Rugby returns to festival mode for SuperSport Rugby Challenge
• Community venues & leading clubs to host televised Sunday triple-header festivals
• Exciting three-pool format ensures local derbies every weekend
Rugby fans across the country are in for a treat again this season when the SuperSport Rugby Challenge kicks off on 21 April.
The community-centred provincial tournament, launched last year and won by DHL Western Province, will again feature a number of televised triple-header match-ups in the form of Sunday Rugby Festivals that are played in community venues and will be free to the public.
WP will start the defence of their crown at the first of these festivals – on 22 April at the Wolfson Stadium in Kwazakhele outside Port Elizabeth – against home side Eastern Province.
The format of the tournament will again see five teams battle it out in each of the North, South and Central pools, with all 14 unions and Namibia taking part in what promises another exciting opportunity for new prospects to emerge and more fans to get the opportunity to see their heroes in action on their doorsteps.
As happened in 2017, Sunday Festivals will kick off with a televised Gold Cup qualifying match featuring a big derby between two local premiership clubs.
The SuperSport Rugby Challenge Pools are:
• North: Vodacom Blue Bulls, Xerox Golden Lions, Hino Valke, Steval Pumas, Namibia Welwitschias
• Central: Toyota Free State, Down Touch Griffons, Tafel Lager Griquas, Leopards, Cell C Sharks
• South: Boland Cavaliers, Border Bulldogs, EP Elephants, SWD Eagles, DHL Western Province
The top two teams from each pool, together with the two third-placed teams with the most log points, will qualify for the quarterfinals, scheduled for the weekend of 30 June/1 July. The semifinals will once again take the form of a televised double-header on Sunday 8 July, with the final a week later, on Sunday 15 July.
The Sunday Rugby Festivals dates are:
22 April: Wolfson Stadium, Kwazakhele, Port Elizabeth
13 May: Newrak Impala Rugby Club, Rustenburg
20 May: Bridgton Sports Ground, Oudtshoorn
17 June: Sisa Dukashe Stadium, Mdantsane
24 June: Bill Jardine Stadium, Longdale, Johannesburg
SuperSport Rugby Challenge Fixtures (please note most venues and kickoff times are still to be confirmed):
Sat 21 April
Steval Pumas v Vodacom Blue Bulls (Nelspruit Rugby Club, 15h00)
Windhoek Draught Welwitschias v Hino Valke
Tafel Lager Griquas v Cell C Sharks
Leopards v Down Touch Griffons (HS Schweizer Reneke, Schweizer Reneke, 15h00)
Sunday 22 April – Triple-header Rugby Festival at Wolfson Stadium, Kwazakhele (live on SS10)
Gold Cup Qualifier club curtain-raiser (teams TBC) – 10h30
Boland Cavaliers v Border Bulldogs (12h45)
DHL Western Province v Eastern Province (15h00)
Saturday 28 April
Eastern Province v SWD Eagles (Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth)
Vodacom Blue Bulls v Windhoek Draught Welwitschias (Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria)
Xerox Golden Lions v Steval Pumas
Border Bulldogs v DHL Western Province
Down Touch Griffons v Toyota Free State
Tafel Lager Griquas v Leopards (Tafel Lager Park, Kimberley, 15h00)
Saturday 5 May
Toyota Free State v Leopards (Friday, 4 May, Shimla Park, Bloemfontein, 18h00)
DHL Western Province v Boland Cavaliers (DHL Newlands, Cape Town)
