Rugby videos of tackles, tries, funny incidents and more: The Currie Cup Semi Finals Compilation

Monday, October 19, 2009

The Currie Cup Semi Finals Compilation

We saw two pulsating Semi Finals in the 2009 Currie Cup this past weekend, showing us exactly why South African rugby is on the top of the world at the moment.

In Durban, many expected the Natal Sharks to be favourites at home against a hard working Freestate Cheetahs side. In Cape Town, tickets to the Newlands match between Western Province and the Blue Bulls had sold out in an hour and a half, such is the rivalry between the two sides.

For the Bulls, Springbok sensation Morne Steyn kicked seven penalties, totally 21 points on the day. Province struggled to get into the match, but the hard work up front, most notably from Tiaan Liebenberg, started to pay off as Joe Pietersen kept them in touch with four penalties of his own.

Gio Aplon, who punched above his weight all day, scored a great try as he sprinted between two big guys to dot down late in the match, with a comeback looking on the cards.

Ace marksman Steyn slotted the match winning kick with three minutes left as the Bulls fended off the Province resurgence, this earning themselves a home final. It ended 21-19 to the Bulls.

The Sharks dominated early possession, territory, and points in their match against the Cheetahs in Durban. It was Hugh Bladen in the commentary box that echoed the thoughts of everyone watching after Juan Martin Hernandez dropkicked the Sharks even further in front: "The Cheetahs are in trouble here."

The Sharks scored two great running tries through Stefan Terblanche and Ruan Pienaar, while the Cheetahs found their opportunities first in the form of tighthead WP Nel crashing over.

A wayward pass from the Sharks then bounced favourably for man of the match Jacques-Louis Potgeiter, who sprinted away for a try against the run of play.

It was Potgeiter again, in the final minute, who dropped back into the pocket for the match winning drop goal, completing a successful Cheetahs fight back and booking his team's ticket to Loftus Versfeld in two weeks time. It ended 23-21 to the Freestate Cheetahs.

We've combined highlights from both semi finals into one compilation with the hopes of bringing you a more in depth look at what was some magnificent rugby from all four teams.

Aside from the tries, we’ve included various other bits, namely some examples of the hard work from the likes of Freestate loosies Ashley Johnson and Heinrich Brussow, and the tactical prowess of Hernandez for the Sharks. Enjoy.

Time: 04:35
Music: Live Forever by Oasis

Fiiiiiiiiiiiiirst!!! Yay!!

By Anonymous, at October 19, 2009 2:12 pm
test match level intensity

By blue bull, at October 19, 2009 2:25 pm
Wow the Bulls didn't score a single try.

By Anonymous, at October 19, 2009 3:13 pm
very impressive rugby dump. good work. Thanks for leaving the commentary in... that was a nice touch.

mark

By Anonymous, at October 19, 2009 3:16 pm
kick kick kick kick kick kick

By Anonymous, at October 19, 2009 3:21 pm
Good video editing whoever did that.

Some fantastic rugby there, really enjoyed watching that. as hard as it is to say as i'm sick of the South African prats you get on this website.

By Anonymous, at October 19, 2009 3:37 pm
power,power,power,power, power, power,power. No wonder the Boks are NO1 - there's no denying this tough stuff, great to watch. (and I also hate to admitt it!!!)

By Anonymous, at October 19, 2009 3:41 pm
brussow. phenomenal

excellent video all around...great work

By Anonymous, at October 19, 2009 3:51 pm
Anonymous 3 up - You get prats from every country making comments occasionally. There just seems to be a handful of childish SA kids that have posted lately. Pay no attention to them. They'll get bored and stop commenting eventually. It's best not to generalise mate.

I hope everyone is as depressed as I am about the Sharks

By Greiffel, at October 19, 2009 3:58 pm
Superb rugby. Great video RD. I agree with anonymous, the vids are always better when the commentary is left in. Coupled with a decent song it makes for great watching.

Agree about the test-match level intensity - and standard.

Anyone moaning about SA rugby at the moment is just jealous - and I'm from England.

By Phil, at October 19, 2009 4:27 pm
How the hell did the Sharks butcher this?

Ruan's pass?? I mean seriously, you dont expect crapy service like that from a BOK.

Ahh well i guess i gotta wait for the Super14/15.

This sucks.

By semperfimamba, at October 19, 2009 4:37 pm
Im absolutely gutted about the sharks,i wana cry!this is not how it was supposed to end!?im sorry but jacobs must go,we have better centres and other teams will do better with him,until next year...SHARKS FOREVER!!

By Anonymous, at October 19, 2009 4:50 pm
mark lawrence was the bulls best player by far
worst refereeing i've seen in a long time

By rehanb, at October 19, 2009 5:08 pm
Seems there's a few sour grapes being passed around here! I'm a WP supporter and, while understandably gutted, am impressed with the way the boys played. The Bulls are just a machine right now. I reckon they'd shaft any northern hemisphere side (including national teams) on the veldt. Still, looking at the standard on show this weekend it's no surprise that the Boks have been dicking on all comers this year. Go Bokke!!!

By Tommo, at October 19, 2009 6:12 pm
The bloke above is a good example.

Who is that monster number 8? playing for the team in white and orange.

By Anonymous, at October 19, 2009 6:38 pm
^ Read the write up and figure it out. It's not Heinrich Brussouw.

Use a name and you might get a better response in future.

