Watch out, Loftus Versfeld: Saturday's Currie Cup final is set to be drenched in bad blood. This follows a flood of provocative remarks and even a legal challenge from the Free State Cheetahs on Wednesday.

The challengers for the Blue Bulls' throne ensured that the good spirit in the build-up to the final turned sour on Wednesday as rugby fever continued to build in the capital.

First, Free State President Harold Verster has launched a bid to sue SA Rugby for a whopping R5-million because the final is not to be held in Bloemfontein but rather in Pretoria for the third consecutive year.

Then, Cheetahs prop Ollie le Roux launched a tirade against the Currie Cup champions, calling them arrogant and saying they were ripe for the taking.

Ollie le Roux launched a tirade against the Currie Cup champions

Le Roux, who is on the bench for the Cheetahs on Saturday, has fired verbal assaults at the Currie Cup champions before. The burly prop angered the Loftus faithful when he punched Johan Wassermann off the ball and earned himself a red card and four-week ban for the incident during their last encounter at Loftus in August this year.

Both incidents have caused tension, almost enmity, between the two camps. There will be little love lost when the two sides take to the field on Saturday afternoon.

Verster's argument is the most difficult to comprehend. It is baffling to launch, less than 72 hours before the match, a claim for such a massive amount when the decision was taken about six weeks ago.

Verster believes the final should have been hosted by Free State because of the tradition that the final be held at the opposing venue where the two sides last met. Because the Bulls and Cheetahs played in the final at Loftus in 2004 he contends that the final should have been in Bloemfontein.

However, SA Rugby scrapped that system three years ago, with the last two Currie Cup finals being played at the home of the team who finished top of the log, thereby rewarding performance. Ironically it was the Blue Bulls who had that honour last year, as they do this year.

The Bulls won the right to host the final thanks to beating the Cheetahs at home and away in the league and finishing unbeaten after eight games in the super eight. By contrast the Cheetahs lost four of their eight games.

The figure is based on the amount the Blue Bulls will receive as the result of a sellout stadium on Saturday which will host 50 000 fanatical fans.

Le Roux fired the first salvo in a relatively quiet week when he called the Bulls arrogant and took them on in an Internet column.

"The Bulls' record speaks for itself and they are a quality side, but this unbeatabull vibe they have going on is exactly that: A load of bull," the former Springbok wrote.

"I've been asked whether I feel the game could get nasty, and while I hope it doesn't, it has the potential to.

"The Bulls will always try and niggle us. They are physical guys, but the key is to take them on and not allow them to walk all over us. They must bring it on.

"People ask me what problem I have with the Bulls, and it is a simple one: they do a helluva lot right, but there's a fine line between playing the game with honour and being arrogant. I've found genuine arrogance in the Bulls and that has irritated me," he added.

Bulls captain Anton Leonard returned to the Bulls line-up on Wednesday and is almost certain to take his place in the side for the final. The Bulls named the same team that beat the Lions in last weekend's semifinal for the clash.

• This article was originally published on page 18 of The Mercury on October 20, 2005