The competition was known as the Bankfin Currie Cup for sponsorship reasons and was contested from 28 May to 25 October 1997.
[note 1] The competition was won by Western Province for the 29th time in their history; they beat the Free State Cheetahs 14–12 in the final played on 25 October 1997.
The winners of these semi-finals advanced to the final, at the home venue of the higher-placed team.
The team also adopted the new rugby union bonus points system, which was previously used in the 1996 Super 12 season.
Also, there were several name changes: The final log of the round-robin stage of the 1997 Currie Cup:[6][7] [note 2]