Rugby: Currie Cup's much more than rugby

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A look at the numbers tells its own story. More than 53,000 ventured to Loftus Versfeld for the Currie Cup final, compared to the 12,000 who saw Canterbury defend the Air New Zealand Cup in Christchurch.

The TV audience for the Blue Bulls and Free State Cheetahs game matched that for the Springboks' test against the All Blacks in Bloemfontein.

As many as 1.7 million viewers on free-to-air and 830,000 on satellite tuned in for both matches, highlighting the Currie Cup's huge popularity.

It's why Saru battle so fiercely, much to the annoyance of New Zealand and Australia officials, when talks over the expansion of the Tri Nations and Super Rugby threaten to interfere with the Currie Cup.

Fan fatigue is not a phrase heard there.

"The mindset is a little different," says former Wellington coach John Plumtree who coaches the Sharks' Super 14 and Currie Cup sides.

"For a lot of our supporters, they can't get enough. They don't play Thursday night rugby but it would be very popular because it would give people something to look forward to earlier in the week."

The crowd figures for the Currie Cup final are not isolated. Nearly 48,000 turned out for one semifinal and 31,500 for the other while the Lions, who were already out of playoffs contention, attracted 25,000 for their final round-robin match - one-third more than they got for the equivalent Super 14 match.

"One of the main reasons the Currie Cup continues to be so successful is because of all the years in isolation [because of apartheid] it was the only thing we had," Saru acting managing director Andy Marinos says.

"It defined and shaped domestic rugby. Super Rugby has affected things but one thing it can't do is affect the provincial tribalism of the Currie Cup."

One significant factor is the regular participation of Springboks. Unlike in New Zealand, the international players not only make themselves available but are encouraged to play.

Plumtree says the New Zealand provinces can't build a profile off the back of their All Blacks because they're not playing.

"That's a pity because when I was growing up competitions like the Ranfurly Shield were really important because they had all the top players.

"Here players can go into battle for the Springboks but the Currie Cup still ranks very highly with the top players and their appetite for it really helps the competition."

The Currie Cup was revamped three years ago with teams broken into a top eight, bottom six. The teams play each other on a home and away basis before the semifinals.

The bottom team in the premier division plays the top team of the first division in a promotion-relegation playoff.

All premier division games are televised while, crucially, half of the first division matches are. TV coverage is one of the major requirements of lesser unions wrangling over the format of the Air NZ Cup.

In 2012 the Currie Cup format will be changed to a top six, bottom eight. Saru bosses have found there is too much of a gap in quality and financially between the top five teams (Bulls, Lions, Cheetahs, Sharks and Western Province) and the rest.

"The biggest difference between New Zealand and South Africa is that in New Zealand there are other codes for rugby to compete with," Plumtree says. "In South Africa, it's really rugby all year round. They are also very patriotic to their local teams.

"In Durban there's always a lot of entertainment afterwards like braais [BBQs] in the carpark. It's more than just 80 minutes of rugby, it's a day out."