The Currie Cup 2026 season reaches its grand finale this weekend, with the Griquas hosting the Pumas at Griqua Park in Kimberley for the trophy.
It has been a fantastic season of provincial rugby in South Africa, and we now find ourselves with two very deserving finalists. The Griquas come in as heavy favourites after a near-perfect season, having lost just once across their entire campaign, while the Pumas earned their place with a stunning semi-final upset over the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein last weekend. Defending champions or fairytale winners, whichever way it goes, it should be a cracking final to close out the season, and both sides will be all in from the first whistle.
Griquas
The Griquas have had a near-perfect season up until the final. They have only lost one game all season, which was the very first fixture of the campaign, when they played the Stormers XXIII in Cape Town and lost the match 25-19. A 56-26 bounce-back win against the Bulls the following week put them on the winning path, and they haven’t stopped since.
Kimberley in particular, has been a fortress for them, with the Griquas winning all five matches they have hosted there this year, taking down the Bulls XV, Cheetahs, Lions, Sharks and Lions again in the semi-final. Speaking of the semifinal, the Griquas won last week’s match comfortably, beating the Lions by 52 points to 12 in what was as dominant a performance as we have seen all year.
Last year saw the Griquas win their first Currie Cup in 55 years, beating the Lions 27-25 in Johannesburg with a last-minute penalty to seal the game. The Griquas will now have a chance to defend their title in front of their home fans, which will only add to the occasion.
Pumas
The Pumas had a tough start to their campaign, losing their opening two matches against the Sharks at home 24-26 and the Lions in Johannesburg 52-29, but what a comeback it has been since then.
They won their next three matches on the bounce, beating Boland, the Bulls XV and the Stormers XXIII to get themselves right back into semi-final contention. They fell short against the Griquas in Round 6, however, the best was yet to come. Round 7 saw them hammer the Cheetahs at home, winning the match 52-26. That result meant they made the semifinals, where they would face the Cheetahs again a week later in Bloemfontein. Many expected the Cheetahs to bounce back and win comfortably at home, but the Pumas had something to say about that, and in a match full of excitement they won 27-24 to progress through to the final. That kind of momentum and belief will be worth its weight in gold heading into a big final against the tournament’s form side.
Head-to-Head
Prior to this year’s fixture where the Griquas beat the Pumas 38-14 in Nelspruit, the Pumas had actually dominated the head-to-head, winning the previous six matches between the two sides. So while the recent momentum sits with the Griquas, the longer trend across these two sides has definitely favoured the Pumas, and they will take real confidence from that. The two sides met in the 2022 Currie Cup Final in Kimberley, where the Pumas pulled off a brilliant win with the match ending 26-19, a result that will still be in the memory of both squads heading into this weekend.
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Betting and Verdict
The Griquas are favourites at 1.14 while the Pumas are trading at 7.00 with the draw trading at 31.00. The handicap is Griquas -13.5.
On paper, the Griquas should easily win this game. They have had a near-perfect season and have delivered performance after performance, especially at home in Kimberley where they are yet to lose all year, however, Finals rugby is always a completely different beast. We saw this exact thing when the Pumas faced the Cheetahs last weekend in Bloemfontein, they were complete underdogs but were able to pull off a stunning win in what was a fantastic advertisement for South African provincial rugby.
The Pumas also have a very strong record against the Griquas historically, including that famous upset in the 2022 final where they lifted the trophy in Kimberley themselves. Although we do think the Griquas should be able to win the game come Saturday, we don’t think they will cover the large -13.5 handicap in a Final, especially against a Pumas side who have been through this kind of moment before and know exactly what it takes to trouble them at Griqua Park.
Suggested Bet: Handicap, Pumas [+13.5] at 1.87.
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