Griquas v Pumas: An epic battle for Currie Cup glory

South Africa’s oldest domestic rugby competition will crown its 2026 champion in Kimberley on Saturday, when defending champions Suzuki Griquas host the Airlink Pumas in a Carling Currie Cup Premier Division final layered with recent history, contrasting styles and unfinished business.

Four years after the Pumas stunned Griquas in the 2022 final on the same ground to secure their first Currie Cup title, the two sides meet again to contest the famous trophy. The big match starts at 3pm and will be broadcast live on SuperSport.

For Pieter Bergh’s Griquas, the mission is clear: defend the title they captured in dramatic fashion against the Fidelity ADT Lions in Johannesburg last year and strengthen their claim as the current benchmark in South African provincial rugby.

For Jimmy Stonehouse’s Pumas, it is a chance to add a second Currie Cup crown and underline that their remarkable rise over the past decade remains one of the competition's great success stories.

Griquas have set the standard throughout the 2026 competition. After losing their opening match to the DHL Stormers XXIII in Cape Town, they produced six consecutive league victories to finish top of the table with a competition-leading 271 points and 40 tries scored, and the best defensive record in the tournament, leaking only 20 tries in their 143 points conceded.

Their points differential of +128 underlined a team capable of suffocating opponents and punishing mistakes. By contrast, the Pumas scored 201 points in the regular season and conceded 195, for a points difference of +6, scoring 29 tries and conceding 28 in the process.

Griquas’ dominance continued in last weekend's semi-final, where they dismantled the Lions 52-12 at home in the Diamond City. The holders ran in seven tries, overwhelmed the visitors at scrum time, and effectively ended the contest before halftime with a 35-5 lead.

The Pumas’ route has been more turbulent, but equally impressive. The men from Mpumalanga side finished third on the table after four wins from seven league matches but their campaign – which started with two early defeats to the Hollywoodbets Sharks XV and Lions in the opening rounds – gathered momentum at exactly the right time.

They outplayed the Toyota Cheetahs 52-26 in their final league fixture in Nelspruit to clinch a play-off place before backing that performance up with a gritty 27-24 away semi-final victory in Bloemfontein.

Unlike Griquas' eye-catching semi-final performance, the Pumas had to fight for every inch in Bloemfontein. Trailing at half-time, they produced a powerful second-half comeback against Frans Steyn's side before Clinton Swart's 70th-minute penalty settled a tense contest.

The result also sealed back-to-back victories over a Cheetahs side that had finished second on the regular-season log, four points behind Griquas.

Historically, the men from Kimberley possess the richer Currie Cup legacy. They lifted the trophy in 1970 and famously ended a 55-year wait by winning the 2025 title in Johannesburg. Saturday therefore presents an opportunity to secure a historic back-to-back cup success in a sixth Currie Cup final appearance.

The Pumas, meanwhile, remain one of the competition's modern disruptors. Their greatest moment came in 2022, when they travelled to Kimberley and defeated Griquas 26-19 to lift their maiden Currie Cup title. That result will not be lost on the visitors when they line up for a rematch of that final.

Although the Pumas have had the edge in this fixture over the last five matches, the most recent result suggests a slight advantage for Griquas, who beat the Pumas 38-14 during the league phase in Kimberley to snap a four-match losing streak to the team from Nelspruit and enter the final on a seven-match winning streak.

However, dismissing the Pumas would be dangerous. Their decisive victory over the Cheetahs in the final league round and subsequent gritty away semi-final triumph showed a squad peaking at exactly the right moment.

Expect a compelling contest in the 2026 Carling Currie Cup Premier Division final on Saturday in Kimberley, where the big occasion will be refereed by Morné Ferreira.

Suzuki Griquas v Airlink Pumas - Saturday @ Suzuki Stadium, Kimberley (3pm)

Referee: Morné Ferreira

TV: SuperSport