National Club Rugby Round-up – Welkom Rovers eye Bethlehem’s crown
Welkom Rovers – one of the most successful clubs in Griffons rugby – are just two matches away from returning to the National Club Championships after the Northern Free State side shrugged off a number of challenges to finish top of the province’s First Division.
Rovers, whose best national achievements have been reaching the 1999 Club Champs final (where they lost to Shimlas) and the last four in 2006 (losing to current champions College Rovers), earned the right to host this season’s first semi-final after winning 13 of their 14 league matches.
Rovers will face surprise package Henneman, who finished fourth, at the North West Stadium on Thursday, with kick-off at 20h00. In the other semi, reigning Griffons champions and eastern Free State heavyweights Bethlehem Oud-Skoliere travel to Virginia on Saturday to play Harmony. Kick-off is at 16h00.
“We had a disastrous start to the season, with three top players breaking bones,” said Rovers head coach Rassie Ras. “But our relative depth saved us, and a number of second-team players have done wonders. We’ve been the only team to beat Bethlehem home and away, which, given the huge distances involved, is quite an achievement.”
Rovers’ run is all the more impressive when one considers that they have not had a home ground for two years, after the local municipality sold off their field to developers after the lease expired. Negotiations to relocate Rovers to new fields, as had been agreed, are however ongoing, with the club currently having to share the Griffons stadium, and its limited practice facilities, with the province’s professional teams.
“It’s difficult not having a home ground but the guys have pulled together and the Griffons have been great,” said Ras, who began coaching at Rovers a decade ago and who has led the first team to the final for the past four seasons. “We’ve had a number of hurdles to overcome, not least of which is the fact that our field is very close to a large body of water, which means we get eaten alive by millions of mosquitoes at practices!”
Ras said he expected a tough battle against Henneman, especially with doubts about the fitness of wing Hennie Prinsloo, flyhalf Pieter Strydom and lock Alex van Staden. “Henneman are always very tough opponents because they play as a unit,” he said. “They have no star players apart from (former Griffons and Rovers wing) Shane Hancke, so they rely on teamwork more than most teams.
“After everything we’ve been through it would be wonderful to return to the Club Championships. Doing so would be great motivation for more youngsters to join the club next year.”
Champions Bethlehem Oud-Skoliere celebrated their 50th anniversary last Saturday with an impressive dinner for over 300 guests, including founder members of the 1961 team. Head coach Dolf van Rensburg, like Ras, has a number of injury concerns, especially among his massive pack. “We’ve battled a bit this year (Oud-Skoliere have lost five matches) but anything can happen in a knockout game,” said Van Rensburg. “What we can’t do is give Harmony ball to run with. They’re deadly from turnovers.”
Elsewhere around the country, national club champions Jonsson College Rovers romped to their sixth successive Moor Cup when they beat nearest rivals Durban Collegians 27-7 to ensure an unassailable lead on the Fidelity Security Premier Division table with one match to play.
College Rovers become the sixth team to officially qualify for the Club Champs, after Roses United (Boland), Maties (WP), Progress (SWD), Shimlas (Free State) and Kimberley Police (Griquas).
Attention will now turn to KZN’s hugely successful Castle Murray Cup knockout tournament, which sees the eight Premier Division teams travel to the eight First Division clubs in the first round on 6 August. The draw has already been made (see www.kznrugby.co.za) with the most intriguing battle being that between College Rovers and perennial northern KZN champions Vryheid.
Tuks made it eight wins from eight in the Blue Bulls’ Carlton League with a hard-fought 34-27 away win over Centurion, while Boland front-runners Wesbank slipped up 20-18 against Robertson to allow champions Roses United back into the league title race.
Winter Rose moved one step closer to winning the Border Super League when they beat Cambridge 32-0 – their 11th victory in 13 matches – to move to 50 log points. Only Fort Hare, who edged Old Selbornian 19-15 to move to 42 points, have a chance of catching the log leaders now.
Pukke hammered Wits 67-27 in an all-university Golden Lions Predator League fixture, while another tertiary heavyweight, Maties, beat log leaders SK Walmers 41-14 to regain their grip on the Western Province Super League A after the eight-week student break.
At the other end of the table, Villager, the country’s second oldest club, moved out of the relegation zone with a much-needed 26-10 win over Belhar, while bottom-placed Helderberg lost their 11th match on the trot in losing 18-8 to Durbanville-Bellville.
Springs marched on unbeaten in the Valke Peregrine Super League after opponents Kempton Park Wolves forfeited, but second-placed Brakpan weren’t as lucky, going down 18-12 to third-placed Benoni. Progress picked up their 16th win in 17 matches in the SWD Premier League with a 21-17 win against Blanco.
Leagues in many northern unions will resume this weekend after the successful staging of the SARU EBJ Mining Construction Northern Sub-Union tournament in Potchefstroom last week. The event, open to all players from non-premier league clubs, was won by the Golden Lions, who beat hosts the Leopards 32-22 in Friday’s final at Profert Olën Park.
Photo caption: The Golden Lions Sub-Union team celebrate after beating the Leopards 32-22 in the final of the SARU EBJ Mining Construction Northern Sub-Unions week in Potchefstroom. Photo by Mario van de Wall.
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