Western Province vs Natal Sharks - Currie Cup final 2001
The Natal Sharks host Western Province at Kingspark in Durban tomorrow in the Currie Cup final, the first meeting of the two sides in a final since 2001. Today we’ll take a look back at that classic match.
Newlands was the venue as the reigning champion Western Province, who had taken the 2000 final, hosted the Sharks in what was set to be a incredibly physical battle between the two arch rivals, who surprisingly have now met in just four Currie Cup finals.
The two sides had met a few weeks before this game, with the Sharks winning convincingly 36-13 but playing Province at Newlands in a final is a different challenge altogether. The Cape Town crowd backed their side till the very end, and it brought out the best in players like Corne Krige, Chris Rossouw, and Braam Van Straaten.
Van Straaten was playing his final game before heading to Leeds in the UK and it turned out to be some send off as he scored 24 points on the day as their forwards took a stranglehold on the game, proving the demise of the Sharks, despite them scoring a great try through John Smit early on.
The only other points for WP came from flyhalf Rossouw, the younger brother of Springbok Pieter Rossouw, as Van Straaten scored a try, two conversions, and five penalties to equal the Currie Cup final points scoring record held by Naas Botha.
"Any big game at Newlands is a great occasion so you can imagine what the atmosphere is like at an Absa Currie Cup final. The Sharks made an intense start, they scored a quick try and kept up the pressure. We knew if we kept on playing the way we had during the season the chances and points would come. It was close but we made a strong comeback.
"It was a nice way to end my Province career and I was honoured to have been part of such a great occasion," van Straaten said.
There were some great players on display, including Percy Montgomery, AJ Venter, Bob Skinstad, Deon Kayser, and Breyton Paulse. Fans of Saracens will notice Neil de Kock in action, while Shaun Sowerby of Toulouse was prominent. Stefan Terblanche, who will captain the Sharks in the 2010 final tomorrow, is the only survivor from both the 2000 and 2001 finals. He also played in 2008, so will play in his fourth final tomorrow.
Time: 06:55
Newlands was the venue as the reigning champion Western Province, who had taken the 2000 final, hosted the Sharks in what was set to be a incredibly physical battle between the two arch rivals, who surprisingly have now met in just four Currie Cup finals.
The two sides had met a few weeks before this game, with the Sharks winning convincingly 36-13 but playing Province at Newlands in a final is a different challenge altogether. The Cape Town crowd backed their side till the very end, and it brought out the best in players like Corne Krige, Chris Rossouw, and Braam Van Straaten.
Van Straaten was playing his final game before heading to Leeds in the UK and it turned out to be some send off as he scored 24 points on the day as their forwards took a stranglehold on the game, proving the demise of the Sharks, despite them scoring a great try through John Smit early on.
The only other points for WP came from flyhalf Rossouw, the younger brother of Springbok Pieter Rossouw, as Van Straaten scored a try, two conversions, and five penalties to equal the Currie Cup final points scoring record held by Naas Botha.
"Any big game at Newlands is a great occasion so you can imagine what the atmosphere is like at an Absa Currie Cup final. The Sharks made an intense start, they scored a quick try and kept up the pressure. We knew if we kept on playing the way we had during the season the chances and points would come. It was close but we made a strong comeback.
"It was a nice way to end my Province career and I was honoured to have been part of such a great occasion," van Straaten said.
There were some great players on display, including Percy Montgomery, AJ Venter, Bob Skinstad, Deon Kayser, and Breyton Paulse. Fans of Saracens will notice Neil de Kock in action, while Shaun Sowerby of Toulouse was prominent. Stefan Terblanche, who will captain the Sharks in the 2010 final tomorrow, is the only survivor from both the 2000 and 2001 finals. He also played in 2008, so will play in his fourth final tomorrow.
Time: 06:55
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20 Comments:
Shawn Sowerby plays for Stade Toulousain, not Français. Watch out, it's like confusing Australia and South Africa over here I suppose !
Is it just me, or you'd hear the whistle in everyone of those actions nowadays ? good clip though
By Anonymous, at October 29, 2010 9:18 am
a lot of factual mistakes in the first 2 paragraphs. i wont even read the rest.
By Anonymous, at October 29, 2010 10:34 am
yeah, obviously the refereeing wasnt as high standard as today
gaffie du toit also played for stade toulousain for 2 years around 2007
some good passages of play, remarkable how the players always looked for support and continuity rather than falling to ground straight away
on a side note, nice tits
By Luxi, at October 29, 2010 10:38 am
this match is awesome! loving the pace they play at.
By H, at October 29, 2010 10:46 am
that looked like an awesome game! Must have been great to actually be there.
By granite, at October 29, 2010 11:26 am
Krige is the man.
By Anonymous, at October 29, 2010 11:28 am
Boobs are becoming more and more prevalent on the site. Go to 4.25. Starting to like RD even more.
By Anonymous, at October 29, 2010 11:31 am
Notice Paulse's celebration at the end of this clip. Love it.
By Anonymous, at October 29, 2010 11:37 am
Paulse celebrates because he has just seen the boobs.
Good running rugby, very pleasant to watch. Good vid.
By Maximus, at October 29, 2010 12:59 pm
Smit would have felt like a right tit if he'd dropped the ball when tackled just before the try.
By Anonymous, at October 29, 2010 1:46 pm
@ the first ntwo comments. this was posted ages ago and showerby played for stade francais so relax
By Anonymous, at October 29, 2010 1:59 pm
great game! Must admit to prefering the older fashioned jerseys in this clip as opposed to the "please show off my moobs" shirts of today...
So much good rugby on this weekend in either hemisphere - in danger of an enforced stay on the couch due to the misses not being a fan...
agree with Luxi - great norks!
By NiWiTa, at October 29, 2010 2:07 pm
Ah yes.. long day yesterday then up till 1am getting the video ready, then started writing before 7am this morning. Apologies for the Sowerby mistake! Not sure about the 'factual errors in the first two paragraphs' though? Everyone's a critic.
By GMC, at October 29, 2010 2:35 pm
Cool highlights. I loved seeing some of those guys playing again. Such passion, I cant wait till tomorrow! :)
By Flinto, at October 29, 2010 3:24 pm
That looked like a fantastic game
By Anonymous, at October 29, 2010 3:28 pm
sorry but i wasnt really old enough to remember the game back in 2001 but that seemed pretty scrappy? never the less looked like a good game. loved that guys flip at the end of match ha.
By Anonymous, at October 29, 2010 4:03 pm
Looked like a fierce match. Awesome post, thanks!
By felipe, at October 29, 2010 4:24 pm
You can notice too Gaffie Dutoit who played a couple of seasons for Toulouse at the end of his career
By Anonymous, at October 29, 2010 9:27 pm
Boobies!
By Anonymous, at October 29, 2010 11:57 pm
Great celebration by Paulse! Looked like a great game. And how nice is the WP shirt??
By Juggernauter, at October 30, 2010 2:04 am
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