Big-Match Special: Currie Cup Final
The SuperSport.com team brought you all the action as the Lions and the Sharks met in Saturday's Currie Cup final.
Our coverage included text updates of the build-up, video, live streaming, a Q&A session and live text commentary.
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15:00 - Good afternoon and welcome to our coverage of today's Currie Cup final. So far the weather has been playing a long, with the sun shining despite the weatherman predicting differently.
15:05 - We've already had some action at Coca-Cola Park with the Lions' U19 side coming from well behind to beat the Blue Bull counterparts 20-19. Is this a good omen for the home Union for later this afternoon?
15:10 - Here is the latest Blitz rugby bulletin to bring you up to speed with what to expect today:
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15:25 - Sharks coach John Plumtree gave us his views on the game. Here he is:
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15:30 - The sun is still shining merrily over Coca-Cola Park, but there is a bit of cloud build-up in the west. Currently on the field is the Blue Bulls' U21s against the Sharks'. The Pretoria outfit is leading 22-13.
15:40 - Here is the statistical preview we did for the game.
- The last time the Golden Lions won an Absa Currie Cup Final at their home ground, was 61 years ago, when they were still called Transvaal and they beat Western Province by 22-11.
- Since then the Johannesburg-based union have won finals in Wellington (beat Boland by 11-9 in 1952), Springs (beat the Valke by 25-19), Durban (beat The Sharks by 21-15 in 1993 and by 32-9 in 1999) and Bloemfontein (beat Free State by 56-33 in 1994).
- The Lions have lost home finals in 1987 (24-18 to the Blue Bulls), 1992 (14-13 to The Sharks), 1996 (33-15 to The Sharks) and 2002 (31-7 to the Blue Bulls).
- Since famously winning the Cup for the first time in 1990, the Sharks have played in 10 Currie Cup finals, winning five times.
- In four previous Absa Currie Cup Finals between these two sides, the hosts have lost every single time.
Head to Head in Absa Currie Cup Finals
1992: MTN Golden Lions 13 The Sharks 14 - Johannesburg
1993: MTN Golden Lions 21 The Sharks 15 - Durban
1996: MTN Golden Lions 15 The Sharks 33 - Johannesburg
1999: MTN Golden Lions 32 The Sharks 9 - Durban
Played 4 - MTN Golden Lions won 2 - The Sharks won 2 - Drawn 0
For the full preview article click here
15:55 - The Bulls were threatening to run away with this U21 game a while ago, taking the score out to 36-13, but the Sharks are having none of it and pulled it back to 36-30. Still very much game on with seven minutes left.
16:10 - Bulls take the U21 final with a 46-30 win over the Sharks. It was a highly entertaining match, and if this is the standard of junior rugby in the country, we have a bright future ahead of us.
16:20 - With the junior rugby out of the way now, let's turn our focus to today's big match.
Head to Head: MTN Golden Lions v The Sharks (since 2005)
16/07/2005: MTN Golden Lions 16 The Sharks 22 - Durban
23/06/2006: MTN Golden Lions 22 The Sharks 33 - Durban
19/08/2006: MTN Golden Lions 22 The Sharks 21 - Johannesburg
30/06/2007: MTN Golden Lions 14 The Sharks 7 - Johannesburg
01/09/2007: MTN Golden Lions 3 The Sharks 21 - Durban
13/10/2007: MTN Golden Lions 19 The Sharks 12 - Durban
26/07/2008: MTN Golden Lions 11 The Sharks 16 - Durban
27/09/2008: MTN Golden Lions 20 The Sharks 34 - Johannesburg
11/10/2008: MTN Golden Lions 14 The Sharks 29 - Durban
15/08/2009: MTN Golden Lions 19 The Sharks 30 - Johannesburg
03/10/2009: MTN Golden Lions 17 The Sharks 19 - Durban
07/08/2010: MTN Golden Lions 19 The Sharks 48 - Durban
25/09/2010: MTN Golden Lions 22 The Sharks 20 - Johannesburg
27/08/2011: MTN Golden Lions 28 The Sharks 19 - Johannesburg
15/10/2011: MTN Golden Lions 9 The Sharks 53 - Durban
Played 15 - MTN Golden Lions won 5 - The Sharks won 10 - Drawn 0
16:30 - Still bone dry here in Johannesburg, with no signs of imminent rain for the moment. Things are starting to look up for the home side.
16:45 - The stadium is slowly starting to fill up and with that the atmosphere is starting to resemble that of a big Cup final.
17:00 - The field is being prepared for the big match that kicks off in about 30 minutes time. The whole of Johannesburg was covered in red-and-white or black flags this morning. What a nice feeling to have big rugby back in the City of Gold.
17:15 - We caught up with a few Sharks players to find out what they thought about today's match:
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17:25 - We're moving off to the live scoring facility. Join us by clicking on the link above.