Despatch, Nelspruit make SA Champs
Thu, 28 Aug 2008 21:53
In a dramatic weekend of club rugby action, Despatch and Nelspruit edged past their closest rivals to qualify for the 34th National Club Champs, which kicks off at the Danie Craven Stadium in Stellenbosch next Sunday.
With one round remaining, Despatch lead the Eastern Province Grand Challenge by seven points, after they beat Grahamstown Brumbies 32-19 last Tuesday night and Gardens, in second place, followed up their 16-9 loss to Brumbies with a 14-14 draw against archrivals Progress last Saturday to put them out of the running.
The team from Rosedale, just outside of Uitenhage, at least have the consolation of knowing they will travel to Stellenbosch as one of six invited teams. Ironically, the final match of the season, scheduled for Saturday, is Gardens v Despatch, but with nothing at stake and both sides going to Club Champs, it will be interesting to see whether the teams will want to risk injury by playing what would be a fiercely contested and physical match one week before the nationals.
Nelspruit, the Lowveld champions, reclaimed the Mpumalanga title when they beat title holders and Highveld champions Middelburg 34-33 in a nailbiting final played last Saturday. Nelspruit trailed 25-10 at half-time and 33-27 going into the final minutes before Pieter Prinsloo scored the decisive try and Gunther Swart kicked the winning conversion.
Nelspruit's other tries were scored by Tertius Koekemoer, Dawie van Deventer and Rudi Brits, with Swart kicking four conversions and two penalties.
Despatch and Nelspruit will join the 11 other teams who have already qualified for the Club Champs, namely Tukkies (Blue Bulls), Cenral University of Technology (CUT) Ixias (Free State), University of Johannesburg (UJ) (Golden Lions), Bridgton (SWD), Brakpan (Falcons), Welkom (Griffons), Kimberley Police (Griqualand West), Maties (WP), Pukke (Leopards), College Rovers (KZN) and Roses United (Boland).
In addition, South African Rugby Union (SARU) have invited Schötse Kloof (SK) Walmers (WP), Raiders (Golden Lions), Eersterust (Blue Bulls), Jaguars (KZN), Wesbank (Boland) and Gardens (EP) to the tournament.
The 20th and final team for Stellenbosch will be decided on Saturday when champions Buffalo and Old Selbornian contest the Border Premier League final at Absa Stadium in East London. Kick-off is at 16.30 (14.30 GMT)
Buffs beat Police 30-19 in the first semifinal played at Buffalo Park last Friday, while Old Selbornian beat Swallows 15-14 in Mdantsane last Saturday.
Bridgton of Oudtshoorn will play Barbarians of Mossel Bay in the South Western Districts Premier League final at Outeniqua Park in George on Saturday. The match kicks off at 16.45 (14.45 GMT)
Bridgton, who won the league by a single point from Barbarians, beat Evergreens 16-6 in the first semifinal, while Baa-baas beat Grootbrakrivier 12-6.
In the curtain-raiser, Oudtshoorn play Silver Stars of George in the President's League final at 15.05 (13.05 GMT). Interestingly, both sides have been promoted to what will become a 12-team Premier League in 2009.
Potch Dorp are the new Leopards champions after they beat Kia Klerksdorp 30-21 in an exciting final played at Olen Park in Potchefstroom last Wednesday.
Potch reached the final thanks to a 59-0 win over Vaal Reefs in the first semifinal, while Klerksdorp overcame West Wits 37-24.
Maties' shock 28-10 loss to SK Walmers in the Western Province Super League A has opened the door for Hamiltons to break the students' iron-clad grip on the title. Maties' lead over Walmers has been cut to just two points but it's Hammies, three points further back in third, who have a game in hand over Stellenbosch - all of which will see their clash in Green Point on September 20 probably double as a league decider as well.
On current form, Hamiltons are arguably the best club in the country at present, having lost just one of their 14 games and conceded only 149 points (an average of just over 10 per game), but they will have to wait until 2009 to prove their worth on a national level as they did not receive an invitation to this year's Club Champs.
In other results from last weekend, Hammies crushed bottom-placed Tygerberg 61-10, Durbanville-Bellville surprised underperforming Uuniversity of Cape Town (UCT) 18-14, Northern Northlink Colleges (NNK) and Helderberg drew 18-18, and Victorians edged Villager 13-10. Saturday's fixtures, all scheduled for 16.00 (14.00 GMT): Maties v Tygerberg, UCT v Villager, Hamiltons v Durbanville-Bellville, Helderberg v Vics, NNK v SK Walmers.
Roses United have pulled out of their Boland Premier League match against Wesbank on Saturday, citing Club Champs preparations. The log leaders will however still play a friendly on Friday night, against Saldanha, leaving Wesbank, who have also been invited to the Champs, with no opposition. The rest of the fixtures see Ceres host Rawsonville, Villagers Montagu at home to Abbotsdale, Black Leaves play Delicious, and Wellington host Villagers Worcester.
In last weekend's action, Rawsonville beat Wesbank 34-32, Delicious pipped Wellington 20-17, Roses United hammered Montagu 71-10, Abbotsdale crushed Black Leaves 38-5, and Worcester edged Ceres 25-22.
There are no matches scheduled in the Falcons Senior League this weekend. Last weekend's results saw Boksburg beat Vaal 47-21, Brakpan whip Kempton Park 69-29, Vereeniging crush Police 41-18, and Springs beat Benoni 41-20.
