Long journey to the Community Cup

Brakpan Rugby Club’s first team’s long trek to gain qualification to the 2015 Cell C Community Cup gets underway tomorrow (Saturday).

The “Panne” kick-off the first of a potential three-game journey that could get them into the country’s elite community rugby tournament.

The team missed out on automatic qualification to the Community Cup after finishing in second place, behind Springs, in the league portion of the Valke Peregrine League.

The men from Bosman Stadium will now need to play their first play-off match against Vaal Reefs, at Olen Park, in Potchefstroom.

Should the Panne win this clash, they would be made to play another tough fixture a week later against the Lions Rugby Union’s Wanderers Rugby Club.

Thereafter they will be required to play their third and final match, the week after, against Oostelike Eagles Rugby Club, at the home of Blue Bulls rugby, Loftus Versfeld.

Saturday’s game in Potchefstroom will be a curtain-raiser to the provincial clash between the Leopards and Boland while the final encounter at Loftus will be played ahead of the Currie Cup encounter between the Bulls and the Griquas.

If Brakpan are to get to the final game and lose in Pretoria they will again have another two opportunities to get to the Community Cup with a likely match against Upington and then an encounter with either a Boland or a South Western Districts (SWD) club, although the club would definitely not like things to get to that point.

With regular skipper Francois “Bones” Robbertse slowly recovering from a pelvis injury sustained earlier in the season and unlikely to feature for a few weeks still, the former Namibian international flanker, Jacques Nieuwenhuis, will lead the Brakpan troops on the field.

Tomorrow’s game kicks off at 12.30pm, in Potchefstroom.