The 2015 Currie Cup First Division was contested from 29 August to 8 October 2015. The tournament (also known as the Absa

Currie Cup The Currie Cup is South Africa's premier domestic rugby union competition, played each winter and spring (June to October), featuring teams representing either entire provinces or substantial regions within provinces. Although it is the premier ...

First Division for sponsorship reasons) was the second tier of South Africa's premier domestic rugby union competition, featuring teams representing either entire provinces or substantial regions within provinces. The tournament was won by the for the first time after they beat the 44–20 in the final played on 8 October 2015. The Leopards also went through the season unbeaten, winning their five matches in the 2015 Currie Cup qualification that counted towards the First Division and the seven matches player in the First Division proper. After the season, all six teams joined the eight Premier Division teams and Namibia in an expanded 15-team Currie Cup competition for 2016.

Competition rules and information

There were six participating teams in the 2015 Currie Cup First Division. The six teams played each other twice over the course of the season, once at home and once away. The first series of fixtures were played as part of the

2015 Currie Cup qualification The 2015 Currie Cup qualification tournament was a competition organised by the South African Rugby Union which featured seven teams and was played between 12 June and 25 July 2015. The winner of the tournament would qualify for the 2015 Currie Cu ...

competition, with all results carried forward to the First Division except for the match against the

2015 Currie Cup Premier Division The 2015 Currie Cup Premier Division was the 77th season in the competition since it started in 1889 and was contested from 7 August to 24 October 2015. The tournament (known as the Absa Currie Cup Premier Division for sponsorship reasons) was t ...

qualifier, . A second set of fixtures then followed between the remaining six teams. Each team received four points for a win and two points for a draw. Bonus points were awarded to teams that scored 4 or more tries in a game, as well as to teams that lost a match by 7 points or less. Teams were ranked by points, then points difference (points scored less points conceded). The top 4 teams qualified for the title play-offs. In the semi-finals, the team that finished first had home advantage against the team that finished fourth, while the team that finished second had home advantage against the team that finished third. The winners of these semi-finals played each other in the final, at the home venue of the higher-placed team.

Teams

Following the

competition, the following six teams were confirmed as the competitors in the 2015 Currie Cup First Division:

Team Listing

Log

The teams' playing records from the

series brought forward to the First Division were as follows:

Round-by-round

The table below shows each team's progression throughout the season. For each round, each team's cumulative points total is shown with the overall log position in brackets.

Fixtures and results

All the results from the

tournament was carried forward into the First Division season. The results against the

qualifier – – was discarded. The following matches were played in the 2015 Currie Cup First Division:

Round Eight

The secured a semi-final spot after beating the 36–31 in a match in

Potchefstroom Potchefstroom (, colloquially known as Potch) is an academic city in the North West Province of South Africa. It hosts the Potchefstroom Campus of the North-West University. Potchefstroom is on the Mooi Rivier (Afrikaans for "pretty river" ...

. Leopards captain

Juan Language Juan Michael Language (born 19 April 1989 in Port Elizabeth, South Africa) is a South African rugby union player who last played for the . He can play as a flanker or a number eight. Career Youth, club and varsity rugby He played high school ...

scored a hat-trick and tighthead prop John-Roy Jenkinson got two tries, while SWD fly-half

Leighton Eksteen Leighton Eksteen (born 15 September 1994 in Riversdale, South Africa) is a South African rugby union player for VVA Podmoskovje in the Professional Rugby League in Russia. He is a utility back that can play as a fullback, fly-half or scrum-h ...

contributed 16 points with the boot to secure a bonus point for the visitors. The biggest victory of the round came in

Welkom Welkom () is the second-largest city in the Free State province of South Africa, located about northeast of Bloemfontein which is the provincial capital. Welkom is also known as Circle City, City Within A Garden, Mvela and Matjhabeng. The cit ...

, where defending champions the ran in ten tries in a 62–24 win over the , with

Boela Abrahams Yuseph Williams 'Boela' Abrahams (born 23 July 1988) is a South African rugby union player for the in the Currie Cup and Rugby Challenge. He started his career playing for the at youth level, before making the squad in 2007. In 2009, he join ...

