Currie Cup Premier Division: Preview

South African Rugby Union chief executive officer Jurie Roux is adamant that the Absa Currie Cup remains the bedrock of South African rugby and will always be the breeding ground for the Springbok team. Roux said the Currie Cup competition will continue to defy the odds as it is the feeder system to Super Rugby franchises and ultimately the national team and this year’s competition will be no different even without the Springbok players for the majority of the competition. Roux was speaking today at the launch of the oldest domestic rugby competition in the world which was held at Jeppe’s Boys’ High School in Kensington Johannesburg…… Roux says the inclusion of the Eastern Province Kings, Griquas and Pumas into the Currie Cup premier division will certainly help build rugby in the Eastern Cape, Northern Cape and Mpumalanga, areas Roux feels rugby needs to expand to for its long term survival……. Roux has no doubt that the new eight team premier division format will be beneficial for South African rugby and that having some of the smaller unions in the big league will help build more depth in players within the structure…… EP Kings coach and former All Blacks flyhalf Carlos Spencer says there is a lot of excitement within the team, their fans and the province ahead of the teams long awaited appearance in the premier division…….. Spencer is no stranger to Currie Cup premier division rugby as a coach as he assisted former All Blacks and Lions coach John Mitchell to Currie Cup glory three years ago. Now as head coach, Spencer is looking forward to the challenge of leading the Kings and says the enthusiasm of the players and his coaching staff have eased some of the pressure on him…… Sharks loose forward Jacques Botes is hoping that the defending Currie Cup champions will take with them the momentum of Super Rugby into the domestic competition but is well aware that every team will be targeting the Sharks this year. Botes though believes that it won’t be easy for the Sharks to retain the title as every team in the competition harbours ambitions of winning the title….. Botes did not shy away from the fact that the competition will be made more difficult by the absence of their Springboks but says it is the challenge of every union to work with the squads they have been able to assemble at the moment….. Mpumalanga Pumas head coach Jimmy Stonehouse says his team are well prepared and ready to compete in the premier division. The Pumas finished the first division as champions and they were unbeaten and took the unenviable route of the play-offs against Griquas last year to earn themselves a place in the premier division….. Stonehouse though cited the boardroom indecision on whether the Currie Cup would be a six team or eight team format as a major stumbling block to them not being able to secure big name players for this year’s Currie Cup competition. However, Stonehouse believes that his team will be a formidable force in the competition…..Journalist: Vata Ngobeni