Namibia to play in Currie Cup

[TheOvalBall]

http://www.supersport.com/rugby/currie-cup/news/151211/Namibia_to_play_in_Currie_Cup

South Africa's domestic rugby competition, the Currie Cup, will include the Namibia national team in 2016 and be expanded to a seven-month long tournament which overlaps the Super Rugby season.The South African Rugby Union (Saru) confirmed on Friday that the world's oldest domestic rugby championship, first contested in 1889, would contain 15 teams and 166 matches, up from 76 games in 2015. It will be played between April and October.
Namibia have played in five Rugby World Cups but failed to win any of their 19 matches at the global showpiece tournament.
The first round will see the 14 South African provincial sides and Namibia play in a round-robin format, with the unions that host the six Super Rugby franchises automatically advancing to the second stage.
They will be joined by the three other unions with the most points on the log table.
Those nine will form the Premier Division for the remainder of the competition, while the six teams that do not fall into that bracket will contest the First Division ***le.
"The enthusiasm for the Curie Cup remains intense among our members and the new format was driven by their desire to see all teams playing each other once again," Jurie Roux, CEO of the South African Rugby Union, said in a statement.
The Premier Division matches will start after the completion of the Super Rugby season.

Welcome back Suidwes Afrika, read Namibia. I loved seeing the men in blue jerseys with the red stripes play. The days of Gerhard Mans.

 

[dragos03]

Great news for Namibia.

The SH Tier 1 unions seem to be way more open than the NH ones. First it was Argentina and Japan included in Super Rugby, now Namibia gets into the Currie Cup. Meanwhile, the recent reform of European rugby competitions actually REDUCED the number of spots for minor clubs by 2. This is just another reason why SH national teams do much better in thw RWC. While Argentina got the chance to enter the 4N (and I bet that Japan and perhaps the US will follow), European rugby just keeps the ringfence and isolates any emerging nations on the continent. This year, the youth competitions have been ringfenced as well.

 

[Scan]

So, 15 teams. I presume thats:

1. Blue Bulls
2. Natal Sharks
3. Free State Cheetahs
4. Golden Lions
5. Western Province
6. Eastern Province Kings
7. Griquas
8. Pumas
9. Leopards
10. Valke
11. Boland Kavaliers
12. SWD Eagles
13. Griffons
14. Border Bulldogs
15. Namibia

So, since there's no more Vodacom Cup anymore, are the Limpopo team scrapped? I didn't know much about them, but that's a shame, no?

 

[TRF_heineken]

So, 15 teams. I presume thats:

1. Blue Bulls
2. Natal Sharks
3. Free State Cheetahs
4. Golden Lions
5. Western Province
6. Eastern Province Kings
7. Griquas
8. Pumas
9. Leopards
10. Valke
11. Boland Kavaliers
12. SWD Eagles
13. Griffons
14. Border Bulldogs
15. Namibia

So, since there's no more Vodacom Cup anymore, are the Limpopo team scrapped? I didn't know much about them, but that's a shame, no?

I think the new structure is basically just combining the Vodacom Cup with the Currie Cup, but with some added incentives. The limpopo team was a bunch of amateurs, who got together twice a week to train together. There was no chance of them ever being competitive without getting players on a professional basis to play for them. Most of these guys live in my home town, and all of them work 8-5 jobs and then go to training.

Most of them are actually glad that they are no longer going to participate. They will go back to club rugby and have fun.

 

[Chevalier]

What kit do Namibia wear? The same of the national team?