What a Final! What a special Final!

But then every Currie Cup Final is special. An ancient Roman once said ex Africa semper aliquid novi - there is always some thing  strange/special out of Africa. There is always something strange/special out of the Currie Cup - and this one will go down in the memories of thousands for all sorts of special things.

The way Bloemfontein embraced the Currie Cup Final was special. Suddenly the city of flowers blossomed in orange, white and blue - die oranje, die blanje, die blou. Lots of orange, a little white and quite a bit of blue. Friday already it was hard to move about Bloemfontein as the streets were crowded with people in orange. At the ground there was noise from long before kick-off, throughout the match till the drawn end seemed to produce a numbed silence.

New Zealander Tom Pearce said "Drawings like kissing your sister". Doc Craven quoted it in 1979 when Western Province and Northern Transvaal drew. Morné du Plessis was the Western Province captain and in his speech he said "It's more like kissing your cousin - after a while it's nice".

After a while it will be nice as the town goes out to celebrate. But what a long, tense time it took to produce that draw, and in the end it was fair.

It was not a match of great innovation or creativity but it was a match of immense determination and tension.

In extra time with the score 28-25 to the Blue Bulls, young Meyer Bosman of the Cheetahs kicked a penalty kick at goal. High up it hit an upright and bounced back into the field of play. It would have been so sad if those mean centimetres had produced victory.

This Currie Cup Final was new - the first to produce extra time. There has been extra time in two World Cup finals. This was the first extra time in a Currie Cup Final, as two great sides played themselves to a standstill in the heat of Bloemfontein spring.

The first extra time and a dramatic time it was as both sides were now relying greatly on replacements. When replacement Bosman kicked poorly, replacement Stefan Basson kicked well but replacement Heinrich Brüssouw kicked poorly and conceded a penalty which replacement Morné Steyn goaled. 28-25 after three minutes of extra time. When Derick Kuün was penalised Bosman's kick hit that niggardly upright and bounced out. At half-time in extra time the Blue Bulls led 28-25.

Midway through the second period of extra time, Heini Adams was penalised for holding on and this time Bosman made it 28-all with five minutes to play - five agonising minutes.

Bevin Fortuin gave the Blue Bulls two good chances. First he failed to kick a penalty out and then he knocked on a simple pass in front of his line. Simple? At that exhausted stage of tension nothing was simple.

From the five-metre scrum, replacement Neil Powell bashed at the line but big, noble Barend Pieterse robbed him of the ball and the Cheetahs' line survived with a minute and a half to go.

That seemingly endless sliver of tense time belonged to the Cheetahs as they pegged the Blue Bulls back. Twice replacement Gaffie du Toit tries speculative drops. Then Phillip Burger chipped and the ball went dead to produce a scrum on the Blue Bulls' 10-metre line.

The scrum fell and the siren went. The scrum was reset, and the Cheetahs were penalised for a whip-wheel. Morné Steyn tapped the ball into touch.

It was such an anticlimax that the crowd when silent in numbness.

It would have been so noble if the Blue Bulls had accepted the challenge and gone for victory, but the match did not have a romantic ending. Just a whimper.

It started with so much colour and noise. The red plane of One-time Airlines flew over to remind people of the 1995 World Cup Final. The dancing girls were colourful and lovely, the Harley Davidsons bright and shining. Everybody seemed to be boasting his colours in shirts and overalls and hats and dyed hair and painted faces. There was all the fun of a massive folk fiesta in the packed stadium when Willem de Waal kicked off.

The Cheetahs scored first. After Derick Hougaard had kicked the ball out, the Cheetahs mauled a line-out and Pedrie Wannenburg was penalised for coming in at the side. De Waal made it 3-0 after two minutes.

Discipline seemed likely to cost the Blue Bulls dearly, especially in the second half when first Johan Roets was given a yellow card for a late tackle, the third illegal tackle by his side, the second by himself. Then Dries Scholtz followed him to the sin bin for the next illegal tackle, the second by himself. Their captain Gary Botha was penalised in the first half for dissent. But in the later part of the game they pulled themselves together and the Cheetahs conceded more penalties as pressure told.

In the 80 minutes the Cheetahs were penalised 15 times, the Blue Bulls 12 times. In extra time, things changed - the Cheetahs penalised twice, the Blue Bulls five times.

The early pressure came from the Blue Bulls, but the Cheetahs looked to set their fast men running, sometimes with long passes, once with an effective burst of short passes, and they scored a second penalty when Scholtz was penalised for a high tackle. 6-0 after 18 minutes.

From the kick-off, Michael Claassens, who was the normal recipient of kick-offs it seems, dithered, was tackled by big Danie Rossouw and lost the ball forward. The Blue Bulls claimed advantage and the Cheetahs were penalised at the breakdown for Hougaard to kick a straightforward penalty. 6-3 after 19 minutes.

Several times in the match the sides tried to score tries when a penalty goal was kickable. It did not work.

First it did not work for the Cheetahs, but De Waal made the score 9-3. Then came the moment of the match.

Hougaard kicked off deep. Claassens caught the ball and gave to Kabamba Floors. He ran, he stepped, he accelerated and he was free. Tackled, he popped a pass back to hooker Richardt Strauss, once a fast flank. Strauss burst down the midfield, drew Roets and sent a perfect pass to Phillip Burger on his right and the speedster scored. 14-3 after 28 minutes.

Later the unthinkable happened, Hougaard missed a kick from in front of the posts, causing much orange-clad delight.

