Countries South Africa Runners-up Falcons | Champions Griffons (2nd title) Matches played 18 | |
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Date 29 August – 17 October 2014 Tries scored 136 (average 7.556 per match) | ||
The 2014 Currie Cup First Division was contested between 29 August and 17 October 2014. The tournament (also known as the Absa Currie Cup First Division for sponsorship reasons) was the second tier of South Africa's premier domestic rugby union competition, featuring teams representing either entire provinces or substantial regions within provinces.
Contents
Competition
There were six participating teams in the 2014 Currie Cup First Division. A proposed expansion of the Premier Division to eight teams was initially rejected, but was then subsequently approved on 13 February 2014. This meant that the First Division was reduced to six teams for 2014.
Regular season and title play offs
The six teams played each other twice over the course of the season, once at home and once away. The first series of fixtures were played as part of the 2014 Currie Cup qualification competition, with all results carried forward to the First Division except for the match against the 2014 Currie Cup Premier Division qualifier. A second set of fixtures then followed between the remaining six teams.
Each team received four points for a win and two points for a draw. Bonus points were awarded to teams that scored 4 or more tries in a game, as well as to teams that lost a match by 7 points or less. Teams were ranked by points, then points difference (points scored less points conceded).
The top 4 teams qualified for the title play-offs. In the semi-finals, the team that finished first had home advantage against the team that finished fourth, while the team that finished second had home advantage against the team that finished third. The winners of these semi-finals played each other in the final, at the home venue of the higher-placed team.
Promotion
All the teams qualified for the 2015 Currie Cup qualification series, since Griquas, a non-entrenched team, finished in the bottom two of the 2014 Currie Cup Premier Division.
Teams
The six participating teams were:
Log
The final log of the round-robin stage of the 2014 Currie Cup First Division was:
The teams' playing records from the 2014 Currie Cup qualification series brought forward to the First Division are as follows:
Fixtures and results
All the results from the 2014 Currie Cup qualification tournament were carried forward into the First Division season. The results against the 2014 Currie Cup Premier Division qualifier were discarded.
Semi-Finals
Following the match between the Leopards and the Falcons, the former lodged a complaint with the South African Rugby Union regarding the eligibility of Falcons fly-half Clinton Swart. The Leopards argued that Swart was only eligible for the final two matches of the Currie Cup First Division competition and therefore not eligible to play in the Semi-Finals. However, SARU Judicial Officer Rob Stelzner SC, ruled that Swart fulfilled the eligibiliy criteria and rejected the complaint.
Player Statistics
The following table contains points which have been scored in the 2014 Currie Cup First Division and excludes points scored in the 2014 Currie Cup qualification series:
Squad Lists
The teams released the following squad lists: