VIDEO: Is URC Shield the 'real' Currie Cup?
WATCH as Stormers Director of Rugby comes up with a potential solution to incorporate the United Rugby Championship shield into the Currie Cup to make it more meaningful.
His proffer comes ahead of the URC Round One catch-up match between the Sharks and Lions in Durban on Saturday – an encounter that will decide the holder of the South African Shield for 2025.
The oldest and SA’s premier domestic competition lost its shine in the early 2010s when it was decided that regular Springboks could not participate in the Currie Cup competition.
Except for the global pandemic, where the Bulls won back-to-back Currie Cup titles in 2020 (played in 2021) and 2021, the Sharks were the last team to use their full Springbok squad to win the prestigious competition against Western Province at Newlands in 2013.
What was once considered a prestigious competition to many has been watered down into an afterthought.
Dobson, by his admission a traditionalist, was asked if it is time to bury the Currie Cup with South African players effectively playing 12 months a year.
The Stormers boss offered the potential solution, but it is far from perfect, seeing that the smaller unions would be at a disadvantage not playing in the URC.
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“To compete in the URC and the Champions Cup, we have to rest the players and run a proper pre-season during the Currie Cup.
“So for us to take this 32 out of the Currie Cup, try and mix and match the squad, is problematic.
“I was one of the first guys that said: ‘Bring back the Currie Cup and play it during June, July and August’.
“It is hard months and we only got a couple of Rugby Championship games in the evening – with Argentina, Australia and New Zealand [in different time zones].
“It’s better to play it during the URC.
“We got all these extra players with us not getting game time now.
He added: “I don’t think any of the URC teams can play their main players in the Currie Cup in its current slot.
“I don’t know what the solution is.
“The other solution is something creative – there is a [URC] shield going on at the moment.
“I don’t know if there is a way to incorporate the Shield into the Currie Cup.
“Which might make it a bit more meaningful.”