Nico Scheepers Jacobus Nicolaas Scheepers (born 27 February 1990) is a South African rugby union footballer. His regular playing position is either full-back or winger. He represents the in the Currie Cup competition, having previously played for the and . ...

and

Martin Sithole Simphiwe Martin Sithole (born 3 February 1984 in Pietermaritzburg) is a South African rugby union player for the in the Currie Cup and the Rugby Challenge. His regular position is flanker. Career Youth He represented the at the 1997 Under-1 ...

getting a brace each, as did

Danwel Demas Danwel Demas (born 15 October 1981) is a South African rugby union player who most recently played for the . He previously played for Italian club Aironi in the Pro12, and for the Bulls and Cheetahs in Super Rugby. He represented South Africa i ...

for the losing side.

Friedle Olivier Friedle Olivier (born 27 May 1992) is a professional South African rugby union player for the Enisei-STM in the Rugby Premier League. His regular position is as a number eight, but he played as a flanker and a lock earlier in his career. Car ...

and

Jacques Verwey Tobie Jacques Verwey (born 9 December 1989) is a South African professional rugby union player, who most recently played with the . His regular position is flanker. Career Youth At school level, Verwey played for Hoërskool Middelburg, where ...

each scored two tries in the ' 48–27 win over the to move the side from Kempton Park up to second spot on the log.

Round Nine

The guaranteed themselves a home semi-final after beating the 47–12 in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

. Despite Boland taking the lead in the first minute through a

try, the Leopards responded with seven tries scored by seven different players. One of the try-scorers was

Adriaan Engelbrecht Adriaan Erasmus 'Meel' Engelbrecht (born 14 September 1990) is a former South African rugby union player, that spent his entire career at the . His regular position was fly-half or centre. He retired from rugby union prior to the 2016 season. ...

, who also converted six of the tries for a personal haul of 17 points. The moved into the top two after winning their second match in a row, winning 31–16 in

East London East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the f ...

against bottom side the and picking up a bonus point for scoring five tries in the match. Griffons captain

Nicky Steyn Nicolaas Phillipus Jacobus Steyn (born 2 August 1985 in Kroonstad) is a former South African rugby union player that made 140 first class appearances for the and the between 2006 and 2015. He usually played as an Eighth man. Career Youth He ...

scored a try in the first half in his 121st and final match for the side from

. In the final match of the round, the scored a try in the final minute of the match to beat the 21–17 in

George George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presiden ...

, despite the home team playing the majority of the match with 14 players after the sending off of

Clinton Wagman Clinton Andrew Wagman (born 5 October 1990) is a South African rugby union player, who most recently played with the . His regular position is winger. Career Youth He was first involved in provincial-level youth rugby when he represented the ...

in the 28th minute.

Round Ten

The secure a semi-final berth after demolishing the 76–12 in Kempton Park. They scored twelve tries in the victory from ten different try-scorers, with

Etienne Taljaard Etienne 'Mot' Taljaard (born ) is a South African rugby union player for the in the Currie Cup and the Rugby Challenge. His regular position is wing. He made his Currie Cup The Currie Cup is South Africa's premier domestic rugby union c ...

and

Shane Kirkwood Shane Monro Kirkwood (born 6 September 1989) is a South African professional rugby union player for CS Bourgoin-Jallieu, Bourgoin in the Fédérale 1 in France. He regularly plays as a lock. Career Golden Lions / UJ Kirkwood was selected to re ...

getting two each, while

Jaun Kotzé Jaun Kotzé (born 18 May 1992 in Musina, South Africa). He has 1 sibling and 3 half sibling. His father's name is Tinus Kotze.His biological sister's name is Marisa Kotze. And three half siblings by the name of: Markus Kotze La-Rochelle Kotze AJ ...

converted eight of the tries. The won again, scoring nine tries in a 64–34 victory over the , who also secure a bonus point by scoring four tries. Schalk Hugo and Tyler Fisher each scored two tries for the Leopards and

kicked 17 points for the Leopards. In the other match of the round, the beat the 31–19 in

. Both teams scored three tries, but 16 points from the boot of SWD Eagles fly-half

proved decisive in the match.