Then just before half time big Hendrik Meyer tried a charge in midfield but was tackled. Kuün won the turnover and Danie Rossouw flung a long pass to Marius Delport just inside the Blue Bulls' half and near touch. The big wing handed off an opponent and passed inside to JP Nel just inside the Cheetahs' half and somehow the sturdy centre burst clear, did a deceptive thing with the ball and scored. Hougaard missed a conversion he would have expected to goal.

That made the score 14-8 at half-time.

The Blue Bulls threw into 12 line-outs inn the second half, and the Cheetahs, largely through Pieterse, stole five of them.

Early in the second half Burger chipped, Roets tackled late and was sent to the sin bin. The Cheetahs opted for a five-metre line-out, but lost the throw-in. In the ensuring scrap for the ball, Hougaard was injured and helped off on the ambulance wagon. Sadly as it may seem, it may have helped the Blue Bulls' cause as Steyn then came on and kicked brilliantly.

Roets was off, and the Blue Bulls scored a try in his absence! In fact they scored two tries in his absence.

They attacked from a line-out and Steyn handed off JW Jonker. Close to the touch-line on his left he chipped infield off the outside of his right boot. The ball bobbed, Meyer missed it and then Delport grabbed it to score. Steyn converted from far out, and for the first time the Blue Bulls led - 15-14 after 45 minutes.

After Pieterse had stolen a Blue Bulls throw into a line-out the Cheetahs mauled, something they did well all match. The Blue Bulls were penalised for collapsing the maul, and De Waal restored the Cheetahs lead. 17-15. But then from inside his own half Steyn sent a penalty soaring between the uprights. 18-17 to the Blue Bulls after 55 minutes.

While the Blue Bulls had players in the sin bin they had scored 15 points to just three for the Cheetahs!

From their own 22, the Cheetahs went wide to the right. Then they went left and kept going left till Floors was in the clear as he swerved inside and bashed Roets aside for a try. 22-18 after 57 minutes. De Waal missed the conversion but added a penalty soon afterwards. 25-18.

Now the proud Blue Bulls started hammering at the Cheetahs who hung on by their defensive claws. There was a period of 11 minutes in which the Blue Bulls did nothing but attack, the Cheetahs nothing but defend.

They had two five-metre line-outs. Twice they tapped penalties five metres from the Cheetahs' line. Once the Cheetahs survived to have a scrum five metres from their line but the Blue Bulls were powerful and won a turn-over as the Cheetahs tried to get away with the ball. Three times Steyn was close, but still the tackling held. Then the Blue Bulls came back left and Burger broke ranks to head for Akona Ndungane. The wing did not try to catch the ball but slapped it on to Nel who scored his second try. It was not close in but, nerveless, Steyn goaled to make the score 28-all and send the match into extra time.

There was little energy left for cheering by the end.

Man of the Match: There were several. For the Blue Bulls there was Morné Steyn for his second-half performance, Heini Adams for his speed and judgement, Danie Rossouw for his presence and JP Nel for his tries, but he rather blotted his copybook. For the Cheetahs there were several heroes - Michael Claassens, who may just have played his best game ever, Richardt Strauss, the speedy hooker, brave Ryno van der Merwe, magnificent, calm, effective Barend Pieterse and our Man of the Match Kabamba Floors who made a try and scored a try.

Moment of the Match: It simply has to be Phillip Burger's try and the build-up to it from the kick-off.

Villains of the Match: The obvious ones are Johan Roets and JP Nel, who were sin-binned for illegal tackles. There was also Gary Botha who was penalised for dissent, not a great example to his troops. And then at the end he capitulated and settled for a draw.

The scorers:

For the Cheetahs:
Tries: Burger, Floors
Pens: De Waal 5, Bosman

For the Blue Bulls:
Tries: Nel 2, Delport
Cons: Steyn 2
Pens: Hougaard, Steyn 2

Yellow cards: Johan Roets (Blue Bulls, 42 - professional foul), Dries Scholtz (Blue Bulls, 52 - foul play)

Teams:

Vodacom Cheetahs: 15 Bevin Fortuin, 14 Phillip Burger, 13 JW Jonker, 12 Hendrik Meyer, 11 Gavin Passens, 10 Willem de Waal, 9 Michael Claassens, 8 Ryno van der Merwe, 7 Darron Nell, 6 Kabamba Floors, 5 Barend Pieterse, 4 Rory Duncan, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Richardt Strauss, 1 Ollie le Roux (captain).
Replacements: 16 Jaco du Toit, 17 Wian du Preez, 18 Bian Vermaak, 19 Heinrich Brüssouw, 20 Falie Oelschig, 21 Meyer Bosman, 22 Gaffie du Toit

Vodacom Blue Bulls: 15 Johan Roets, 14 Akona Ndungane, 13 JP Nel, 12 Dries Scholtz, 11 Marius Delport, 10 Derick Hougaard, 9 Heini Adams, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Derick Kuün, 6 Pedrie Wannenburg, 5 Francois van Schouwenburg, 4 Danie Rossouw, 3 Rayno Gerber, 2 Gary Botha (captain), 1 Jaco Engels.
Replacements: 16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 Danie Thiart, 18 Hottie Louw, 19 Hilton Lobberts, 20 Neil Powell, 21 Morné Steyn, 22 Stefan Basson.

Referee: Jonathan Kaplan
Touch judges: Marius Jonker (KwaZulu Natal), JC Fortuin (Western Province)
Touch judges 4 & 5: Pro Legoete (Golden Lions), Louis Mzomba (Western Province)
Television match official: Shaun Veldsman (Boland)
Assessor: Dennis Immelman (Western Province)
Timekeeper: Gabriel Pappas (Golden Lions)