The 2018 Currie Cup Premier Division was the top tier of the 2018
Currie Cup
The Currie Cup () is South Africa's premier domestic rugby union competition featuring teams representing either entire provinces or substantial regions within provinces. Although it is the premier domestic competition, four South African franc ...
, the 80th edition of the annual South African rugby union competition organised by the
South African Rugby Union
The South African Rugby Union (SARU) is the governing body for rugby union in South Africa and is affiliated to World Rugby. It was established in 1992 as the South African Rugby Football Union, from the merger of the South African Rugby Board ...
. It was played between 17 August and 27 October 2018 and featured the same seven teams as in
2017
2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly.
Events January
* January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...
.
The competition was won by the , who beat 17–12 in the final played on 27 October 2018.
Competition rules and information
There were seven participating teams in the 2018 Currie Cup Premier Division. They played each other once during the
pool stage, either at home or away. Teams received four points for a win and two points for a draw. Bonus points were awarded to teams that scored four or more tries in a game, as well as to teams that lost a match by seven points or less. Teams were ranked by log points, then points difference (points scored less points conceded).
The top four teams in the pool stage qualified for the
semifinals
A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...
, which were followed by a
final
Final, Finals or The Final may refer to:
*Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training
*Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...
.
Teams
The teams that played in the 2018 Currie Cup Premier Division are:
Pool stage
Standings
The final log for the 2018 Currie Cup Premier Division was:
Round-by-round
The table below shows a team's progression throughout the season. For each round, each team's cumulative points total is shown with the overall log position in brackets.
Matches
The following matches were played in the 2018 Currie Cup Premier Division:
Round One
The 2018 Currie Cup kicked off with a match between the two teams that finished in the bottom two spots in
2017
2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly.
Events January
* January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...
; the and in
Nelspruit
Mbombela, formerly Nelspruit, is a city in northeastern South Africa. It is the capital of the Mpumalanga province. Located on the Crocodile River, the city lies about by road west of the Mozambique border, east of Johannesburg and north of ...
. The won the match 42–19, with fly-half
Chris Smith having a Currie Cup debut to remember, scoring 22 points in his side's victory. In the other match, the beat the 34–12 in
Bloemfontein
Bloemfontein ( ; ), also known as Bloem, is the capital and the largest city of the Free State (province), Free State province in South Africa. It is often, and has been traditionally, referred to as the country's "judicial capital", alongsi ...
, with their fly-half
Manie Libbok scoring 17 points, including his team's opening try.
Round Two
The three teams that has byes in
Round One all secured home victories in Round Two. Defending champions got their title defense underway with a 32–0 victory over the , while the beat the 26–10 in
Durban
Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal.
Situated on the east coast of South ...
; both teams scored four tries in their victories to secure a bonus point. The highest-scoring match of the round was the Friday evening match between the and , with the team from
Johannesburg
Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...
winning 62–41. Winger
Courtnall Skosan scored a
hat-trick
A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three.
Origin
The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...
and
Hacjivah Dayimani got a
brace as the Golden Lions ran in nine tries, with fly-half
Shaun Reynolds kicking 17 points. Griquas fly-half
George Whitehead scored 16 points for the losing team, who scored five tries of their own.
Round Three
Round Three saw the , and all winning their away games to make it two wins out of two. Western Province remain top on points differential after a 57–28 victory over the Pumas, with
Sergeal Petersen scoring two of his side's eight tries, and winger
SP Marais contributing 22 points through one try, seven conversions and a penalty. The other two matches were closer affairs, with both home teams getting a bonus point for a loss by less than seven points;
Louis Fouché scored two tries and 17 points in the ' 29–33 loss to a side for whom captain
Chiliboy Ralepelle also scored a brace, while
Ruan Steenkamp had a memorable match for the , scoring a
hat-trick
A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three.
Origin
The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...
before getting
sin-binned, but ended on the losing side against the , whose eighth man
Hacjivah Dayimani scored two tries to secure a 38–35 win for the team from
Johannesburg
Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...
in the trans-
Jukskei derby.
Round Four
The and the both maintained their perfect record, making it three bonus point wins out of three. The Sharks secured a 28–12 victory over the in the Friday night game, while the Golden Lions scored seven tries in a 47–14 victory over the , with fly-half
Shaun Reynolds scoring 22 points through two tries and six conversion, with winger
Sylvian Mahuza also scoring two tries. The highest-scoring game of the weekend saw the move up to third after a 45–40 victory over . Two tries from Griquas centre
André Swarts was not enough as the side from
Pretoria
Pretoria ( ; ) is the Capital of South Africa, administrative capital of South Africa, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to the country.
Pretoria strad ...
scored seven tries to secure the win. A bye weekend saw drop from first to fourth on the log.
Round Five
In the biggest match of the weekend, two previously-unbeaten sides in the and met in
Johannesburg
Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...
. The side from
Cape Town
Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...
secured a 65–38 win, scoring nine tries in the process with
Dillyn Leyds and
Sergeal Petersen scoring two each, while
SP Marais contributed 25 of his side's points through one try, seven conversions and two penalties. The result saw Western Province move up to third on the log, one place behind the Golden Lions. The moved to the top of the log following a 39–29 win over the in
Pretoria
Pretoria ( ; ) is the Capital of South Africa, administrative capital of South Africa, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to the country.
