The third Rugby Festival of the SuperSport Rugby Challenge will be crucial to the fortunes of the four teams playing at Impala Rugby Club in Rustenburg on May 19, while Saturday’s action will see two of the front-runners in the highly competitive North Section battle it out.
North Section
The North West venue will see the Down Touch Griffons face the Windhoek Draught Welwitschias in the opening clash at the Rugby Festival, while the second match, between hosts the Leopards, and the Valke will see the losing side without a win halfway through the competition.
All four teams are on the wrong side of the log, and will have to start building winning momentum in the Platinum Belt or face the prospect of dropping out of the play-off race.
After three rounds of North Section action, Tafel Lager Griquas, the Xerox Golden Lions XV and iSG Pumas are yet to taste defeat, but this will change in Johannesburg on Saturday, when the defending champions from Nelspruit travel to Emirates Airline Park for their clash against the home side.
The other big clash in the North Section will be at Tafel Lager Park where the home team’s unbeaten status will be tested by a Vodacom Blue Bulls side boosted by a number of players who participated in Vodacom Super Rugby this year.
South Section
South Section leaders, DHL Western Province, are again setting the pace and appear to be in a comfortable position at the top of the log. They will play at DHL Newlands for the first time this season when they line up against the Zimbabwe Academy, who will make the short trip north from False Bay Rugby Club to the historical rugby venue.
The clashes in Durban and Bloemfontein could also determine the participating teams’ further progress. The Cell C Sharks XV will host the undefeated Boland Cavaliers in Durban on Friday, and on Saturday, the Toyota Free State XV host the SWD Eagles in a match that will decide which side keeps their play-off hopes alive.
Sunday’s South Section match, where the Multisure EP Elephants host Border in Port Elizabeth in an Eastern Cape derby, will be more about bragging rights than log positions, as both teams are currently languishing in the bottom half of the log.
