# 1996 Currie Cup

The 1996 Currie Cup was the 58th season of the Currie Cup, South Africa's premier domestic rugby union competition, since it started in 1889. The competition was known as the Bankfin Currie Cup for sponsorship reasons and was contested from 30 May to 24 October 1996. This was also the first season since the advent of professionalism in South African rugby union, which led to a major restructuring in several facets of the sport. The number of provincial unions were reduced from 22 to 14, all of which participated in a single Currie Cup tournament.
The competition was won by the Natal for the fourth time in their history; they beat the Transvaal 33–15 in the final played on 24 October 1996.

## Competition rules and information

There were fourteen participating teams in the 1996 Currie Cup. These teams were divided into two sections, Section A and Section B. Teams played all the other teams in their section twice over the course of the season, once at home and once away.
Teams received two points for a win and one point for a draw. The top four teams in each section qualified for the title play-offs. In the quarter finals, the teams that finished first in each section had home advantage against the teams that finished fourth in the other section, while the teams that finished second in each section had home advantage against the teams that finished third in the other section. The winners of these quarter finals advanced to the semi-finals and semi-final winners advanced to the final, in both rounds at the home venue of the higher-placed team.

## Teams
### Team Listing

| 1996 Currie Cup teams |
| Team | Sponsored Name | Stadium/s | Sponsored Name |
| Boland | Boland | Boland Stadium, Wellington | Boland Stadium |
| Border | Border | Waverley Park, East London | Waverley Park |
| Eastern Province | Eastern Province | PE Stadium, Port Elizabeth | PE Stadium |
| Eastern Transvaal | Eastern Transvaal | Bosman Stadium, Brakpan | Bosman Stadium |
| Free State | Free State | Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein | Vodacom Park |
| Griqualand West | Griqualand West | Griqua Park, Kimberley | ABSA Park |
| Natal | Natal | University of Natal, Durban | University of Natal |
| Northern Free State | Northern Free State | North West Stadium, Welkom | North West Stadium |
| Northern Transvaal | Northern Transvaal | Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria | Minolta Loftus |
| South Eastern Transvaal | South Eastern Transvaal | Johann van Riebeeck Stadium, Witbank | Johann van Riebeeck Stadium |
| South Western Districts | South Western Districts | Outeniqua Park, George | Outeniqua Park |
| South Western Districts | South Western Districts | REC Ground, Oudtshoorn | REC Ground |
| South Western Districts | South Western Districts | Van Riebeeck Stadium, Mossel Bay | Van Riebeeck Stadium |
| Transvaal | Transvaal | Ellis Park Stadium, Johannesburg | Ellis Park Stadium |
| Western Province | Norwich Western Province | Newlands Stadium, Cape Town | Fedsure Park Newlands |
| Western Transvaal | Western Transvaal | Olën Park, Potchefstroom | Olën Park |

### Changes from 1995

Following the 1995 Rugby World Cup, rugby union was declared in a professional sport in South Africa. This caused a major restructuring in the rugby unions, which saw the total number of unions reduced from 22 to 14. All of these teams played in the 1996 Currie Cup, which was increased from 6 teams to 14.
Promoted teams:
* Boland
* Border
* Eastern Transvaal
* Griqualand West
* Western Transvaal
* Northern Free State
* South Eastern Transvaal
* South Western Districts
Dissolved teams:
* Eastern Free State (absorbed into Northern Free State)
* Far North (absorbed into Northern Transvaal)
* Lowveld (absorbed into South Eastern Transvaal)
* North Eastern Cape (absorbed into Border and Eastern Province)
* North Western Cape (absorbed into Griqualand West)
* Northern Natal (absorbed into Natal)
* Stellaland (absorbed into Western Transvaal)
* Vaal Triangle (absorbed into Eastern Transvaal)

## Log

The final log of the round-robin stage of the 1996 Currie Cup:
Section A :
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | TF | TA | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Natal | 12 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 673 | 212 | +461 | 97 | 20 | 24 | quarter-finals |
| 2 | Transvaal | 12 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 456 | 252 | +204 | 53 | 25 | 19 | quarter-finals |
| 3 | South Eastern Transvaal | 12 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 292 | 363 | −71 | 30 | 42 | 14 | quarter-finals |
| 4 | Boland | 12 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 250 | 308 | −58 | 25 | 35 | 12 | quarter-finals |
| 5 | Eastern Province | 12 | 3 | 1 | 8 | 245 | 341 | −96 | 25 | 38 | 7 | |
| 6 | Border | 12 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 244 | 422 | −178 | 26 | 50 | 6 | |
| 7 | Western Transvaal | 12 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 268 | 530 | −262 | 22 | 68 | 2 | |
Section B :
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | TF | TA | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Northern Transvaal | 12 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 707 | 207 | +500 | 93 | 23 | 22 | quarter-finals |
| 2 | Free State | 12 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 558 | 280 | +278 | 75 | 28 | 19 | quarter-finals |
| 3 | Western Province | 12 | 8 | 0 | 4 | 537 | 249 | +288 | 74 | 27 | 16 | quarter-finals |
| 4 | Griqualand West | 12 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 437 | 322 | +115 | 58 | 31 | 15 | quarter-finals |
| 5 | Eastern Transvaal | 12 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 281 | 552 | −271 | 34 | 77 | 6 | |
| 6 | Northern Free State | 12 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 243 | 529 | −286 | 24 | 73 | 6 | |
| 7 | South Western Districts | 12 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 216 | 840 | −624 | 23 | 122 | 0 | |

## Matches

The following matches were played in the 1996 Currie Cup:

### Section A
#### Round one

* Bye/s: Boland

#### Round two

* Bye/s: Eastern Province

#### Round three

* Bye/s: Western Transvaal

#### Round four

* Bye/s: Natal

#### Round Five

* Bye/s: Border

#### Round Six

* Bye/s: Transvaal

#### Round Seven

* Bye/s: South Eastern Transvaal

#### Round Eight

* Bye/s: Boland

#### Round Nine

* Bye/s: Eastern Province

#### Round Ten

* Bye/s: Border

#### Round Eleven

* Bye/s: Natal

#### Round Twelve

* Bye/s: Western Transvaal

#### Round Thirteen

* Bye/s: Transvaal

#### Round Fourteen

* Bye/s: South Eastern Transvaal

### Section B
#### Round one

* Bye/s: South Western Districts

#### Round two

* Bye/s: Eastern Transvaal

#### Round three

* Bye/s: Free State

#### Round four

* Bye/s: Western Province

#### Round Five

* Bye/s: Griqualand West, Northern Free State, Western Province

#### Round Six

* Bye/s: Northern Transvaal

#### Round Seven

* Bye/s: Eastern Transvaal

#### Round Eight

* Bye/s: South Western Districts

#### Round Nine

* Bye/s: Free State

#### Round Ten

* Bye/s: Northern Transvaal, Free State, Griqualand West, Northern Free State, South Western Districts

#### Round Eleven

* Bye/s: Griqualand West

#### Round Twelve

* Bye/s: Western Province

#### Round Thirteen

* Bye/s: Northern Free State

#### Round Fourteen

* Bye/s: Northern Transvaal

#### Round Fifteen

* Bye/s: Eastern Transvaal

### Title play-offs
#### Final
## Honours

The honour roll for the 1996 Currie Cup was:
1996 Currie Cup Honours :
| Champions: | Natal (4th title) |