23 Oct 2015

WP hunt 34th Currie Cup crown

Herman Mostert - Sport24

Cape Town - As they prepare to face the Golden Lions in the Currie Cup final in Johannesburg on Saturday, Western Province enter the game as the most successful team in the history of the competition.

The Capetonians have won the coveted trophy on 33 occasions, 10 more than their nearest rivals, the Blue Bulls.

The Lions have won the Currie Cup 10 times in their history, but are favourites to win an 11thtitle. They have won all their matches in this year’s competition and thumped Western Province 62-32 at Ellis Park earlier this month.

However, WP were impressive in their 23-18 semi-final upset over the Blue Bulls in Pretoria last weekend and will be confident knowing they are into their fourth Currie Cup final in succession.

The Lions showed glimpses of vulnerability in their semi-final against the Free State Cheetahs last weekend and it will be interesting to see how they handle the ‘firm favourites’ tag this Saturday.

Saturday’s final at Ellis Park kicks off at 13:45.

Most Currie Cup titles won:

33 Western Province (shared 4 times) - last in 2014

23 Northern Transvaal/Blue Bulls (shared 4 times) - last in 2009

10 Transvaal/Golden Lions (once shared) - last in 2011

7 Natal/Sharks - last in 2013

4 Free State (once shared) - last in 2007

3 Griqualand West - last in 1970

2 Border (twice shared) - last in 1934

Teams:

Golden Lions:

15. Andries Coetzee, 14. Courtnall Skosan, 13. Rohan Janse van Rensburg, 12. Howard Mnisi, 11. Anthony Volmink, 10. Marnitz Boshoff, 9. Ross Cronje, 8. Warren Whiteley, 7. Kwagga Smith, 6. Jaco Kriel (captain), 5. Franco Mostert, 4. Lourens Erasmus, 3. Julian Redelinghuys, 2. Robbie Coetzee, 1. Jacques van Rooyen

Substitutes: 16. Malcolm Marx, 17. Ruan Dreyer, 18. Fabian Booysen, 19. Stephan de Witt, 20. Jaco van der Walt, 21. Stokkies Hanekom, 22. Sampie Mastriet

Western Province:

15. Cheslin Kolbe, 14. Dillyn Leyds, 13. Johnny Kotze, 12. Juan de Jongh (captain), 11. Seabelo Senatla, 10. Robert du Preez, 9. Nic Groom, 8. Nizaam Carr, 7. Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 6. Rynhardt Elstadt, 5. Ruan Botha, 4. Jean Kleyn, 3. Wilco Louw, 2. Bongi Mbonambi, 1. Steven Kitshoff

Substitutes: 16. Michael Willemse, 17. Oli Kebble, 18. Chris van Zyl, 19. Jurie van Vuuren, 20. Jano Vermaak, 21. Kurt Coleman, 22. Huw Jones

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