Round Eleven

Defending champions the secured their place in the semi-finals by beating the 30–21 in a match in

. Despite having three players sin-binned during the course of the match and being down to thirteen players at one stage, the home side won the match and secured a bonus point for scoring five tries in the match, with prop

Danie van der Merwe Daniel Joubert van der Merwe (born in Frankfort, South Africa) is a South African rugby union player who last played for the . His regular position is prop. Career Youth Van der Merwe was selected to represent his local provincial side, th ...

and loose-forward Vincent Maruping getting two tries each. The finalised the semi-final line-up by beating the 57–14 in

Charles Radebe Charles Roger Radebe (born 16 December 1995) is a South African professional rugby union player who most recently playing for the . He usually plays on the wing. Rugby career 2013–2014 : Schools and Under-19 rugby Radebe first earned a pr ...

and Brian Skosana each got a hat-trick of tries in the victory as the SWD Eagles ran in nine tries to end Boland's play-off hopes. There was nearly a major upset in the top-versus-bottom match as the needed a late

penalty to beat the 32–30 in

Round Twelve

The concluded the round-robin stage of their Currie Cup campaign with a perfect record; not only did they win all five of their matches, as well as their five matches in the

series that were brought forward to the First Division, but they also gained a four-try bonus point in each of their ten matches to top the log on 50 points. Tyler Fisher scored two of their six tries in their 36–29 win over a side that scored five tries of their own. The finished in third spot on the log with a late try from

Kurt Haupt Kurt is a male given name of Germanic or Turkish origin. ''Kurt'' or ''Curt'' originated as short forms of the Germanic Conrad, depending on geographical usage, with meanings including counselor or advisor. In Turkish, Kurt means "Wolf" and i ...

(his second of the match) securing a bonus point for the SWD Eagles in a 27–24 over the , who finished in second spot. The won the match between two sides without a victory to their name since the qualification tournament, beating the 44–20 in

. Lundi Ralarala and

Oliver Zono Oliver Zono (born ) is a South African rugby union player for the in the Currie Cup and in the Rugby Challenge. His regular position is fly-half. As of 2020 he plays for Krasny Yar Krasnoyarsk in Russia. Rugby career Border Bulldogs Zono wa ...

scored two tries each for the home side, who finished bottom of the log, one point behind the Boland Cavaliers.

Title Play-Off Games

Semi-Finals

In a repeat of the 2014 semi-finals, the hosted the and the hosted the . The Falcons caused an upset in 2014 by beating the Leopards, but the Leopards prevailed on this occasion, despite being outscored three tries to two. Five penalties from

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

secured a 29–17 win for the side from

to secure a home final. There, they will face the SWD Eagles, who beat defending champions the Griffons 47–40 in

. Both sides scored five tries in the encounter, but six penalties from SWD Eagles fly-half

(who contributed 27 points in the match) decided the semi-final in the away team's favour.

Final

The won the Currie Cup First Division by overturning a 10–20 half-time deficit to beat the 44–20 in

. Leopards captain

scored two tries for the hosts in the second half to aid his side's comeback, also becoming the top scorer in the competition in the process. The top points scorer in the competition was SWD Eagles back

, who scored ten of his side's 20 points on the night.

Honours

The honour roll for the 2015 Currie Cup First Division was:

Players

Points scorers

The following table contain points which were scored in the 2015 Currie Cup First Division:

Appearances

The player appearance record in the 2015 Currie Cup First Division is as follows: For each team, ( c) denotes the team captain. For each match, the player's squad number is shown. Starting players are numbered 1 to 15, while the replacements are numbered 16 to 22. If a replacement made an appearance in the match, it is indicated by . "App" refers to the number of appearances made by the player, "Try" to the number of tries scored by the player, "Kck" to the number of points scored via kicks (conversions, penalties or drop goals) and "Pts" refer to the total number of points scored by the player.

Discipline

The following table contains all the cards handed out during the tournament:

Referees

The following referees officiated matches in the 2015 Currie Cup First Division:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:First Division

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2015 Currie Cup