On Saturday the Cheetahs won the Currie Cup with a 25-17 win over the Pumas in the final for their seventh title. It remains to be seen if this could be good news for the Springboks later in the year at the Rugby World Cup in France.

In 2007 the Cheetahs beat the Lions in Bloemfontein 20-18 to win the Currie Cup final, while a few months later the Springboks beat England 15-6 in Paris, France to win the World Cup for the second time . 

In 2019, the Cheetahs beat the Lions again in the final, this time 31-28, while the Springboks went on to beat England 32-12 in Yokohama, Japan to win the World Cup for the third time.

Erasmus was the Springbok coach during the 2019 World Cup, and now serves as the Director of Rugby.

The former Free State captain and coach Erasmus told OFM Sport that he hopes that the Cheetahs in the Currie Cup against in a good sign for them before heaind to the global showpiece in France.

“I love the Cheetahs - I played for them in about 120 games and I captained the team. I never won the Currie Cup as a player, but I won it as a coach,” said Erasmus.

“They certainly have a special place in my heart for what they have meant for me personally.

“I'm sorry for Jimmy (Stonehouse) - he is certainly a fighter and what they've done there with the Pumas is unbelievable.

“With regards to the omen - I'm not normally one that believes in this kind of thing, but I would like to believe in this one. But it's nice to know that there is something weird out there that backs us a little bit.”

The Springboks kick-off their season next week Saturday when they tackle the Wallabies at Loftus Versfeld in the Rugby Championship. This Test in Pretoria kicks off at 17:05.

Morgan Piek OFM Sport