The Golden Lions in their turn secured their spot in the knock-out stages in which they will travel to Cape Town to face the Western Province at Newlands as the latter secured their spot with a convincing 31-20 victory over the top of the log Sharks.

The Durbanites, who secured their home semi-final weeks ago will host the Blue Bulls at the Shark tank in their quest advance to the final in the hopes of claiming their 7th Currie Cup title overall and 1st since 2013.

After their season ending loss to the Golden Lions, a understandably disappointed Free State Cheetahs coach Rory Duncan was of the opinion his side was not at the level they should have been.

He said, "the Lions came out today extremely hungry for the win and they obviously got the result," 

"I think we need to give a lot of credit to those (Lions) guys because they certainly put their bodies on the line and the desire was definitely there", added Duncan.

The player turned coach conceded that despite the disappointment of not being able to contest for the coveted Currie Cup, South African rugby supporters are in for an exciting conclusion to the competition.