National Club Rugby Round-up – Progress gear up for maiden Club Champs
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Progress Rugby Club of SWD became the first team to qualify for the 2011 National Club Champs on a dramatic weekend that saw fellow Western Cape sides Maties (WP) and Roses United (Boland) also book their tickets to the season-ending tournament, which takes place from 17-23 September in Stellenbosch.
On Tuesday night, Shimlas became the fourth team to qualify after their opponents, Old Greys, withdrew from the Free State Stadsbeker final.
Progress, not to be confused with the Uitenhage-based reigning Eastern Province champions of the same name, all but sealed what will be a maiden Club Champs appearance two Saturdays ago when they beat arch-rivals George 18-13 and nearest challengers Barbarians lost 18-15 to Bridgton.
This gave Progress an unassailable lead at the top of the SWD Premier League log after the first round, but the club, based in the George suburb of Rosemoor, had to wait a week for the SWD executive council to formally announce their Club Champs representative.
“It took us a long time to get here so another week didn’t matter,” said jubilant chairman Manuel Claassen. “The club is 65 years old but this year is the first time we’ve done so well.”
Progress has a rich history and boasts many former stars from yesteryear, including the likes of Lesley Fredericks, Michael Jacobs, Herbert Wolhuter, Jan Goldman and Johan Benson, but Claassen said the arrival of new blood had contributed towards this season’s unprecedented success.
“It took a lot of hard work, especially after we lost a number of players after last season. But we had a number of new guys who joined us and they did wonders. The players were motivated and our supporters never stopped shouting.”
In other news from around the country, centre Nevin Edas slotted a 45-metre penalty in the seventh minute of injury time to give Wesbank a rare 24-22 away win against Roses United in a nailbiting Boland Premier League derby match played at Pelikaan Park in Wellington.
Unusually, however, supporters from both teams were able to celebrate at the final whistle as the result allowed Roses to qualify for the Club Champs. Despite the loss, the defending champions grabbed a losing bonus point and prevented Wesbank from scoring four tries, ensuring that Roses finished the first round two points clear of their Malmesbury rivals, despite both teams having won eight of their nine matches.
In the Western Province Super League A, 2009 national club champions Hamiltons’ bid to return to the tournament for a third straight year was ended when they were beaten 45-25 by SK Walmers, who move to third on the table behind Maties and FNB Varsity Cup champions UCT. The result leaves Maties with an unassailable lead at the top of the log, and coach Chean Roux and his Stellenbosch students will now have the opportunity of making up for their Varsity Cup disappointment at the Club Champs.
Klerksdorp moved to the top of the Leopards’ Neser A table thanks to a 36-3 win over nearest challengers Vryburg, while national club champions Jonsson College Rovers pulled eight points clear in the KZN Fidelity Security Moor Cup with an 86-16 win over Jaguars.
Kuruman beat Ammosal 26-10 in a top-of-the-table Griquas Super League clash, while defending champions Bethlehem Oud-Skoliere got back to winning ways in the Griffons First Division with a 39-36 victory over Harmony.
The only club matches in the northern unions took place in Johannesburg, where Pukke hammered Pirates 69-5 in the Golden Lions’ Predator League, fellow Leopards super club Rustenburg Impala edged Roodepoort 24-18, and Raiders moved to second on the Grand Challenge log with a 39-8 victory over Alberton.
Most highveld clubs have a two-week break in order to allow their best players to compete in SARU’s Amateur Provincial Competition for northern unions, which kicked off at Barnard Stadium in Kempton Park on Monday with victories for host union the Valke, Blue Bulls, Leopards and Golden Lions.
Wednesday’s fixtures are as follows:
Plate – 10h00: Pumas v Valke CD
Plate – 12h00: Blue Bulls Limpopo v Pumas CD
Cup – 14h00: Leopards v Blue Bulls
Cup – 16h00: Golden Lions v Valke.
The respective finals will be played on Friday.
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