Although the Currie Cup dates back more than a hundred years, the first Currie Cup Final was played in 1939, at Newlands when Transvaal beat Western Province. The Sharks, a.k.a. Natal, are back in the Final for the third year in a row and will be playing the Western Province for the fifth time in a Currie Cup Final.
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The venue for finals was originally decided by the age of the union, then by where the previous final had been played and now by position on the Currie Cup log.
The 1947 Final was at Newlands because Western Province was an older union than Transvaal. The 1950 Final was in Johannesburg because the previous one had been at Newlands. This year’s Final will be at Newlands because Western Province ended higher on the Currie Cup log than the Sharks did, which was decided only at the last league match.
Results of all the Currie Cup Finals:
- 1939: Transvaal vs Western Province, 17-6 at Newlands
- 1946: Northern Transvaal vs Western Province, 11-9 in Pretoria
- 1947: Western Province vs Transvaal, 16-12 at Newlands
- 1950: Transvaal vs Western Province, 22-11 in Johannesburg
- 1952: Transvaal vs Boland, 11-9 in Wellington
- 1954: Western Province vs Northern Transvaal, 11-8 at Newlands
- 1956: Northern Transvaal vs Natal, 9-8 in Durban
- 1968: Northern Transvaal vs Transvaal, 16-3 in Pretoria
- 1969: Northern Transvaal vs Western Province, 28-3 in Pretoria
- 1970: Griqualand West vs Northern Transvaal, 11-9 in Kimberley
- 1971: Northern Transvaal vs Transvaal, 14-14 in Johannesburg
- 1972: Transvaal vs Eastern Transvaal, 25-19 in Springs
- 1973: Northern Transvaal vs Orange Free State, 30-22 in Pretoria
- 1974: Northern Transvaal vs Transvaal, 17-15 in Pretoria
- 1975: Northern Transvaal vs Orange Free State, 12-6 in Bloemfontein
- 1976: Orange Free State vs Western Province, 33-16 in Bloemfontein
- 1977: Northern Transvaal vs Orange Free State, 27-12 in Pretoria
- 1978: Northern Transvaal vs Orange Free State, 13-9 in Bloemfontein
- 1979: Northern Transvaal vs Western Province, 15-15 at Newlands
- 1980: Northern Transvaal vs Western Province, 39-9 in Pretoria
- 1981: Northern Transvaal vs Orange Free State, 23-6 in Pretoria
- 1982: Western Province vs Northern Transvaal, 24-9 at Newlands
- 1983: Western Province vs Northern Transvaal, 9-3 in Pretoria
- 1984: Western Province vs Natal, 19-9 at Newlands
- 1985: Western Province vs Northern Transvaal, 22-15 at Newlands
- 1986: Western Province vs Transvaal, 22-9 at Newlands
- 1987: Northern Transvaal vs Transvaal, 24-18 in Johannesburg
- 1988: Northern Transvaal vs Western Province, 19-18 in Pretoria
- 1989: Western Province vs Northern Transvaal, 16-16 at Newlands
- 1990: Natal vs Northern Transvaal, 18-12 in Pretoria
- 1991: Northern Transvaal vs Transvaal, 27-15 in Pretoria
- 1992: Natal vs Transvaal, 14-13 in Johannesburg
- 1993: Transvaal vs Natal, 21-15 in Durban
- 1994: Transvaal vs Orange Free State, 56-33 in Bloemfontein
- 1995: Natal vs Western Province, 25-17 in Durban
- 1996: Natal vs Transvaal, 33-15 in Johannesburg
- 1997: Western Province vs Free State, 14-12 at Newlands
- 1998: Blue Bulls vs Western Province, 24-20 in Pretoria
- 1999: Lions vs Natal, 32-9 in Durban
- 2000: Western Province vs Natal, 25-15 in Durban
- 2001: Western Province vs Natal, 29-24 at Newlands
- 2002: Blue Bulls vs Lions, 31-7 in Johannesburg
- 2003: Blue Bulls vs Natal, 40-19 in Pretoria
- 2004: Blue Bulls vs Free State Cheetahs, 42-33 in Pretoria
- 2005: Free State Cheetahs vs Blue Bulls, 29-25 in Pretoria
- 2006: Free State Cheetahs vs Blue Bulls, 28-28 in Bloemfontein
- 2007: Free State Cheetahs vs Lions, 20-18 in Bloemfontein
- 2008: Sharks vs Blue Bulls, 14-9 in Durban
- 2009: Blue Bulls vs Free State Cheetahs, 36-24 in Pretoria
- 2010: Sharks vs Western Province, 30-10 in Durban
- 2011: Golden Lions vs Sharks, 42-16 in Johannesburg
- 2012: Western Province vs Sharks, 25-18 in Durban
(There have been so many changes of names of venues we have given the name of the city where the match was played – except for unique Newlands.)
Number of Finals: 52
Number of Times in a Final
- Blue Bulls: 31
- Western Province: 24
- Lions: 19
- Natal: 15
- Free State: 12
- Boland: 1
- Falcons: 1
- Griqualand West: 1
Number of victories
- Blue Bulls: 22 (including four draws)
- Western Province: 12 (including two draws)
- Lions: 9 (including a draw)
- Natal: 6
- Free State: 4 (including a draw)
- Griqualand West: 1
Records
- Highest Score: 56 (Transvaal 1994)
- Lowest Score 3 (Transvaal 1968, Western Province 1969, Northern Transvaal 1983)
- Lowest winning score: 9 (Northern Transvaal 1956, Western Province 1983)
- Highest match score: 89 (1994)
- Lowest match score: 12 (1983)
- Biggest margin of victory: 30 (1980)
- Smallest margin of victory: 1 (1956, 1988, 1992)
- Highest individual score: 26 (Derick Hougaard, 2002)
- Most team tries: 7 (Lions 1994)
- Most appearances: 11 (Burger Geldenhuys, Naas Botha)
- Most penalty goals by a player: Thierry Lacroix – 6 in 1995
- Most conversions by a player: Gavin Johnson – 6 in 1994
- Most dropped goals by a player: Naas Botha – 4 in 1987
- Most tries by a player: Ettienne Botha – 4
Before 1939 and in 1959, 1964 and 1966 the Currie Cup was decided at a tournament or on a league system.
The total number of times each province has held the Currie Cup is as follows:
- Western Province: 32 (four times shared)
- Blue Bulls: 23 (four times shared)
- Golden Lions: 10 (once shared)
- Natal: 6
- Free State: 4 (once shared)
- Griqualand West: 3
- Border: 2 (twice shared)