Cheetahs and Bulls’ heated rivalry back front and centre

Two of the Currie Cup’s most successful sides of the 21^st century, the Bulls and Cheetahs, are set to resume their heated rivalry when they meet in the 2023 semi-final at the Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein on Saturday.

Since the turn of the century the Bulls have won the Currie Cup the most times, claiming the title on seven occasions, while the Cheetahs are tied second having won it five times, level with Western Province.

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However, of those 12 finals won between the Bulls and Cheetahs this century, the two sides faced each other in the final on five of those occasions, with them winning twice each, while they amazingly shared the title back in 2006.

Although they are only meeting at the semi-final stage this time round, the action is expected to be just as fierce as these two rivals go head to head to see who can make it to this year’s final.

The Cheetahs will feel that they have the upper hand heading into the knockout clash, having beaten the Bulls twice in the pool stage while they also have home ground advantage.

But the team from Pretoria should be brimming with confidence after a strong end to the pool stage of the competition, despite going down to the Free Staters over the past weekend.

Dreadful start

The Bulls had a dreadful start to the Currie Cup, losing their opening four games, which included a 32-7 loss to the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein and a loss against the Griffons, which proved to be their only win over the competition.

But since then the Bulls have won seven of their next 10 games and have been significantly boosted by the return of their United Rugby Championship stars.

The past weekend’s result, a 31-27 win to the Cheetahs at Loftus, should have given both teams hope for the semi-final.

The Bulls will obviously be disappointed having lost after tearing into an early 19-0 lead, but will be proud of their fight after losing Elrigh Louw to a 37^th minute red card, while they also stayed right in the game until the end, with the Cheetahs desperately holding on.

The Cheetahs will be happy to have come back from their poor start to the match and will know it wasn’t just the red card that helped them win as they had battled back to 19-14 when Louw was sent off.

Both teams will thus have reasons to be positive heading into the semi clash and it is anyone’s guess who will emerge victorious.