Currie Cup · Round 1
Cheetahs
Lions
Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein
Championship Standings
The 2026 Currie Cup opens here, so there is no live table yet — the rows below are the final 2025 regular-season log for context. It was the Lions' league to lose: they topped it with a +97 points difference and five wins, only to be undone 27–25 by Griquas in the final. The Cheetahs finished third at +6, their season defined by a four-game winning streak — including a 47–31 dismantling of these same Lions in Bloemfontein — before a late fade cost them any playoff momentum.
| Pos | Team | P | W | L | PD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lions | 7 | 5 | 2 | +97 | 26 |
| 2 |  Griquas | 7 | 5 | 2 | +48 | 25 |
| 3 | Cheetahs | 7 | 4 | 3 | +6 | 23 |
| 4 |  Boland Cavaliers | 7 | 4 | 3 | +3 | 23 |
| 5 |  Pumas | 7 | 3 | 4 | +54 | 21 |
| 6 |  Bulls | 7 | 3 | 4 | -9 | 15 |
| 7 |  Sharks XV | 7 | 3 | 4 | -100 | 14 |
| 8 |  Stormers | 7 | 1 | 6 | -99 | 6 |
Cheetahs
W2, L3The Cheetahs' 2025 Currie Cup ran in two gears — a blistering four-win surge through the middle of the season (including that 47–31 rout of the Lions) that carried them to third, then a limp finish: hammered 40–10 by Griquas, pipped by the Bulls, and dumped out 25–5 by Griquas again in the semi-final. The more relevant form, though, is fresher. They reached the 2026 SA Cup semi-finals in May — beating log-leaders Griquas 32–31 along the way before the Pumas edged them 42–36 — so unlike most of the competition they start this season with rugby already in the legs, and with a marquee new arrival in the building.
Lions
W3, L2No side was better across the 2025 regular season: the Lions topped the log with five wins and a +97 points difference, blowing the Bulls away 44–5 and hammering Boland 67–19 in the semi-final. Then came the cruelest twist — a 27–25 final defeat to Griquas settled at the death. Their only regular-season blemishes came on the road: at Boland (10–29) and, tellingly, in Bloemfontein against these Cheetahs (31–47). A dominant but ultimately trophyless campaign — and, like every Currie Cup side, this is a heavily reloaded group.
Head-to-Head Record
2 – 0 – 3
Cheetahs wins · Draws · Lions wins (last 5 Currie Cup meetings)
Cheetahs (2)The Lions edge the recent ledger 3–2, having won both 2024 meetings — including a 43–34 playoff semi-final at Ellis Park — and a one-sided 52–15 in 2023. But the Cheetahs struck back emphatically in the most recent meeting, a 47–31 shootout in Bloemfontein last August that was the highest score either side has posted in this fixture in years. At home the Cheetahs have split the last two with the Lions, and the head-to-head has swung on venue and form far more than on any lasting pecking order.
Recent Results
| Date | Competition | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Aug 2025 | Currie Cup | Cheetahs 47–31 Lions |
| Sep 2024 | Currie Cup (SF) | Lions 43–34 Cheetahs |
| Aug 2024 | Currie Cup | Cheetahs 21–38 Lions |
| May 2023 | Currie Cup | Lions 26–33 Cheetahs |
| Apr 2023 | Currie Cup | Cheetahs 15–52 Lions |
Average score in the last 6 meetings: Lions 38 – Cheetahs 30 across the last five, but that average is skewed by a 52–15 Lions romp in 2023; strip it out and the two 2024 games and last year's shootout were genuinely tight. This is not a fixture with a settled favourite.
Extended Form
Cheetahs2026 SA Cup semi-finalists · 3rd in 2025 Currie Cup
Two competitions since last July. In the 2025 Currie Cup they finished third (W4 L3, +6), the 47–31 dismantling of these Lions the highlight, before Griquas ended their season 25–5 in the semi. They then reached the 2026 SA Cup semi-finals — finishing third in the league phase and beating log-leaders Griquas 32–31 in the final round — where the Pumas edged them 42–36 in May.
That SA Cup run matters twice over: the Cheetahs arrive with match minutes in the legs while most Currie Cup sides start cold, and they arrive with a genuine headliner. Springbok World Cup winner Faf de Klerk has signed from Japan's Yokohama Eagles, and the Cheetahs have flagged his debut for exactly this fixture — against the Lions, the club where his own senior career began. A World Cup-winning scrum-half in a Currie Cup nine is a category-of-one presence at this level.
