National Club Rugby Round-up – Club season switches to finals mode
The club rugby season is firmly in finals mode as the race for National Club Championship places reaches its climax in a number of provinces over the coming week.
With just 24 days to go until the staging of the 37th Club Champs at the Danie Craven Stadium in Stellenbosch from 17-23 September, eight places are still up for grabs.
The 14 provincial champions will be joined by two invited clubs in the 16-team draw, with Mpumalanga, Valke and Eastern Province set to confirm their qualifiers over the coming days.
The eight teams who have already booked their places are defending champions College Rovers (KZN), Roses United (Boland), Maties (WP), Progress (SWD), Shimlas (Free State), Kimberley Police (Griquas), Welkom Rovers (Griffons) and Winter Rose (Border).
Defending Valke champions Springs ensured their place in Saturday’s Peregrine Super League final with a 39-31 win over Vereeniging, while their opponents, Brakpan, edged past Benoni 18-15.
Middelburg have one hand on the Mpumalanga title after their 35-8 away victory over White River in the first leg of the province’s Super League final, which pits the Hoëveld-Koolveld winner against the Lowveld champion. The second leg takes place at Middelburg on Saturday.
The Eastern Province Grand Challenge champion will also be crowned over the next eight days, after a number of delays for weather and play-off replays. Despatch, the two-time national club champs, have already made sure of their place in next Wednesday’s final.
Their opponents will be either 2009 champions Park or Port Elizabeth Harlequins, who meet at the neutral venue of Uitenhage’s Central Ground on Friday night to replay their semi-final.
The Border Super League final also takes place this weekend, with league winners and Club Champs qualifiers Winter Rose facing runners-up Buffalo, who will want to at least finish the season with some silverware.
Saturday also sees the Blue Bulls Carlton League reach the play-off stage, with unbeaten Tukkies facing fourth-placed Centurion, and Pretoria Police up against Pretoria Harlequins.
Elsewhere around the country, the KZN Castle Murray Cup knockout tournament enters the semi-final stage. Old Boys qualified for the last four thanks to a 41-14 win over first division side Newcastle, league runners-up Durban Collegians beat UKZN Pietermaritzburg 48-19, and Zululand Rhinos held on for a 13-12 victory over another first division team, Pietermaritzburg Collegians. But by far the biggest result of the weekend was College Rovers’ 101-0 demolition of Crusaders, which will leave their Club Champs opponents in no doubt as to the Durban side’s intention of retaining their national title next month.
Klerksdorp are the new Leopards champions after beating Vryburg 32-25 in last Saturday’s Neser A final, while Golden Lions front-runners UJ held on for a 31-30 victory over Union, Pirates beat Rustenburg Impala 34-30, and Raiders edged Roodepoort 19-16 in Pirates Grand Challenge and Predator League action.
Roses United will have to wait a little longer to confirm their Boland Premier League title after the defending champions could only manage a 25-25 draw away to Saldanha and second-placed Wesbank beat Black Leaves 34-27 to keep alive their hopes.
Maties opened up a seven-point lead at the top of the Western Province Super League A after thrashing winless Helderberg 78-0, while UCT probably made it a two-horse race for league honours after beating second-placed Hamilton 25-23. On Wednesday evening at 21:00, Maties host Hammies. Ikeys play False Baby this weekend while Maties host struggling Villager.
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