Brakpan book a spot in the final

The 2016 SARU Gold Cup, previously known as the Community Cup, is the top competition for non-university rugby union clubs in South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe.

After getting a taste of Boksburg Rugby Club in their final Top Six clash at the Bosman Stadium on Friday, July 22, the “Panne” again squared up against the “Owls” from Boksburg at Bosman in the semi-final on Friday, July 29.

They would go on to win the clash 54-20.

Coach Regardt Botha made 10 changes to the side that did battle in the semi-final prelude with captain Francois “Bones” Robbertse returning to the team in the number eight position.

Another interesting change was that of Hagen Mumba in the fly-half role.

It wasn’t the greatest of starts for the men in the green jerseys in the first 20 minutes as the Owls took a 13-7 lead.

Thereafter, Brakpan managed to add 47 points before going without any points for the remainder of the final 20 minutes of the match.

A win in tomorrow’s (Saturday, August 6) final against Vereeniging at the Valke Rugby Union’s headquarters at Barnard Stadium in Kempton Park will determine if Brakpan gain automatic qualification to the Gold Cup or be forced to book a spot via the long route, the qualifiers.

A shining light in Friday night’s clash was the performance of Mumba, who dotted down on two occasions.

It is unclear what line-up Botha will go with at Barnard Stadium on Saturday, but it is clear that he will certainly be faced with the good dilemma of having a number of quality players available to fill various positions.

The Panne will be in for a tough clash against Vereeniging.

Both teams have defeated each other once this season; however, Brakpan will have the upper hand after dismantling their opponents 50-10 when the teams met at the Bosman Stadium on July 16.

Vereeniging defeated Springs 39-25 to get to the final.

The big match in Kempton will kick off at 3pm.