Cell C Sharks v Down Touch Griffons (Kings Park, Durban, 14h30)
Windhoek Draught Welwitschias v Xerox Golden Lions
Hino Valke v Vodacom Blue Bulls
SWD Eagles v Border Bulldogs
Saturday 12 May
Hino Valke v Xerox Golden Lions
Windhoek Draught Welwitschias v Steval Pumas
Boland Cavaliers v SWD Eagles (Wesbank Sports Grounds, Malmesbury, 15h00)
Border Bulldogs v Eastern Province
Sunday 13 May – Triple-header Rugby Festival Impala Rugby Club, Rustenburg (live on SS10)
Gold Cup Qualifier club curtain-raiser (teams TBC) – 10h30
GWK Griquas v Toyota Free State (12h45)
Leopards v Cell C Sharks (15h00)
Saturday 19 May
Steval Pumas v Hino Valke (Mbombela Stadium, 15h00)
Boland Cavaliers v Eastern Province (Grabouw RFC, 15h00)
Tafel Lager Griquas v Down Touch Griffons (Sivos Stadium, Kathu)
Toyota Free State v Cell C Sharks
Sunday 20 May – Triple-header Rugby Festival at Bridgton Sports Ground, Oudtshoorn (live on SS10)
Gold Cup Qualifier club curtain-raiser (teams TBC) – 10h30
Vodacom Blue Bulls v Xerox Golden Lions (12h45)
SWD Eagles v DHL Western Province (15h00)
Saturday 26 May
Leopards v Tafel Lager Griquas (Friday, 25 May, Fanie du Toit Sports Grounds, Potchefstroom, 15h00)
Border Bulldogs v Boland Cavaliers (Friday, 25 May, BCM Stadium, 19h00)
Vodacom Blue Bulls v Steval Pumas (Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria)
Hino Valke v Windhoek Draught Welwitschias
Eastern Province v DHL Western Province
Toyota Free State v Down Touch Griffons
Saturday 2 June
Leopards v Toyota Free State Friday, 1 June, Fanie du Toit Sports Grounds, Potchefstroom, 15h00)
Windhoek Draught Welwitschias v Vodacom Blue Bulls
Steval Pumas v Xerox Golden Lions (Mbombela Stadium, 15h00)
DHL Western Province v Border Bulldogs
SWD Eagles v Eastern Province
Down Touch Griffons v Cell C Sharks
Saturday 9 June
Vodacom Blue Bulls v Hino Valke (Fri 8 June, Loftus Versfeld, 15h00)
Xerox Golden Lions v Windhoek Draught Welwitschias (Fri 8 June, venue & time TBC)
Border Bulldogs v SWD Eagles
Boland Cavaliers v DHL Western Province (Boland Park, Worcester, 15h00)
Cell C Sharks v Leopards (Piet Retief Rugby Club, Piet Retief, 17h00)
Toyota Free State v Tafel Lager Griquas
Saturday 16 June
Xerox Golden Lions v Hino Valke
Steval Pumas v Windhoek Draught Welwitschias (Sasol Secunda Rugby Club, 15h00)
SWD Eagles v Boland Cavaliers
Down Touch Griffons v Leopards (HT Pelatona Stadium, Welkom, 15h00)
Sunday 17 June – Triple-header Rugby Festival at Sisa Dukashe Stadium, Mdantsane (live on SS10)
Gold Cup Qualifier club curtain-raiser (teams TBC) – 10h30
Cell C Sharks v Tafel Lager Griquas (12h45)
Border Bulldogs v Eastern Province (15h00)
Saturday 23 June
Eastern Province v Boland Cavaliers
DHL Western Province v SWD Eagles
Down Touch Griffons v Tafel Lager Griquas
Cell C Sharks v Toyota Free State
Sunday 24 June – Triple-header Rugby Festival at Bill Jardine Stadium, Longdale, Johannesburg (live on SS10)
Gold Cup Qualifier club curtain-raiser (teams TBC) – 10h30
Hino Valke v Steval Pumas (12h45)
Xerox Golden Lions v Vodacom Blue Bulls (15h00)
Saturday 30 June / Sunday 1 July – venues TBC
Quarterfinals (including 1 triple-header festival)
Sunday 8 July – venue TBC
Semifinals (triple-header festival)
Sunday 15 July – venue TBC
Final (festival)
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