A Hundred and Thirty-Seven Years

The Currie Cup has been contested since 1889 — the same year the Transvaal Rugby Union was founded. It is older than the Five Nations, older than the Ranfurly Shield, and older than the club competitions of Europe. For most of the twentieth century it was the most important prize in South African rugby, and in Johannesburg it has never entirely stopped being so.

THE LIONS' RECORD. Eleven titles: 1922, 1939, 1950, 1952, 1971 (shared), 1972, 1993, 1994, 1999, 2011 and 2015. Only two unions have won it more often.

THE MODERN FORMAT. A compressed league phase in July and August followed by semi-finals and a final in September, played across a field that mixes the traditional unions — Griquas, Boland, the Pumas, the Cheetahs — with development sides drawn from the URC franchises. In 2026 the Lions faced the Blue Bulls, a Sharks XV and a Stormers XXIII alongside the four provincial unions.

WHAT THAT MIX CREATES. Two competitions inside one. For the provincial unions the Currie Cup is the season. For the URC franchises it is a development programme running underneath a professional campaign. The sides asked to do both are the sides most likely to be caught out, and in 2026 the Lions were.

THE 2026 CHAMPIONS. Suzuki Griquas, who beat the Airlink Pumas 23-16 in the final at Suzuki Stadium on Saturday 12 September 2026. It was Griquas' second consecutive title, having beaten the Lions 27-25 in the 2025 final at Ellis Park.

WHY IT STILL MATTERS. A union with eleven titles and finals hosted across five decades does not get to treat this competition as a training exercise. Johannesburg has never accepted that framing and this yearbook is not going to offer it.