All South Africa’s United Rugby Championship (URC) teams are back to full strength with the return of fit and available World Cup-winning Springboks this week.
The Sharks dug deep and took a massive step towards securing a home playoff in the European Champions Cup by beating Bordeaux-Begles 19-16 on an icy cold French night at Stade Chaban-Delmas on Friday.
The Sharks laboured to beat Ospreys 25-10 at Kings Park thanks to flyhalf Curwin Bosch, who scored a try and two penalties to guide the beleaguered side out of this week's funk following their former head coach Sean Everitt's sacking.
On Saturday the Bulls will host the Sharks in the first January Currie Cup final at an empty Loftus Versfeld. Different date, different conditions, different world but the same goal – winning South Africa’s premier domestic competition.
The two most deserving sides, in this most trying of seasons, will meet in the final for the fifth time in history, with each having won two of the previous encounters. They are currently the two sides with the most forward-thinking boardrooms and the two teams with squads filled with experience and raw talent.
Flyhalf Morné Steyn steered the Bulls to their last Currie Cup title nearly 12 years ago – their fifth in the eight years at the time. Steyn scored 21 points as the Bulls beat the Cheetahs 36-24 in 2009. It’s almost impossible to imagine that the Bulls have only appeared in one final (2016) since.