Pretoria strad ...
, with Jade Stighling contributing two tries. In the weekend's other match, 17 points from
George Whitehead and two tries from lock
FP Pelser saw move up to fifth spot by beating the 52–24, a result which confirmed that the team from
Bloemfontein
Bloemfontein ( ; ), also known as Bloem, is the capital and the largest city of the Free State (province), Free State province in South Africa. It is often, and has been traditionally, referred to as the country's "judicial capital", alongsi ...
won't take part in the
semifinals
A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...
.
Round Six
The and both maintained their perfect starts to the season, each winning their fourth consecutive match ahead of their meeting in
Round Seven. Western Province secured a 38–12 victory over , with wing
Sergeal Petersen scoring two of his side's six tries to move joint-top of the try-scoring charts. Loose-forward
Dan du Preez also scored a brace, for the Sharks in their 37–21 victory over a side that lost their second match in a row, with Sharks fly-half
Robert du Preez scoring 17 points with the boot. In the other match of the weekend,
Ryan Nell scored two tries as the picked up their second win of the season, beating the 42–14 to condemn the team from
Bloemfontein
Bloemfontein ( ; ), also known as Bloem, is the capital and the largest city of the Free State (province), Free State province in South Africa. It is often, and has been traditionally, referred to as the country's "judicial capital", alongsi ...
to a winless season, having lost all six of their matches. The Sharks and Western Province mathematically assured their
semifinal berths, while the Blue Bulls, Golden Lions and Pumas remained in the race for the other two spots.
Round Seven
The only match of the round saw the top two sides, the and meet in
Cape Town
Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...
. The home side won the match 50–28 with
SP Marais contributing 20 of his side's points, securing a home
semi-final
A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...
in the process.
Round Eight
Round Eight saw a full round of three matches being played, with the first of these finalising the
semifinal
A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...
lineup; the beat the 33–21 in
Mbombela
Mbombela, formerly Nelspruit, is a city in northeastern South Africa. It is the capital of the Mpumalanga province. Located on the Crocodile River (Mpumalanga), Crocodile River, the city lies about by road west of the Mozambique border, east o ...
— with both
Corné Fourie and
Courtnall Skosan scoring a brace of tries — to end the latter's involvement in the competition and ensuring the Golden Lions and the advanced to the knockout stage. The clinched a home semifinal by easily beating in
Kimberley
Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to:
Places and historical events
Australia
Queensland
* Kimberley, Queensland, a coastal locality in the Shire of Douglas
South Australia
* County of Kimberley, a cadastral unit in South Australia
Ta ...
, with wingers
Lwazi Mvovo and
Leolin Zas each scoring two tries in a 41–11 win. The final match of the round between the and lasted just 40 minutes; after a delayed start in the match due to lightning, some play was possible before the match was abandoned at half-time due to ever-worsening weather conditions. Western Province were leading 34–7, and this was declared the final result of the match following the abandonment.
Play-offs
Title play-offs
Semifinals
The semifinal matches went according to form, with the top two teams from the
pool stage and home semifinalists and both winning.
Dan du Preez and
S'busiso Nkosi each scored two tries in the Sharks' 33–24 victory over the , for whom
Courtnall Skosan also scored a brace. Western Province and the met for the second week in a row, but unlike the
Round Eight match that saw Western Province win in a 40-minute match, this encounter finished 32–all during normal time, with the Blue Bulls'
Dylan Sage scoring a try after the final hooter to level the scores and send the match into extra time. Western Province recovered and retained their lead to win 35–32 after extra time, thanks to a penalty from
SP Marais, who scored 30 of his side's points in the victory.
Final
The won their first title since 2013 after beating 17–12 in
Cape Town
Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...
. The only points in the first half came from the boot of Western Province kicker
SP Marais, who slotted penalties in the 19th and 35th minutes to secure a 6–0 half-time lead for the home side. A try for Sharks hooker
Akker van der Merwe, converted by fly-half
Robert du Preez, saw the Sharks take a 7–6 lead shortly after the interval. A Marais penalty in the 49th minute restored Western Province's lead, but Du Preez responded in kind two minutes later to restore the Sharks' lead. The decisive score came in the 70th minute, when Sharks flank
Tyler Paul scored a try — again converted by Du Preez — to make the scoreline 17–9. A penalty from
Damian Willemse
Damian Willemse (born 7 May 1998) is a South African professional rugby union player who plays for the South Africa national team, the in the United Rugby Championship and in the Currie Cup. His regular position is fullback, but he can also ...
wasn't enough for the home side, and the Sharks secured the eighth Currie Cup title in their history.
Relegation play-off
* remained in the Currie Cup Premier Division for 2019.
* remained in the Currie Cup First Division for 2019.
Honours
The honour roll for the 2018 Currie Cup Premier Division was as follows:
Players
The squads and player appearance and scoring statistics for the 2018 Currie Cup Premier Division are as follows:
Referees
The following referees officiated matches in the 2018 Currie Cup Premier Division:
See also
*
2018 Currie Cup First Division
*
2018 Rugby Challenge
References
External links
SARU website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Currie Cup
2018 Currie Cup
2018
Events January
* January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency.
* January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...
2018 in South African rugby union
2018 rugby union tournaments for clubs