The 'Purple People Eaters' are back
SPOTLIGHT: The Pumas are defending champions after a fairytale 2022 season, while Griquas are desperate to end a five-decade long Currie Cup drought.
However, there is a new ‘danger’ on the domestic scene – the Griffons.
Murray Koster warned his Sharks teammates about the threat posed by the team they will meet in Round One of the Currie Cup at Kings Park in Durban on Saturday.
He pointed to the fact that the newly-promoted Griffons have had a ‘lengthy’ pre-season and will be determined to cause an early upset.
“They will want to prove something,” he said about the Welkom team in their first match back in the Currie Cup in more than two decades.
The Griffons, then still Northern Free State, was formed in 1968.
They won First Division titles in 2008, 2014, 2016, 2017 and 2022 – the latter securing them promotion to the South Africa’s premier domestic competition the Currie Cup.
They reached the Currie Cup semifinals, as Northern Free State, four times.
The team, affectionately known in their Currie Cup heydays as the Purple People Eaters, last featured in the Premier Division back in 1999, when it was a 14-team competition.
Koster said that while team goals come first, as a player he is determined to get some game time to put up his hand for United Rugby Championship selection.
“It is exciting that there are 14 games in a row where we can showcase what we are made of,” he said of the upcoming Currie Cup season.
“A lot of the guys who were ion the fringes of the URC [team] are looking forward to some game time,” Koster added.
He added that with the URC and European Cup the premier competitions for South African teams, those are the main focus for the Durban-based franchise.
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Beware…Are you ready for the new kid on the #CurrieCup block 🦅?#WhereLegendsRise pic.twitter.com/jYlaGMN6tR
— The Currie Cup (@TheCurrieCup) March 3, 2023
“The Currie Cup remains a huge focus for us,” the 24-year-old utility back said, adding: “We try and find a balance between the competitions, but the first few weeks the URC/Euro and Currie Cup competitions are not aligned.”
Having worked with World Cup winners like Siyamthanda Kolisi and Eben Etzebeth in training sessions this year, Koster said it is ‘awesome’ to learn from true professionals about improving their games.
The Sharks, like all four SA franchises, faces a major challenge in the first half of the Currie Cup season – when the URC and European competitions are still ongoing.
“Players will be moving up-and-down between the squads,” he said, when asked about the team’s obvious aspirations of domestic silverware, adding: “There are guys that recently come into the Currie Cup squad recently, guys who have come through the club ranks and juniors coming into the squad.
“There are also some fringe players from the URC squad that need game time.
“It is a very diverse squad, so the challenge is to get cohesion as fast as possible.
“It is vital that we hit the ground running, as it is South Africa’s premier domestic competition.”
The Sharks won the last of their eight Currie Cup titles in 2018, when they beat Western Province 17-12 at a now derelict Newlands.
Koster, another member of the Sharks Under-19 squad that clinched the national title in 2018, was born in East London on February 21, 1999.
Equally at home at centre and flyhalf, Koster attended St Andrew’s College in Grahamstown, and gained Craven Week selection for the Eastern Province Country Districts team in 2017.
Following his move to Durban and the triumphant Sharks Under-19 season in 2018, Koster has slowly worked his way up a very congested Sharks midfield pecking order.
@rugby365com
* Picture credit: @TheCurrieCup
