The Cheetahs ended up topping the Currie Cup standings after 14 rounds of action and we were treated to one of the more dramatic finals in recent years as the Bulls fought back very well to force extra-time, eventually sharing the trophy with the hosts and defending champions from Bloemfontein.

We also witnessed the arrival of players like Pierre Spies, the pace of Philip Burger and the rugby brain of Rassie Erasmus, but we won't bore you with a recap of the tournament - you should know that - rather have a squizz at our Currie Cup Awards for 2006...

HERE GOES:

- Team of the Tournament: The Cheetahs.

- Match of the Tournament: The final.

- Comeback of the Tournament: The Lions; they lost five of their first six games and then won eight on the trot to come close to claiming a semi-final spot. Special mention should also be made to the Bulls, who seemed to have lost their way at one stage, before almost winning the tournament for the fourth time in five years.

- Player of the Tournament: Pierre Spies (Bulls). Be warned, however, we have only seen glimpses of his true potential... There is still plenty more to come.

- MVP: Willem de Waal (Cheetahs). De Waal weighed in with 212 points this season - 58 more than his nearest rival, Griquas' Conrad Barnard. Sure, he missed a few crucial tackles and he's probably not Test-match material, but Rassie Erasmus seems to think he can play. That's good enough for us.

- Coach of the Tournament: Johan 'Rassie' Erasmus. Don't underestimate this man's value to the Free State team. He always seems to have a trick up his sleeve and a plan to combat his opposition coach. Special mention should also be made to Eugene Eloff for the fantastic turn-around he inspired at the Lions.

- Referee of the Tournament: Jonathan Kaplan - three finals in a row, with a fantastic showing throughout Saturday's nail-biting finale. Need we say more?

- Union of the Year: Blue Bulls - They shared the Currie Cup proper and their juniors won the Under-21 and U19 competitions. Oh yes, they also won the women's Provincial competition and the Amateur Cup. Yes, that's all!

- Newcomer(s) of the Year: Take your pick from Ryan Kankowski, Keegan Daniel and Brad Barritt (all Sharks), Adriaan Fondse (Bulls), Robbie Diack (Western Province) and Louis Ludik (Lions) - these young men are here to stay.

- Comeback kid(s) of the Year: Ollie le Roux (Cheetahs) and Lions centre Jaco Pretorius. Ollie reinvented himself as Cheetahs captain and his team's oh-so-valuable 'old pro', whilst the injury-dogged Pretorius has been on the scene since 1998, but 11 tries in 12 matches later and suddenly he's on the plane to the UK as a potential Springbok.

- 'Supersub' of the tournament: Philip Burger (Cheetahs) - the tournament's leading try-scorer with 15 in just a handful of starts. This man has gas and he knows how to use it. Now if only he would stop with those silly dives and over-the-top celebrations.

- Try of the Tournament:
Individual try: Philip Burger (Cheetahs) v Blue Bulls at Loftus on September 30. Burger, a late inclusion in the starting XV on the day, scored a bonus-point clinching hat-trick from the fullback position. His first try, however, saw him field a high bomb, before setting off on a counter and sprinting down the right hand touchline - outstripping the cover to score after a 60-metre run.
Team try: Hottie Louw (Blue Bulls) v WP in semi-final. Replacement lock Louw scored a fine team try against his former team... it all began with from a line-out inside the Blue Bulls half, off a pass from Gary Botha, Heinie Adams broke clean through on a long run. He found Pierre Spies and huge Rayno Olivier charged ahead before giving to Louw for a try.

- The Why Even Bother Award: The Pumas - they conceded more than 60 points in seven of their last eight games, twice more than 80 and on one occasion, more than 70. They managed to concede less than 40 points just three times this season.

- The Cry-baby Award: Western Province for continuing to whinge about the Blue Bulls even after they were knocked out of the competition, not to mention the whining before the semi-final and their efforts to get JP Nel kicked out of the play-offs for some "overly-robust" defence. And lest we forget, Van der Merwe even complained about contracted Bok Victor Matfield helping his Bulls team-mates with their line-outs at training.

- The 'Oops I Got it (VERY!) Wrong' Award: Dick Muir for having to change his team after just 30 minutes when his late, secretive semi-final changes backfired - he eventually ended up with the team announced to the media in the week and they actually did very well in the end.

- The Foot in Mouth Award: David Campese, for describing the Cheetahs as 'boring' ahead of the semi-finals. Well, boring or not 'Campo', they still managed to put 24 unanswered points past your boys in less than 30 minutes.

- Best hosts of the Tournament: Bloemfontein and the 'House of Orange' (Vodacom Park).

- Best entertainment of the Tournament: The Blue Bulls' dancing girls, with special mention of a late charge by the Cheetah girls in the final in Bloemfontein. Eish...

- DJ of the Tournament: Rassie Erasmus.

- Song of the Year: Robbie Wessels' 'Leeuloop'. Just beats Gé Korsten's 'Liefling', which seems to Derick Hougaard's nickname!

- Hairstyles of the Year: Take your pick from one of Kabamba Floors, Cobus Grobler and Bevan Fortuin. And let's not forget the specially prepared final hairdos of Hilton Lobberts and Heini Adams.

- The Sponsor's Award: To Springbok coach Jake White - for, firstly, withdrawing the country's top players from the supposed premier domestic competition, and, secondly, for going on record on countless occasions and saying that Currie Cup form would have no bearing on his Springbok squad. Don't expect a Christmas card from the blokes at ABSA, Jake...

- Quote of the Year: It's not exactly a rugby quote, but when the Sunday Times rang the Free State Rugby Union's Marketing Department a few short weeks ago, they were told that the players were "at a hand-writing session". It later transpired that they were, in fact, at a signing session - the lady at the union having literally translated "handtekening sessie" (signing session) into handwriting session.

- SMS of the Year: From WP centre Sarel Potgieter to Lions opponent Jaco Pretorius (again courtesy of the Sunday Times): "Nice game, Cappy, you outplayed me today." That after Pretorius scored a hat-trick against his Sevens mate at Ellis Park. Fair enough chum.

- Outstanding Service Award: The Lions' John Daniels, at 34, has just signed a contract to return to Boland next season, where he made his Provincial debut as a much, much quicker winger in 1998. Still, he became the Currie Cup's leading try-scorer of all-time in the Lions' final match of the season, his hat-trick against the Pumas taking him to 68 (passed Chris Badenhorst's record of 65).

- The Harrison Ford 'Fugitive' Award: Western Province's big Fijian Sireli Naqelevuki was rumoured to be on the run from the Fijian navy and set to be arrested by Interpol at one stage. He has since signed a Super 14 deal with the Stormers, but not before his WP team-mates christened him 'The Fugitive'. Who said rugby players weren't funny, ey?!