Centurion one win away from a place in Gold Cup tournament
If Centurion can manage to beat College Rovers from Durban this weekend at home in Centurion, they will be one of the 20 clubs to take part in this year's Gold Cup tournament from 10 September.
The respective winners of two of the most famous trophies in South African club rugby go head to head on Saturday as the race for the last two places in the upcoming Gold Cup reaches its climax.
Centurion, who recently lifted the Blue Bulls’ iconic Carlton Cup for the first time since 1999, will host two-time national club champions and reigning KZN Moor Cup league winners College Rovers on Saturday in the first play-off final. The winner will qualify for the Gold Cup – SA Rugby’s three-nation championship for non-university clubs, which kicks off on 10 September.
The match, which kicks off at 15:30 at the Centurion Rugby Club, promises to be a hard-fought battle between the reigning champions of two of South Africa’s biggest provincial unions, both of which have witnessed a surge of interest at club level.
And in the other play-off final, East London Police, who went unbeaten this year en route to winning the Border Super League, will travel to Klerksdorp to face Vaal Reefs, who squeaked home 18-17 in their play-off semi-final against Potgietersrus last week. The match takes place at Wesvalia High School (kick-off 15h30).
SA Rugby also announced on Thursday that the Gold Cup’s Player, Coach and Administrator of the Year would once again be rewarded with all-expenses-paid international exchanges to top UK clubs. This is made possible through a partnership with the British High Commission and Richard de Jager of RDJ Sports Development, as well as Richmark Holdings and the SA Rugby Legends.
“The Gold Cup was established to provide club players, coaches and administrators with a platform to display their talents and it’s fantastic that the programme will once again give the tournament’s top performers a once-in-a-lifetime chance to play and learn overseas,” said SA Rugby CEO, Jurie Roux.
Last year’s club player of the year, Leon du Plessis of Rustenburg Impala, spent six months at Scottish Premiership side Selkirk and so impressed that he ended up playing a match for the Edinburgh franchise against Scotland Under-20, scoring a try.
The Gold Cup kicks off on 10 September, with 20 clubs once again competing in a Rugby World Cup-style format consisting of eight pool matches per week for five weeks up until 8 October. The top two from each group will progress to the quarter-finals a week later. All knockout matches, including the televised semi-finals (22 October) and grand final (29 October) will be hosted at participating clubs.
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