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South African rugby fans' attention turns to domestic finale

With the country still celebrating South Africa's victory over England in the World Cup final last weekend, attention in the republic now shifts to the climax of the local domestic competition, today's Currie Cup final.

Up to 34,000 fans are expected at Vodacom Park in Bloemfontein to cheer on the home side, the Free State Cheetahs, as they try to win their third straight domestic crown when they play the Johannesburg based Golden Lions.

Under the guidance of Rassie Erasmus, the Cheetahs won the title outright at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria in 2005 by beating the Blue Bulls 29-25, while last season in Bloemfontein the teams played to a 28-28 draw and shared the spoils.

It is the Cheetahs' fourth final in a row, while for the visitors from Johannesburg, it is their first final since 2002 when they lost to the Bulls. The last time they won the title was in 1999.

The Lions qualified for the final with a hard-fought 19-12 win over the Sharks in Durban, while the Cheetahs knocked out their arch-rivals, the Bulls, 11-6 in Bloemfontein.

The respective coaches, Naka Drotske of the Cheetahs and Eugene Eloff of the Lions have stuck to their winning combinations from the semi-finals for today's big showdown, but Drotske has included World Cup winning Bok Jannie du Plessis to his bench.

He is the only World Cup Springbok that will see action on the field this weekend. The Cheetahs' other 'Boks -- CJ van der Linde and Juan Smith -- and the Lions' Ricky Januarie, Andre Pretorius, Ashwin Willemse and Jaque Fourie will not play, but take part in a national tour with the rest of their World Cup teammates at the weekend.

Veteran prop Os du Randt, who played for the Cheetahs all his life, has retired from rugby.

"It's been a bit tough to change my focus from all that's been happening around the World Cup to the Cheetahs and this weekend's final, but when I rocked up at training on Tuesday and saw all my friends it was pretty easy to get all pumped up again," du Plessis told the Johannesburg Star newspaper.

While the Cheetahs are favorites to win the match, the Lions are keen to show they're back as a force in South African rugby.

"The Cheetahs have the experience of playing in the last three finals and that will give them the edge and makes them favorites, but finals are funny games," Lions coach Eloff said.
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