Three-time defending champions, Sanlam Naka Bulls, will resume a growing rivalry with Cape Town’s Schotsche Kloof Walmers when the 10th edition of the Pick n Pay Gold Cup men’s national club championship kicks off on 26 September.
SA Rugby on Thursday confirmed the final line-up of 32 clubs for the ‘FA Cup’ of South African community rugby, with SK Walmers, based in the Bo-Kaap of Cape Town and playing out of the historic Green Point Track, grabbing the final spot as tournament wildcards after enjoying a stellar domestic season.
‘SK’, as they are known, finished in the top five in the Western Province Super League A behind three former national club champions in Villager, Durbanville-Bellville and Hamilton. They are currently on a 12-match unbeaten streak and have not lost a match since April.
During this time, head coach Sentle Lohoko, who also did duty as assistant coach to the DHL Stormers XXIII in the Carling Currie Cup, has guided Walmers to victories over FNB Varsity Cup champion sides Maties and UCT, as well as two former Gold Cup champions in Hamiltons and False Bay.
Intriguingly, SK’s golden ticket will take them all the way from the shadow of Table Mountain to the Pretoria Moot, where they will take the field against champions Naka Bulls for a second time this year. The two sides met in the Saldanha Super 8 Easter tournament on the West Coast in April in a pulsating match that Naka hung on to win 28-24 on their way to winning the Cup, with Walmers going on to claim the Plate title.
This year’s 32-team line-up is arguably one of the strongest in years, with no less than six current or former national club champions in the draw, including 2025 finalists Villager and 2015 champions Durbanville-Bellville (both WP), College Rovers and Crusaders (both KZN) and Johannesburg’s Pirates (Lions).
“The 2025 Pick n Pay Gold Cup was a tremendous success,” said SA Rugby CEO, Rian Oberholzer.
“Fans across the country bought into the vibe, our social media pages had almost two million views and we intend to build on that foundation this year.
“We have already resumed our highly popular Gold Cup Trophy Tour roadshow, with the first stop of 2026 being a visit to the Cape Winelands last weekend, where the public were able to see the iconic Gold Cup up close at Pick n Pay Wellington and thereafter at Gold Cup side Roses United Rugby Club.
“The role that the Gold Cup’s new partners, Pick n Pay and Northam Platinum, have played in the tournament’s revival cannot be overstated. They have bought in to what we are trying to achieve in the community rugby space and we look forward to taking things up another level when the teams get down to battle at the end of the month,” Oberholzer added.
Apart from a host of former champions who will be hell-bent on lifting the Cup once more, the final line-up for this year also includes a potentially thrilling mix of old and new: perennial SWD championship contenders Pacaltsdorp Evergreens of George, who reached the last eight of the inaugural Gold Cup in 2013, will make a welcome return alongside another Garden Route heavyweight, Groot-Brakrivier.
The same can be said of the likes of 2025 semi-finalists and perennial title contenders Northam Platinum Rhinos (Limpopo), fellow miners Sishen (Griquas), Lowveld top dogs White River (Pumas), Eastern Cape kings East London Police (Border), and quarter-finalists from last year, Gardens of Kariega (EP).
They will be joined by newcomers such as Bethlehem Oud-Skoliere of the Griffons, who will play in the Gold Cup for the first time having been a giant of Eastern Free State community rugby for decades. Other first-timers include Randfontein (Lions) and Grizzlies (Bulls).
The Pick n Pay Gold Cup’s roots can be traced back to 1975, when the University of Stellenbosch’s Maties beat Durban Collegians in the first-ever National Club Championship final. Today, 31 years into the professional era, the Gold Cup remains South Africa’s premiere national club tournament, with the objective of growing to serve as an aspirational platform for every single one of the country’s 1,197 clubs and their 118,000 registered players.
It will also be the fourth time the tournament is staged since a three-year, pandemic-enforced hiatus that appeared to threaten the future of the community game as a whole. The Gold Cup returned in 2023, reinventing itself as a 32-team FA Cup-style knockout event, replacing the pre-2020 Rugby World Cup-style pool format that provided a national platform to only half the current number of participating clubs.
And any fears that community rugby had been irreparably harmed by three years of enforced inactivity were put to bed in emphatic fashion in 2025, when record crowds and unprecedented social-media engagement culminated in Naka Bulls storming to a hat-trick of Gold Cup titles in a memorable Cup Final in Cape Town.
The action will begin on 26 September with the Round of 32, comprising two clubs from each of the 15 provincial unions, defending champions Naka Bulls and wildcards SK Walmers. The full fixtures and draw will be released in due course.
It will also be the second time that the tournament will be sponsored by Pick n Pay, the national retail chain’s investment into community rugby forming part of a four-year agreement with SA Rugby that includes becoming Tier-1 sponsors of the four-time Rugby World Cup-winning Springboks; the back-to-back sevens world champion Blitzboks; and the back-to-back World Rugby Under-20 champion Junior Springboks; as well as all other national teams.
The success of the Gold Cup is also thanks in no small part to the support of Northam Platinum, whose commitment to community aligns with the grassroots spirit of the Pick n Pay Gold Cup.
Participating teams by geographical province and provincial union:
GAUTENG (three unions)
Blue Bulls: Naka Bulls (as defending champions), Grizzlies, Centurion
Golden Lions: Randfontein, WeBuyCar Pirates
Valke: Vereeniging, Brakpan
LIMPOPO (one union)
Limpopo: Northam Platinum Rhinos, Louis Trichardt
NORTH WEST (one union)
Leopards: Northam Platinum Wolves, Sibanye Stillwater Warriors
MPUMALANGA (one union)
Pumas: White River, Nelspruit
FREE STATE (two unions)
Free State: Red Oak Bloemfontein Police, Corp Group Bloemfontein Collegians
Griffons: Welkom, Bethlehem Oud-Skoliere
NORTHERN CAPE (one union)
Griquas: Sishen, Kimberley
KWAZULU-NATAL (one union)
KZN: C. Steinweg College Rovers, Northwood Crusaders
EASTERN CAPE (two unions)
Border: East London Police, Young Leopards
Eastern Province: Gardens, PE Harlequins
WESTERN CAPE (three unions)
Boland: Saldanha, Roses United
SWD: Groot-Brakrivier, Pacaltsdorp Evergreens
WP: Villager, Durbanville-Bellville
Wildcard:
Schotsche Kloof Walmers (WP)
Pick n Pay Gold Cup Champions:
2013 – Despatch (EP)
2014 – Rustenburg Impala (Leopards)
2015 – Durbanville-Bellville (WP)
2016 – Rustenburg Impala (Leopards)
2017 – False Bay (WP)
2018 – no tournament as Gold Cup transitioned from post-season to pre-season timeslot
2019 – Rustenburg Impala (Leopards)
2020-2022 – did not take place due to COVID
2023-2025 – Sanlam Naka Bulls (Bulls)
Wild Kitten
The All Blacks are one of the most successful teams in sporting history – The New Zealand All Blacks are one of the most successful teams in sporting history. Since 1903 when they played their first ever game, they have a win percentage of 78% in nearly 600 games. That stat is absolutely crazy when you think about it. They’ve also won 3 Rugby World Cups (though arguably should have won all of them apart from 1991 and 2003). They were also the first rugby team to win 500 test matches, one of many records establishing the All Blacks the world’s best team. Can you imagine winning 78% of all your games you play!?
Lucifurious
Lala Amarnath is the only bowler to dismiss Don Bradman in Test cricket – This happened in the 1948 Brisbane Test.