Currie Cup semi-finals decided after WP demolish Sharks, Cheetahs finish top

In a last round twist, the Free State Cheetahs finished top of the Currie Cup log after Western Province demolished the Sharks 44-5 at Cape Town Stadium on Saturday night.

Head coach Joey Mongalo’s side saw their seven-match winning run end cruelly at the hands of a rampant Province that ran in six tries to one.

The Cheetahs winning at Loftus earlier in the day gave them the bonus point to take them top but the Currie Cup fixtures would only be decided once the leaders heading into the final round-robin games, the Sharks, met Province.

RECAP | WP 44-5 Sharks

As it turned out, the Cheetahs will host fourth-placed Blue Bulls, whom they vanquished 31-27, while the Sharks are at home to the defending champions, the Pumas, at Kings Park. All matches will be played next Saturday, 17 June.

The Sharks will want to quickly burnish their most dismal performance of the campaign in time to mount a better effort in the knockout game against the deadly Pumas, in a game where there’ll be no second takes.

The Sharks defence, their strong point the whole season, fell to pieces as WP’s youngsters ran a strong-looking Sharks team ragged in the Western Cape wet.

The soggy, slippery field that hindered the Stormers in their failed pursuit of a second United Rugby Championship title against Munster, didn’t seem to bother Western Province, who spread the ball around giddily.

Freed from their semi-final qualification obligations after the Bulls’ two bonus points in their Cheetahs defeat, Province played some of their best rugby of their Currie Cup campaign, with Hacjivah Dayimani at the double.

It was a pity that they could not produce something similar against Griquas a week earlier, the result that actually paralysed their final four ambitions. A