Legendary flyhalf Naas Botha once said: "The Currie Cup isn't won in May."This year he can update his quote to say the tournament won't be won in April.The Currie Cup kicks off tomorrow,although the first phase is really the defunct Vodacom Cup in a new frock without a trophy at the end.SA Rugby are not even calling it the Currie Cup; their website refers to this phase as the "Provincial Cup".The first phase will spend nearly four months determining the final nine teams for the premier Currie Cup division later this year.Although there are 15 participating teams, six - the Blue Bulls, EP Kings, Free State Cheetahs, Golden Lions, Sharks and Western Province - have little to play for.They are concurrently fielding teams in Super Rugby.So the eight remaining unions - the Leopards, Pumas, Griffons, Valke, Border, SWD, Boland, Griquas and Namibia - are fighting for three places.For the Super Rugby unions this portion of the tournament is little more than keeping contracted players busy and ready for potential Super Rugby call-ups.But for ambitious smaller unions such as Griquas and the Pumas, it's a serious problem if they don't make it to the premier division."The Pumas finished sixth in last year's Currie Cup and when the competition's committee started drafting proposals for the new Currie Cup structure, we believed we would be in the premier division without having to qualify," Pumas president Hein Mentz said...