May in September this year?

Naas Botha once famously said that the Currie Cup was not won in May, but it could have been lost in September for the Blue Bulls if they did not rally to beat the Lions to catapult themselves to third position on the Absa Currie Cup log. This weekend will  be a vital one too in determining the destiny of the coveted trophy.

After this weekend the table-topping Sharks and Western Province could go toe to toe within three weeks to determine who will be placed first. If the Sharks lose their encounter with the Lions in Johannesburg this weekend, they might be forced to fight it out for the number-1 spot against Province in the final league match.

But if the Durban-based team waltz pass the Lions, they will most probably top the table.

Western Province has a far more complicated ‘road to the final’ than the Sharks, the Bulls or even the Cheetahs.

Currently they are second, on 38 points, to the leading team, the Sharks, who are enjoying a cushion of eight points. The Bulls are third (33 points), followed by the Cheetahs (32), Lions (31) and Griquas (30 points).

Province, who are just five points ahead of the Bulls, face Griquas (at home), the Bulls (in Pretoria) and the Sharks (at home) in the weeks to come. None of those games are a 'gimme' and it may well be that their encounter with the Bulls on October 2 could decide who finishes second on the standings (or they could be left with the prospect of having to beat the Sharks the following week to have home-ground advantage in the semifinals), says www.rugby365.com

North-South derby

The Bulls, although they will deny it, know that their focus will be on the October 2 encounter - the big north-south derby.

The Men from Pretoria should not be troubled by the Leopards this week, then follows the big game at Loftus (having lost to WP in Cape Town in the first half of the season), before they finish their league action against Griquas in Kimberley.

The Cheetahs are the best placed of these two for a top-four finish - with games against the Pumas, Lions and Leopards to come. In fact, the October 2 showdown in Bloemfontein (between Free State and the Lions) could decide which one of the two will be in the semi-finals - if the Lions can get past the Sharks this coming weekend, claims www.rugby365.com.

The Bulls will have their senior Springboks back for the semi-finals, and it is very possible that they will play for the privilege of meeting the Sharks in the finals.

But nothing is cast in stone in Currie Cup rugby, as the Free State Cheetahs shocked the Sharks fans and their own supporters in 2009 when Jacques-Louis Potgieter dropped the men from Bloemfontein into the finals as the Sharks were left licking their wounds.

Youth versus experience

What is our guess on who will feature in the play-offs of the Currie Cup competition? Judging on the current performances, it could be the Sharks, Western Province, the Bulls and the Cheetahs. But you cannot discard the Lions with Elton Jantjes in the pivotal number-10 position.

Since its inception in 1889, Western Province has won the Currie Cup competition 32 times, the Bulls 23 times and the Lions nine times.

One thing that the past six weeks has shown is that the exuberance of youth is just as vital a factor in the Currie Cup competition as experience and test caps.

Look at Jantjes (20) and Patrick Lambie (19). Jantjes has been at the heart of the Lions-revival, with his inspirational attacking play and kicking.

Lambie has excelled at full-back, centre and flyhalf for the Sharks.

Will they feature in the Springbok-team for the end-of-the-year tour? Surely it is time for the national selectors to revise their thinking on youth and give these two players some game-time in the Green and Gold. They tried Francois Steyn in 2007 and he played a crucial role in the final of the Rugby World Cup at the tender age of 20.

Jantjes has done wonders for the morale of the Lions, and with Butch James destined to miss the Northern Hemisphere tour and Ruan Pienaar opting to ply his talents overseas, the selectors could do worse than  give Jantjes a chance.

Lambie has been sensational at number 10 for the Sharks, but is better known as a fullback of the highest class and could get the nod in that position.

The rugby website www.rugby365.com mentions the name of several young players making an impression on SA rugby in 2010 - Jantjes (20), Lambie (19), Nick Köster (20), Jaco Taute (19) and in his second year of Currie Cup rugby, Wandile Mjekevu (19), Gerhard van den Heever (21) and Martin Bezuidenhout (just 21).