Gerbrand Grobler, captain Francois Pienaar and Uli Schmidt. The team beat the Free State 56-33 in the final, played at the old Springbok Park cricket ground, in Bloemfontein. Who will advance from the semi-finals next weekend to get the chance to play for glory in the final? Picture: Wessel Oosthuizen/ Gallo Images

The venue for this year’s Currie Cup final seems to be set in stone – or is it? In just about everyone’s books the Bulls are the front-runners to host this year’s final on 30 January, but no less than three of the four semi-finalists are in with a real chance to host the showpiece game. The only team who will play away regardless of whether they win are the Lions. Even if they shock the Bulls in the playoffs they will have to travel for the final because they finished fourth and were the final finisher after the regular…

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The venue for this year’s Currie Cup final seems to be set in stone – or is it?

In just about everyone’s books the Bulls are the front-runners to host this year’s final on 30 January, but no less than three of the four semi-finalists are in with a real chance to host the showpiece game.

The only team who will play away regardless of whether they win are the Lions. Even if they shock the Bulls in the playoffs they will have to travel for the final because they finished fourth and were the final finisher after the regular competition came to an end.

But, interestingly, while Loftus Versfeld appears to be the most likely venue because the Bulls finished top of the pile, the final could still be held in Cape Town or Durban. That will happen if the Lions surprise the Bulls next weekend, with the venue of the final then determined by the second semi-final between Western Province and the Sharks in Cape Town.

Another interesting little anecdote about the playoffs is the fact the Sharks and Province haven’t faced each other in the semi-finals since 1983 when Province won a close game 7-3 in Durban.

These two coastal rivals, however, have faced each other on numerous occasions in recent finals with the most recent being in 2017 and 2018 with the home team losing on both occasions. In 2017 Province beat the Sharks in Durban by 33-21, while the Sharks turned the tables the next year at Newlands winning 17-12 after Province boasted an unbeaten run in the competition.

The Bulls and the Lions clashes in the playoffs of the competition have been equally noteworthy with just three semi-finals being contested between these Jukskei rivals over the years – all of them at Loftus.

In 1996 the Transvaal team of Francois Pienaar surprised “Northerns” in Pretoria by winning 31-21, but in 2004 the Northern Transvaal team won 40-33 and repeated the feat the next year in 2005 by beating the Lions 31-23.

The Lions’ record since they last won the trophy in 2015 in the semi-finals hasn’t been great; they lost three from four before finally winning a home semi-final last year against Griquas.

But in 2016 they were smashed 55-17 in Bloemfontein by the Cheetahs, in 2017 they lost 19-5 to Province at Newlands, while in 2018 they went down 33-24 to the Sharks in Durban.

When the Lions finally won another semi-final – last year at Ellis Park by 34-19 against the Peacock Blues – they qualified for the final where they went down 31-28 to the Cheetahs in the City of Roses.

Since the final became an annual institution 53 years ago, the Bulls have won the title 21 times, followed by Province on 13 occasions, the Sharks on eight, the Lions on seven, the Cheetahs on six and Griquas on one.

The finals of 1971, 1979, 1989 and 2006 were shared.