The Banana Boys and Western Province are set to do battle on Saturday in Durban, in what will be their eighth Currie Cup final meeting.

As it stands Province have their noses in front 4-3, although the Sharks are this season’s table toppers and have earned the right to play at home.

Before we go any further you should know the kick-off is 4PM, so you don’t end up missing the first half.

We’ll have a quick look at the last three finals, with that famous picture above from back in 2010.

Via Sport24, a summary of that meeting – Sharks 30-10 Western Province:

This game will be remembered as the match where 20-year-old flyhalf Pat Lambie came of age.

Lambie scored 25 points, including two tries, as the Sharks thrashed a shell-shocked WP.

The Capetonians came into the game confident having convincingly beaten the Sharks 33-21 at Newlands a few weeks earlier, but left Kings Park with egg on their face.

Lambie’s famous hand-off of Schalk Burger has become part of Currie Cup final folklore.

Baby-faced Lambie to Bok behemoth Schalk Burger – sorry, the bus was full:

In 2012 WP turned it around – Sharks 18-25 Western Province

This game will go down as one of the great upsets in Currie Cup finals history.

Injuries to several frontline players forced Western Province to take a young side to Kings Park and few gave them a chance against a Springbok-laden Sharks outfit.

The day will best be remembered for WP flyhalf Demetri Catrakilis’ heroics with the boot, which included a left-footed drop kick.

WP centre Juan de Jongh’s spectacular first half try off a scrum also stands out and helped WP claim their first Currie Cup title in 11 years.

Fancy Province to start the scoring on Saturday with a cheeky drop goal? How do 67/1 odds sound…

Turns out it’s Province that are more worried about the drop goal threat that Curwin Bosch poses:

Having slotted a number of drop goals already this season, that is an area where Bosch poses a threat and Western Province captain Chris van Zyl confirmed on Thursday that his side was preparing for that threat on Saturday.

“You’ve got to make sure that they don’t get that ball at ease at the breakdown,” Van Zyl said when asked what the plan was to stop Bosch from kicking drops goals.

“That’ll definitely be part of their plan … I’m sure they’ll want to get a couple.”

Looks like a drop goal being scored at any time might be worth a bet, hey?

The last time the teams met in a final was 2013 and still brings back painful memories – Western Province 19-33 Sharks:

Western Province were the favourites when they hosted the Sharks in the final at Newlands.

WP had beaten the Sharks 17-13 in Durban two weeks beforehand, but failed to pitch in front of their home fans.

Scrumhalf Charl McLeod’s intercept try in the sixth minute set the tone as Brendan Venter’s Sharks produced a tactical masterclass to win in convincing fashion.

Still too soon to talk about that one.

Sportingbet have the Sharks down as clear favourites, so who feels like backing the boys in blue?

The Sharks cruising home by a clear two-try margin gets you more than 2,5 to your money, whereas the same bet on WP will land you cool 7/1 odds.

It never hurts to know who’s on the field, so here’s a quick look at both teams:

Sharks

15 Garth April, 14 Kobus van Wyk, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 Marius Louw, 11 Odwa Ndungane, 10 Curwin Bosch, 9 Louis Schreuder, 8 Daniel du Preez, 7 Jean-Luc du Preez, 6 Keegan Daniel, 5 Ruan Botha (captain), 4 Tyler Paul, 3 Ross Geldenhuys, 2 Franco Marais, 1 Thomas du Toit

Substitutes: 16 Akker van der Merwe, 17 Juan Schoeman, 18 John-Hubert Meyer, 19 Jean Droste, 20 Jacques Vermeulen, 21 Michael Claassens, 22 Tristan Blewett, 23 Rhyno Smith

Western Province

15 Damian Willemse, 14 Seabelo Senatla, 13 Ruhan Nel, 12 Huw Jones, 11 Dillyn Leyds, 10 Robert du Preez, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage, 8 Nizaam Carr, 7 Cobus Wiese, 6 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 5 JD Schickerling, 4 Chris van Zyl (captain), 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 JC Janse van Rensburg.

Substitutes: 16 Ramone Samuels, 17 Ali Vermaak, 18 Frans van Wyk, 19 Jan de Klerk, 20 Kobus van Dyk, 21 Jano Vermaak, 22 Werner Kok, 23 Dan Kriel

Pretty big occasion for young Damian Willemse at fullback, and always good to see Sikhumbuzo Notshe back in action.

Kick-off at 4PM, and seeing as though half of Durban seems to live in Cape Town now I’m sure you can find a rival fan to watch it with.

Proooooovince.

[sources:sport24&sport24]