The national club competition starting next weekend, the Pick n Pay Gold Cup, has been completely dominated by Blue Bulls clubs since it was revived two years ago.
Blue Bulls President, Willem Strauss, confirmed that the new professional structure will kick off with an expanded Super League in February. This will be followed by the new Platinum Cup, the Castle Carlton Cup, and the national Pick n Pay Gold Cup. Blue Bulls Clubs have dominated the Gold Cup and Naka Bulle are the back-to-back champions of the national club competition, which was revived by Strauss.
Last year’s final between Naka Bulle and Northam Rhinos was a repeat of the Castle Carlton League final as well.
Last season, no less than five of the eight quarterfinalists were from clubs participating in the Blue Bulls club competitions.
The number of rugby clubs in the Blue Bulls region has grown significantly in recent years. Clubs like Centurion and Harlequins have shown exceptional growth, with each fielding at least four teams in the Under-20 league, a rarity for non-tertiary clubs.
Clubs in the President, Reserve and Limpopo Leagues will be incentivised with participation in the Super League Shield section. Representative teams from these leagues will also participate in the OBARO Noordvaal Platteland Tournament which will take place from September 23-26 in Nylstroom (Modimolle), Limpopo.
The OBARO Blue Bulls Platteland team, OBARO Blue Bulls DIPOO (selected from the township clubs), Limpopo Waterberg, Limpopo North, the Pumas, Leopards, Valke and Waterberg invitation XV teams will be in action. This tournament signals a bold step in celebrating and re-igniting rugby’s deep-rooted legacy across the heartland communities.
According to Strauss one of the main priorities of his tenure that started eight years ago, was to make club rugby relevant and part of the pipeline again. “It is not so much about producing players for the Vodacom Bulls, but more importantly to keep the game alive and grow our supporters’ base in the communities of Louis Trichardt, Mamelodi, Tuine, and elsewhere,” said Strauss.
Women’s club rugby has also grown tremendously under the jurisdiction of the BBRU and several players been contracted by the all-conquering Isuzu Bulls Daisies team. And next year the expansive Super League year will include a women’s division.
