The Pick n Pay Gold Cup has delivered its fair share of spectacle over the past fortnight and Saturday promises to be no different as the ‘FA Cup’ of South African club rugby reaches the quarter-final stage.
The country’s pre-eminent knockout championship for non-university clubs – which is sponsored by the national retail chain for the second time as part of a four-year agreement that includes becoming Tier 1 sponsors of the world-champion Springboks – is also supported by Northam Platinum, whose commitment to community aligns with the grassroots spirit of the Pick n Pay Gold Cup.
All club roads will lead to Pretoria, Brakpan, Durban and Wellington following a Round of 16 that delivered one of the most thrilling days the club game in this country has ever seen, which included three-time defending champions, Sanlam Naka Bulls (Bulls), pulling off one of the greatest comebacks in the history of the tournament, scoring twice in the dying moments to beat fellow Bulls side Centurion 46-45.
The last eight clashes promise an intriguing mix of styles as diverse as the match locations themselves.
In the North section, Naka Bulls host the Willem van Loggerenberg-coached Randfontein (Lions) in the country’s capital, in a club version of the Jukskei derby taking place in the Vodacom United Championship less than 10km to the south at Loftus Versfeld.
With both sides having scraped through to the quarters by the skin of their teeth – Randfontein pipped Vereeniging 48-47 – in two nail-biting away wins that produced a combined 28 tries, Saturday’s match in the Moot is too close to call.
All bets are off, too, when it comes to the second quarter-final, between dark horses Brakpan (Valke) and perennial title-chasers Northam Platinum Rhinos (Limpopo) at Bosman Stadium on the East Rand, in a match that will be broadcast live on SuperSport at 16h00.
Brakpan, under long-time coach Reghardt Botha, have quietly gone about the business of dismantling their opponents and will need every bit of home-ground advantage when they host 2025 semi-finalists Rhinos, coached by former Bulls boss Nollis Marais, who are still seeking their first-ever Gold Cup title.
In the South section, Durbanville-Bellville (Western Province), coached by Marius White, a member of their 2015 Gold Cup champion side, and captained by fellow 2015 winner, the evergreen Tiaan Radyn, tapped into their championship muscle memory to knock out 2025 finalists, Villager, last weekend.
Durbell’s quarter-final ‘derby’ against Roses United (Boland), coached by Brendon April and who have never progressed beyond the quarter-finals, may be taking place just 42km from their northern-suburbs stronghold, but a packed Pelikaan Park in Wellington will be unlike anything the Capetonians would have faced in the tournament thus far. Fittingly for such an occasion, the match will be televised on SuperSport.
And in the last quarter-final, College Rovers (KZN), who last won a national title in 2012, will be looking to move one step closer to ending a 14-year title drought when they host Julian Daniels’ thrill-a-minute Gardens (EP) in Durban.
The last time the two sides met in the Gold Cup, in 2019, it was the Kariega side who won a roller-coaster ride of match 30-28 at the Derrick Ferreira Stadium in Nelson Mandela Bay, something that long-time Rovers coach Derek Heiberg, who was at the helm seven years ago, would not have forgotten in this week’s build-up.
Quarter-final fixtures – Saturday 10 October:
North Section:
16h00: Naka Bulls v Randfontein (Naka Bulls Rugby Club, Pretoria)
16h00: Brakpan v Northam Rhinos (Bosman Stadium, Brakpan)
South Section:
15h00: College Rovers v Gardens (Kings Park 3, Durban)
16h00: Roses United v Durbanville-Bellville (Pelikaan Park, Wellington)
Roller Girl
Richie McCaw, a former All Blacks captain, is one of the most capped rugby players in history, with 148 international appearances. He is also a three-time winner of the World Rugby Player of the Year award (2006, 2009, and 2010).
Grave Scuttlebutt
Sport Trivia: Gary player, one of the worlds golfing greats, won a particular major tournament over three different decades, during the \’50s, \’60s, and the 1970s. Which tournament was it? Answer: The British Open. Gary Player won the British Open in 1959, 1968, and 1974. He was also the first non-American golfer to win the US Masters. Player won 163 tournaments all over the world during his career, and was the first South African to win golf\’s Grand Slam of the U.S. Masters, U.S. Open, British Open, and U.S. PGA titles.