Preview: And the Cup goes to…
The two biggest 'dogs' in the history of the Vodacom Cup, the Golden Lions and Griquas, take on each other in Kimberley on Friday in the grand finale of the competition in 2014.
Between these two sides they have won the Vodacom Cup nine times since its inception in 1998. That means more than half of all the titles have gone either to Johannesburg or Kimberley.
It's the Lions' second visit to Kimberley this year. They lost their Round Five encounter 18-33.
This will also be the third time these two sides face each other in the final of the Vodacom Cup.
Both previous finals ended in complete blow-outs – in 1998 Griquas won 57-0 and a year later, in 1999, they were smashed by the Golden Lions, 73-7.
Griquas coach Peter Engledow has two players in his match-22 who were part of the Griquas team which last won the title in 2009.
They are Steph Roberts (prop) and Simon Westraadt (replacement hooker).
Four more members of the Griquas squad have been part of Vodacom Cup-winning teams. They are Francois Brummer (flyhalf) and Rocco Jansen (wing), both with the Blue Bulls, as well as the former WP duo of Ederies Arendse (wing) and Hilton Lobberts (lock).
In Johannesburg, Lions coach Russell Winter has selected two players who were part of their title-winning side last year in Hugo Kloppers (lock) and Michael Bondesio (replacement scrumhalf).
Vainon Willis (fullback) was a member of the Blue Bulls team which won the competition in 2010, when Brummer kicked a last-gasp drop-goal in Pretoria.
Only seven teams have won the Vodacom Cup – the Golden Lions (five times) Griquas (four), the Blue Bulls (three), Western Province, Free State XV, Falcons and Pampas XV (once each).
Vodacom Cup Final
Griquas v Golden Lions
Date: Friday, May 16 2013
Venue: Park, Kimberley
Kick-off: 19.10 (17.10 GMT)
Referee: Jaco van Heerden
Assistant referees: Lourens van der Merwe and Francois de Bruin
TMO: JJ Wagner
The teams:
Griquas: 15 Gouws Prinsloo, 14 Ederies Arendse, 13 Jonathan Francke, 12 Wayne Stevens (captain), 11 Rocco Jansen, 10 Francois Brummer, 9 Tian Meyer, 8 Burger Schoeman, 7 Jaco Nepgen, 6 Marnus Schoeman, 5 Hilton Lobberts, 4 Jonathan Adendorf, 3 Ewald van der Westhuizen, 2 Martin Bezuidenhout, 1 Steph Roberts.
Replacements: 16 Simon Westraadt, 17 Janro Van Niekerk, 18 Stephan Greeff, 19 RJ Liebenberg, 20 Dustin Jinka, 21 Howard Mnisi, 22 Danie Dames.
Golden Lions: 15 Vainon Willis, 14 JR Esterhuizen, 13 Stokkies Hanekom, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 Selom Gavor, 10 Willie du Plessis, 9 Ricky Schroeder (captain), 8 Ruaan Lerm, 7 Cyle Brink, 6 Stephan de Witt, 5 Hugo Kloppers, 4 Thabo Mamojele, 3 Charles Marais, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Dylan Smith.
Replacements: 16 Mark Pretorius, 17 Nico du Plessis, 18 Lourens Erasmus, 19 Thabo Mabuza, 20 Michael Bondesio, 21 Marais Schmidt, 22 Caswell Khoza.
Road to the Final:
Round One
Griquas beat Blue Bulls 26-24 (Pretoria)
Golden Lions beat Leopards XV 18-16 (Potchefstroom)
Round Two
Griquas beat Griffons 20-12 (Kimberley)
Golden Lions beat Falcons 23-22 (Johannesburg)
Round Three
Griquas beat Limpopo Blue Bulls 68-13 (Kimberley)
Golden Lions lost to Blue Bulls 22-20 (Pretoria)
Round Four
Griquas lost to Pumas 25-16 (Nelspruit)
Golden Lions beat Griffons 40-37 (Johannesburg)
Round Five
Griquas beat Golden Lions 33-18 (Kimberley)
Round Six
Griquas beat Falcons 64-43 (Kimberley)
Golden Lions beat Limpopo Blue Bulls 110-0 (Polokwane)
Round Seven
Griquas beat Leopards 32-8 (Klerksdorp)
Golden Lions lost to Pumas 48-27 (Alberton)
Quarterfinals
Griquas beat SWD Eagles 84-15 (Kimberley)
Golden Lions beat Sharks XV 27-20 (Durban)
Semifinals
Griquas beat Pumas 15-14 (Nelspruit)
Golden Lions beat Blue Bulls 16-15 (Pretoria)
Vodacom Cup Final results:
1998: Griquas beat Golden Lions 57-0
1999: Golden Lions beat Griquas 73-7
2000: Free State XV beat Griquas 44-24
2001: Blue Bulls beat Boland Cavaliers 42-24
2002: Golden Lions beat Blue Bulls 54-38
2003: Golden Lions beat Blue Bulls 26-17
2004: Golden Lions beat Blue Bulls 35-16
2005: Griquas beat Leopards 27-25
2006: Falcons beat Sharks XV 25-17
2007: Griquas beat Blue Bulls 33-29
2008: Blue Bulls beat Free State XV 25-21
2009: Griquas beat Blue Bulls 28-19
2010: Blue Bulls beat Free State XV 31-29
2011: Pampas XV beat Blue Bulls 14-9
2012: Western Province beat Griquas 20-18
2013: Golden Lions beat Pumas 42-28
