Players to watch:

For the Blue Bulls: He has been a match-winner all year and the Blue Bulls' mercurial flyhalf Morne Steyn will again be in the spotlight. Then there is Bryan Habana, in his last game in the light blue jersey, before he moves south to Cape Town. Other key players for the Bulls are scrumhalf Fourie du Preez, No.8 Pierre Spies, along with locks Bakkies Botha and Victor Matfield.

For the Free State Cheetahs: The game is also a last for flyhalf Jacques-Louis Potgieter, who joins up with the Bulls next year. The Cheetahs' trump card is another Springbok star, poacher extraordinaire Heinrich Brussow. You will also look to the power of Lionel Mapoe on the wing, the experience of Meyer Bosman in the midfield, the brute force of Ashley Johnson and Frans Viljoen, along with the find of the season - prop WP Nel.

Head to head: You could, and probably should, list them all - 22 to one. However, the key battles are at flyhalf, Morne Steyn (Blue Bulls) against Jacques-Louis Potgieter (Free State Cheetahs), scrumhalf, where Fourie du Preez (Bulls) faces JP Joubert (cheetahs), No.8, with Pierre Spies (Bulls) up against Ashley Johnson (Cheetahs) and lock, Victor Matfield (Bulls) versus David de Villiers (Cheetahs). Then again, this would not be complete without comparing the two front rows - Werner Kruger, Derick Kuun and Gurthro Steenkamp (Bulls) up against WP Nel, Adriaan Strauss and Wian du Preez (Cheetahs).

Most recent Currie Cup encounters:
26 Sept 09: Blue Bulls won 30-27, Pretoria
7 Aug 09: Cheetahs won 24-15, Bloemfontein
11 Oct 08: Blue Bulls won 31-19, Pretoria (semifinal)
20 Sept 08: Blue Bulls won 23-5, Bloemfontein
12 July 08: Blue Bulls won 31-23, Pretoria

Road to the Final:

Blue Bulls:
Beat the Lions 19-13
Beat Western Province 30-22
Lost to the Sharks 13-19
Beat the Boland Cavaliers 50-18
Lost to the Free State Cheetahs 15-24
Beat Griquas 25-24
Beat the Leopards 44-11
Lost to the Lions 13-20
Lost to Western Province 19-25
Lost to the Sharks 23-29
Beat the Boland Cavaliers 72-16
Beat the Free State Cheetahs 30-27
Beat Griquas 61-27
Beat the Leopards 61-24
Beat Western Province 21- 19 (semifinal)

Free State Cheetahs:
Lost to Griquas 18-28
Lost to the Lions 22-31
Lost to Western Province 13-19
Lost to the Sharks 12-21
Beat the Blue Bulls 24-15
Beat the Leopards 71-17
Beat Boland Cavaliers 59-8
Beat Griquas 58-13
Beat the Lions 20-16
Beat Western Province 33-31
Lost to the Sharks 13-24
Lost to the Blue Bulls 27-30
Beat the Leopards 60-17
Beat the Boland Cavaliers 55-10
Beat the Sharks 23-21 (semifinal)

iafrica.com Prediction: It will be brutal, as all finals are. It will be close, as most finals are. It may even produce a surprise result, as often happen when the Blue Bulls and Free State Cheetahs go head-to-head. But we feel that the Bulls simply have too much experience across the park and in key positions and will win a tight game. The Blue Bulls by 10 points.

Teams:

Blue Bulls: 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Francois Hougaard, 13 Jaco Pretorius, 12 Wynand Olivier, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Morne Steyn, 9 Fourie du Preez, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Dewald Potgieter, 6 Deon Stegmann, 5 Victor Matfield (captain), 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Derick Kuun, 1 Gurthro Steenkamp.
Replacements: 16 Bandise Maku, 17 Rossouw de Klerk, 18 Danie Rossouw, 19 Pedrie Wannenburg, 20 Heini Adams, 21 Burton Francis, 22 Gerhard van den Heever.

Free State Cheetahs: 15 Hennie Daniller, 14 Lionel Mapoe, 13 Corne Uys, 12 Meyer Bosman, 11 Danwel Demas, 10 Jacques-Louis Potgieter, 9 JP Joubert, 8 Ashley Johnson, 7 Frans Viljoen, 6 Heinrich Brussow, 5 David de Villiers, 4 Nico Breedt, 3 WP Nel, 2 Adriaan Strauss (captain), 1 Wian du Preez.
Replacements: 16 Richardt Strauss, 17 Coenie Oosthuizen, 18 Izak van der Westhuizen, 19 Lukas Floors, 20 Tewis de Bruyn, 21 Louis Strydom, 22 Fabian Juries.

Date: Saturday, October 31
Venue: Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
Kick-off: 17.00 (15.00 GMT)
Predicted weather: Early showers and morning clouds, otherwise mild. High of 25?C and a low of 13?C. The win will be at about 15km/h NE and there's about a 50 percent chance of precipitation.
Referee: Jonathan Kaplan
Assistant referees: Pro Legoete, Cobus Wessels
TMO: Shaun Veldsman