The Hollywood Foundation Pumas Women will play at home for the first time this season in the Pick n Pay Women’s Super League 2, while the Griffons Women will host the SWD Eagirls, and AVBOB Griquas welcome the Valke Women in round four of the competition on Saturday.
All three hosting teams claimed good wins last weekend and will run out in front of their home crowds knowing that another victory in their campaign will most likely push them towards a semi-final berth.
At the same time, the teams travelling to Mbombela, Welkom and Kimberley will know very well that they need to win away from home to boost their own changes of contesting the playoffs.
The Pumas are on fire and have blown away all in their path up to now. Playing at home after three wins on the road will boost their energy even more and their northern neighbours, Limpopo Blue Bulls, will know that the trip to Nelspruit Rugby Club will be their toughest so far this season.
The team from Mpumalanga have scored 176 points and 30 tries at an average of 10 per match, with backs Alicia Mahlalela (6), Megan Guambe (6), Pauline Sianga (4) and Jibrene Dube (3) the main weapons in their arsenal.
At the other side of the log, Limpopo conceded 167 points already and only scored 70. Those stats points to a fruitful day for the Pumas team, although they will be without the services of Mahlalela, who is not available for this match.
Griquas will be buoyant after a big 73-15 win over Limpopo last weekend, especially as the Valke, who won their only match so far against Limpopo in round two, only squeezed past them by a point (37-36).
Given the margin of the wins over the same opponent, the Suzuki Park faithful will be quietly confident that Griquas could bag a second win in a row.
The Valke do not go away though, so it will require an 80-minute effort to clip their wings, but the home side’s confidence is high, and they should be able to win at home.
The Griffons welcome an Eagirls side who had two weeks to prepare for this match. SWD had mixed results in the opening two weekends, winning away from home against Valke and then losing against the Leopards in George before heading into a bye weekend.
Eagirls head coach Elize Arendse and her assistant coach Nicolene Barendse would have used this time to fine-tune their game and the Griffons will face a resurgent SWD team that traditionally starts to deliver as the finals appear on the horizon.
The Griffons found some attacking rhythm in their match against Valke last weekend, scoring five tries in the process, so will be confident in that area of their game.
The Leopards Women have a bye.
Match information:
Griffons Women vs SWD Eagirls
Venue: Down Touch Investments Stadium, Welkom
Date: Saturday 25 July
Kick-off: 12h30
Referee: Chante Olivier
AVBOB Griquas Women vs Valke Women
Venue: Suzuki Stadium, Kimberley
Date: Saturday 25 July
Kick-off: 12h30
Referee: Inge Sander
Hollywood Foundation Pumas Women vs Limpopo Blue Bulls Women
Venue: Nelspruit Rugby Club, Mbombela
Date: Saturday 25 July
Kick-off: 13h00
Referee: Martie Mostert
Killer Curio
England is the only team in the northern hemisphere to have won the Rugby World Cup – Given the game’s origins in England, statistically southern hemisphere teams are wayyyyyyy better at rugby. In total there have been 9 Rugby World Cups. New Zealand have won 3, South Africa have won 3, Australia have won it twice, and England are the only team in the northern hemisphere to have won it. Maybe the Rugby World Cup 2023 hosted in France will be another win for a European team though!
Mirage
The dubious honor of being called the worst Test batsman belongs to New Zealand’s Chris Martin. He has a poor batting average and only ever achieved double figures once. He was so bad that he even starred in an ad for Pulp Sport spoofing his (lack of) batting skills.