The Currie Cup is in danger

The Currie Cup is in danger
At Toyota Stadium in Bloemfontein, Free State, on June 24, 2023, during the 2023 Currie Cup Final between the Cheetahs and the Pumas, Toyota Cheetahs celebrate. © BackpagePix/Charle Lombard
Posted on March 24, 2024
The Currie Cup in 2024 may not happen at all as a result of a rumored boardroom dispute over professional players’ workloads.

The competition this year will now take place in July and September instead of coinciding with the European Cup or Vodacom URC like it did the year before.

The eight teams were split up into two pools of four according to a newly designed system.

According to reports, each team would play one game each against each opponent in the other pool and would face the teams in their pool both home and away. This implies that instead of the 14 league games they played last year, each team will play 10 this year before the playoffs.

However, there is a significant dispute over the Currie Cup occurring during URC teams’ off-season, according to the Sunday daily Rapport.

The fact that the South African season will now last for 20 months straight without a true off-season worries the players’ association, MyPlayers.

The report states that MyPlayers has requested formal arbitration in this dispute. Should they triumph in the arbitration action, the Currie Cup would not take place from July to September, and SA Rugby might forfeit its primary sponsor for the competition.

A rugby executive told Rapport, “many players in the country will be out of a job if they are successful and the Currie Cup does not continue.”

“What about the other players? They [MyPlayers] prefer to listen to the top 30 to 50 guys.” The Currie Cup cannot continue if MyPlayers is successful and every player is required to take a break for eight weeks at the same time.

Eugene Henning, chief executive of MyPlayers, emphasized to players in a letter how crucial it is to set aside time for recuperation.

“Player welfare issues arise when the Currie Cup is played from July to September.

“Neither world rugby nor the conditioning experts we interviewed accept the practice of having athletes play without rest for longer than 12 months.”