The Currie Cup is South Africa’s premier national rugby union competition. It is the oldest provincial competition in the world, dating back to 1889.

Sir Donald Currie first brought a Currie Cup from Glasgow in 1888. Little is known that the cup was designated to be awarded to the winner of an inter-provincial cricket competition. Indeed, Sir Donald also sponsored trophies in other sports at the time, including football, rugby, water polo and swimming.

In 1891, rugby’s Currie Cup finally reached South African shores alongside the British Isles rugby team. He was to be introduced to the team that gave the tour team the best match. It was then gifted to the SA Rugby Union where it became the trophy for inter-provincial matches.

In the early days, the competition was a tournament played in one location. This continued until around 1922, when a league system was introduced, sometimes with 2 divisions and a final, sometimes with the winner of the best team in the league. It wasn’t always played every year as well.

The first final was held in 1939 and since 1968 it has been held annually. Only 6 teams have won the Currie Cup: Western Province, Griquas, Blue Bulls, Golden Lions, Free State Cheetahs, Natal Sharks.

How does the Currie Cup work?

Over the years, the Currie Cup has seen many changes to the rules of the tournament. There have been tournaments, league competitions, sometimes with finals and sometimes without finals. Sometimes there were only a few teams playing in the competition.

Today, there are 14 teams playing in the tournament:

– The Griquas of the Northern Cape Province
– The Blue Bulls of Gauteng and Limpopo Province
– Leopards of the North West Province
– The Cougars of Mpumalanga
– The Border Bulldogs and the Kings of the Eastern Province, both from the Eastern Cape
– The Free State Griffons and Cheetahs of the Free State
– The Boland Cavaliers, SWD Eagles and Western Cape Western Province
– The Falcons and Golden Lions of Gauteng
– The Natal Sharks of KwaZulu-Natal

The Currie Cup tournament is divided into 6 teams that represent the first division and the other 8 teams that make up the first division. While the major division teams compete for a chance to hold the Currie Cup aloft, the major division teams play to join the major division.

Each division plays its games in a round-robin format where each team plays every other team in the division, home and away.

The losing main team plays 2 relegation matches against the winning first division team for their place in the next year’s main division.

The Currie Cup has a long and varied history. It is a highly prized trophy and although professional rugby has replaced it to some extent, it remains the main national competition in South African rugby.