CURRIE CUP FINAL PREVIEW

It is one of those curious anomalies of the Absa Currie Cup that in finals between the Sharks and the Lions (or Natal and Transvaal), the home side has never won. What are the chances of that trend continuing in one of the most evenly matched fiinals in years when the teams do battle tomorrrow in Johannesburg (5.30pm)?

Very good, one thinks, considering the perfectly timed wake-up call the Sharks received in the semi-final against the Cheetahs. The Sharks – seven RWC Boks and all – were reminded last week that pedigree means nothing in finals rugby if it is not backed up by hunger.

Their coach reminded them of this home truth in a half-time “chat” that peeled the paint off the walls of the change room and the KZN men came out and blasted the Cheetahs of the Park.

And the word from the Sharks players ever since is that they know they have to immediately gel back into that irressistible unit that blew the Bulls out of Super Rugby in the quarter-final in Pretoria earlier this year in one of the best ever Super Rugby games.

The Bulls were saying goodbye to icons including Matfield, Du Preez, Botha and Rossouw but on the day the written-off but super-charged Sharks swept all before them.

Indeed, if the Sharks get the “hunger” part right, they will more than likely win because if desire meets desire, then the Sharks’ advantage in experience and class will take care of the rest.

Interestingly, but ultimately of no real relevance on the day, Transvaal beat Natal in 1999 in Durban after having lost at Ellis Park in 1996. Natal, on the other hand, lost in Durban in 1993 but the year before had beaten Transvaal at Ellis Park.

By the same token, however, a home team has not lost a Currie Cup final since 2005, when the Bulls were shocked by the Cheetahs.

However you look at it, it is a case of an experienced, Springbok-laden Sharks side playing away from home to an in-form Lions side that has been pulling itself up by their boostraps from the the cellar of the Super 15 to the top of the Currie Cup ladder.

After so many years of humiliation, the Lions and their fans (65 000 have sold out the stadium, although a good number of those attending will be retreaded Sharks fans that gave up on the Lions years ago) have one great shot at redemption.

They will be on fire, their spirit will be burning bright, their hunger will be past ravenous … And what mood will the Sharks be in?

Again this is what the final will come down to … The Lions want this one so much it aches. The Sharks are telling themselves that they want it just as much but words count much less than the genuine ache in the belly.

At least if the Sharks lose, it will be a result that will be good for the health of South African rugby for it will be a win outside of the usual suspects, and the Lions would hopefully kick on and once again become a genuine force in South Afican rugby, which can only be good for the game in this country.

Of course, all of this is utter claptrap to Sharks and their fans on the eve of the final!

The Sharks want this one big time because it will eleveate them from being a team that occasionally wins the Currie Cup to a “championship” team that consistently wins the big games. A Sharks win would mean three wins in four years for the Durban side, and serious street cred on the national block.

And it will happen if a pack containing these Springboks names collectively fires: Bismarck and Jannie du Plessis, The Beast, Willem Alberts, Jean Deysel, Ryan Kankowski; plus the in-form Keegan Daniel and Ross Skeate.

Come to think of it, the Sharks will win comfortably.

Kick-off: 5.30pm

Referee: Mark Lawrence

Lions: 15 Jaco Taute, 14 Deon van Rensburg, 13 Doppies la Grange, 12 Alwyn Hollenbach, 11 Michael Killian, 10 Elton Jantjies, 9 Michael Bondesio, 8 Joshua Strauss (captain), 7. Michael Rhodes, 6. Derick Minnie, 5 Franco van der Merwe, 4 Wikus van Heerden, 3 Patric Cilliers, 2 Bandise Maku, 1 CJ van der Linde.

Substitutes: Martin Bezuidenhout, Jacobie Adriaanse/JC Janse van Rensburg, Warren Whiteley, Cobus Grobbelaar, Butch James, Dylan Des Fountain, James Kamana.

Sharks: 15 Patrick Lambie, 14 Odwa Ndungane, 13 Stefan Terblanche, 12 Marius Joubert, 11 JP Pietersen, 10 Frederic Michalak, 9 Conrad Hoffmann, 8 Ryan Kankowski, 7 Willem Alberts, 6 Keegan Daniel (captain), 5 Ross Skeate, 4 Jean Deysel, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.

Substitutes: Craig Burden, Eugene van Staden, Alistair Hargreaves, Marcell Coetzee, Ross Cronje, Adrian Jacobs, Lwazi Mvovo.

by Mike Greenaway www.iol.co.za