Tommo isnt too far off though, considering that the Bulls have a whole host of Boks and are a tight unit. During this years Super 14 they were incredible. Stick them in a tight 'test match' situation and they could easily upset an international side I'm sure.

By Dave, at October 19, 2009 7:02 pm
Haha the guy's clearly man enough to point out what he thinks is another "south african prat", yet can't find the testicles to add a name to his ever so insightful comment. i think most people would agree that SA rugby is a level above the rest right now, as were the ABs in 2005-2006 and England 2002-2003, so it's not just a case of blind arrogance.

By Tommo, at October 19, 2009 9:27 pm
Is this shown on UK television or just in SA?

By WelshOsprey, at October 19, 2009 10:18 pm
WelshOsprey - Yes, Skysports features currie cup rugby, as do sky in NZ, and Fox Sports in Aus from what I understand. I think canada gets some too, and even greece I think, as per Supersport being involved with a sports channel over there.

Well said Tommo btw. I think sometimes SA fans can be overzealous, which is interpreted as arrogance unfortunately. But right now, it's well deserved.

By Shaft, at October 19, 2009 11:18 pm
Of course the Bulls would beat most NH national teams. The bulls have 12... yes 12 Springboks in their team.

By Saheed, at October 19, 2009 11:19 pm
i hate to admit it, but south african rugby is looking very strong. With their depth they are shaping up nicely for 2011, its hard to fault any of their players. brussow has had a good season althogh i hardly think he is the best at pinching ball in the world like the commentator said.

By Liam, at October 20, 2009 3:29 am
Fun to watch both matches, altough both of my preferred teams (WP then Natal) got bounced.

That big Fijian dude for Free State? That's Ashley Johnson. Plays #8.

Actually moved into the hooker slot early in the match. Not too good with the lineouts, but was a brave display nonetheless.

For those who miss sarcasm over the internet, I was kidding about him being Fijian.

By Cheyanquí, at October 20, 2009 4:02 am
On current form, who would you ahve ahead of him Liam?
Only Mccaw could lay claim, even Smith is well off Brussow's form.

By Bill, at October 20, 2009 6:13 am
No doubt in my mind Brussow is the best in the world at the moment (and Im an ab supporter)

By Samoan biouz, at October 20, 2009 6:42 am
Just a comment about the SA prats thing. Unfortuntaley we dont know when to shut it when we´ve won, but there is definitely just a huge dollop of over zealousness and pride there. We have a long tradition of rugby in our country and as you can guess its rated highly on the importance scale, but for every arrogant saffa there are another 20 that are humble and normal.
As for Liam´s comment... hehe so who do you think is the best in world rugby at the moment? Brussouw has got it down to a fine art form. He is the best as far as I´m concerned and thats not because I´m biased. I recognised McCaw and Smith as superior ball snatchers before Brussouw came along. Credit where its due.

By Jacques, at October 20, 2009 7:58 am
You didn't include Schalk's hit

Best moments as a Sharks fan were Hernandez's sublime tactical kick into the corner and Terblanche's sidestep

By Anonymous, at October 20, 2009 8:48 am
I think Brussow is the best ball stealer/penalty winner in the world at the moment. He gets his hands on the ball and then just locks on like a limpet, you just can't get him off.

As for England I can't even think who we are going to be playing in our back row (Easter?, Croft?), let alone who would come close to rivaling him.

As for SA prats, there are definitely a few but mostly they're alright and just very proud of the fact they're team is better than everyone else at the moment (especially as normally it's NZ between world cups). The Safa's at my club are fantastic blokes...off the pitch....and complete animals on it!!

By Andy, at October 20, 2009 10:58 am
CHEETAHS!!!!!! YOU BEAUTIES!!!

did anyone see how the cheetah-front row dominated the Shark (= springbok) scrum??!!

Os du Randt is doing a great job!

By Cheis, at October 20, 2009 12:45 pm
And Province go and break my heart once again...

By Anonymous, at October 20, 2009 1:05 pm
Cheis, you do know the Beast and Bismarck were injured going into that match?

By Lawnzi, at October 20, 2009 2:01 pm
i know, but still..

it's amazing what dept Vrystaat has in the front row department..

year after year good props leave (jannie du plessis, cj vd linde most notably 2 years ago), but young props emerge from nowhere..

By Cheis, at October 20, 2009 5:25 pm
WP = Weer Pretoria!!!

By Anonymous, at October 21, 2009 12:43 am
sick vid

By zacaria, at October 21, 2009 12:58 pm
You got to hand it ot SA, there's some fine rugby going on down there. Brussow has the steal wrapped up, even in slow motion he gets up quickly!

SA gets some decent scrummaging props and everyones in trouble come 2011.

What's the deal with De Villiers now he's at Munster, is he out of the bok setup?

By Anonymous, at October 23, 2009 1:41 pm
There's loads of Saffas at my club and they're all really good guys and good players too. The kids you get writing comments on the internet are the same whatever country they come from. I'm English and there've been plenty of English prats on this website too.

By Ted, at October 23, 2009 3:58 pm
So chuffed to see a smaller union like the cheetahs going through to the final,they could do with the money. How good was their no 10! It's gana be great to seem him up against MSteyn in the final.

By Anonymous, at October 23, 2009 10:18 pm
Great vid RD, thanks - Hate to say it but SA have such class and depth its scary...
Can anyone tell me what SA schools Rugby is like?

By Anonymous, at October 23, 2009 10:29 pm