Lions2025 Currie Cup runners-up · topped the regular-season log
The 2025 competition's outstanding regular-season side: seven rounds, five wins, a +97 points difference and top spot, with a 44–5 demolition of the Bulls and a 67–19 semi-final rout of Boland. It ended in heartbreak, a 27–25 final defeat to Griquas decided at the death. Both regular-season losses came away from home — at Boland (10–29) and in Bloemfontein against the Cheetahs (31–47).
The Lions were comfortably the best team-over-a-season in the competition last year, yet couldn't close the deal when the trophy was on the line. Like every Currie Cup squad they reload heavily each winter around their URC academy, so 2025's dominance is an imperfect guide to this XV. The pattern the Cheetahs will note: the Lions blow sides away at Ellis Park but have stumbled on the road, and this is a road game at altitude they know all too well.
Cheetahs XV
Not yet announced — checked the SA Rugby match centre (springboks.rugby), fscheetahs.co.za, RugbyPass and rugby365 team-announcement pages as of 12 July; Currie Cup sides are typically named 24–48 hours out, so a week ahead the XV is not public. The headline selection question is Faf de Klerk: the Cheetahs have publicly earmarked the Springbok scrum-half's debut for this game. Expect familiar 2025 names around him — Clayton Blommetjies at full-back, Jaco van der Walt or Zander du Plessis at fly-half, and a pack led by Carl Wegner and Victor Sekekete.
Lions XV
Not yet announced — checked the SA Rugby match centre, the Lions' channels, RugbyPass and rugby365 as of 12 July. The Currie Cup Lions are a development-tilted side distinct from the URC first team, reloaded each winter around the franchise academy, so the matchday 23 will lean young. Backline pace through Rabz Maxwane and Angelo Davids and a mobile back row are the traditional signatures; the half-back pairing that steers a rebuilt side will be the selection to watch.
Key Matchups
With neither XV confirmed a week out, the areas matter more than the names — and the decisive one is the nine and the game management that flows from it. If Faf de Klerk plays as advertised, his control, box-kicking and tempo against a young, reloading Lions half-back unit single-handedly lifts the Cheetahs' territory game above what a development fixture usually offers. The set piece looks even on paper and the packs are well matched. The Lions' route back is width and speed: get quick ball to Maxwane and Davids, make the game fast and loose, and stress a Cheetahs defence that is itself rebuilding. Whoever wins the kicking exchange controls where this is played.
Match Forecast
This is closer than a 2025 table that had the Lions top and the Cheetahs third would suggest — and the scorecard (+3 net) tilts home for two reasons the log doesn't capture. First, home advantage in Bloemfontein, where the Cheetahs took these very Lions apart 47–31 last August. Second, and decisively, Faf de Klerk: a World Cup-winning Springbok scrum-half dropping into Currie Cup rugby is a category-of-one signing at this level, and the Cheetahs have publicly flagged his debut for exactly this game. His control and kicking against a young, reloading Lions half-back unit is the single biggest edge on the park, and the SA Cup semi-final run means the Cheetahs start warm while most of the competition starts cold.
The case against is real. The Lions were the competition's best side across last year's regular season — +97, five wins, 40-point demolitions — and even a heavily reloaded development squad tends to carry that structure. They also own the recent head-to-head three-to-two and won both 2024 meetings, including a 43–34 semi-final at Ellis Park. Note too that Bloemfontein's altitude is no weapon here: the Lions come down from higher-lying Johannesburg. If de Klerk is managed cautiously in his first outing, or the Lions' back three of Maxwane and Davids get quick ball in space, this swings back fast. But home advantage plus a genuine difference-maker at nine is enough — narrowly.
Faf de Klerk's Cheetahs debut edges a tight opener — Bloemfontein and a marquee nine just shade a Lions side that ruled 2025 but not this fixture.
Springbok World Cup winner Faf de Klerk has joined the Cheetahs from Japan's Yokohama Eagles and is earmarked to debut against the Lions — the club where his own senior career began.
The Cheetahs' most recent win over the Lions, in Bloemfontein last August — the highest score either side has posted in this fixture in years.
The Lions topped the 2025 regular-season log with the competition's best points difference (+97) yet lost the final 27–25 to Griquas at the death.
The Lions have won three of the last five meetings, including both 2024 games, but the Cheetahs took the most recent one.
The Cheetahs reached the 2026 SA Cup semi-finals in May, beating log-leaders Griquas 32–31 en route — so they arrive with match minutes while most Currie Cup sides open cold.
Bloemfontein sits at roughly 1,400m, but the Lions are a Johannesburg side who train some 350m higher — for once, altitude is not the home team's weapon.