'There is no asterisk next to this win'
REACTION: Money doesn’t buy you class!
The Lions, with a budget five times that of Griquas, were outthought in the Currie Cup Final at the weekend.
Despite featuring a handful of Springboks and a team that will start their United Rugby Championship campaign in Cardiff this coming week, the Lions were unable to overpower a Griquas team of eager part-timers.
Seasoned flyhalf George Whitehead kicked the winning points after full-time, as Griquas defeated the Lions 27-25 in yet another dramatic Final staged at Ellis Park.
Last year, a long-range penalty goal after the hooter denied the team from Johannesburg a first cup success since 2015.
This victory ended a 55-year drought for the tenacious Griquas outfit, who were denied in the 2022 Final by the Pumas.
An emotional Griquas coach Pieter Bergh said he banned the word ‘URC’ from any conversations in the build-up, to ensure his team understand they were playing against just another side.
He spoke of the pride in his team for ending a 55-year drought in South Africa’s premier domestic competition.
The Griquas coach also dismissed the notion that the Currie Cup has become a watered-down, second-rate competition.
“There is no asterisk next to this win,” Bergh said, adding: “It is a proper Currie Cup win.”
He said the victory also proved that there is room for the smaller unions, from the rural areas like Kimberley and Nelspruit, in the South African rugby landscape.
“Our budget is probably 20 percent than that of the Lions, and we beat a full-strength home team, who brought Springboks in for the Final.
“Hopeful it opens doors for the smaller unions and they find a way to create more competitive games,” the Griquas coach said, adding that if nothing happens, there will be no games till March next year for his side.
“We [the smaller unions] need an international competition.
“Putting the big unions [URC franchises] in the SA Cup will create more games, but will not generate more revenue.
“An international competition will ensure more broadcast money and bigger sponsors, more opportunities to earn revenue.
“It is an ongoing conversation, but hopefully this will be the catalyst for something to become a reality.”
The coach revealed they are ‘open’ to loaning some of their players to URC teams.
Captain Cebo Dlamini will be on loan to the Sharks for the opening months of the URC till their Springboks return in December.
Wings Dylan Maart and Gurshwin Wehr, as well as scrumhalf Caleb Abrahams, are on the Stormers’ radar.
“We’ve had some enquiries about some of our other players,” Bergh said, adding: “These players deserve to play at a higher level.”
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