South Africa’s age-old north-versus-south provincial and franchise rivalry will play out at club level in Cape Town on Saturday when Western Province champions Villager host Bulls champions Naka Bulls in the Pick n Pay Gold Cup Final.
This year’s tournament, which signals a bold new era for community rugby on the back of significant post-pandemic and RWC 2023-inspired growth in the club game, is also supported by Northam Platinum, whose commitment to community aligns with the grassroots spirit of the Pick n Pay Gold Cup.
Pick n Pay’s title partnership with the national knockout championship for non-university clubs, meanwhile, is part of a four-year agreement that includes becoming Tier-1 sponsors of the four-time Rugby World Cup and back-to-back Castle Lager Rugby Championship-winning Springboks.
The Grand Final of the ‘FA Cup’ of South African rugby will take place at the iconic Brookside Sports Ground in Claremont on Saturday (kick-off 15h00), with the match televised live by SuperSport (channel tbc).
Villager and Naka Bulls are the last two clubs left standing after 30 do-or-die matches that have provided unprecedented drama at community venues across South Africa, from Setaria in Limpopo to Robertson in the Western Cape, and Kariega in the Eastern Cape to Kathu in the Northern Cape.
Villager earned their golden ticket with a tense 30-21 home win on Saturday against nine-time defending KZN champions College Rovers.
Naka Bulls, who are now 80 minutes away from an historic ‘three-peat’ of Gold Cup titles, produced a dominant display away from home when they beat Northam Rhinos 28-22 at Bushveld Park in Setaria.
Villager’s superior winning points-differential – nine as opposed to six – ensured that Naka Bulls, the two-time defending champions in the Gold Cup, will need to win on the road to cement their status as the country’s most dominant non-university club team of the 2020s and one of the best since unification in 1992.
Victory for Marinus van der Watt’s side will ensure the Pretoria outfit emulate the feats of Rustenburg Impala, who lifted the Gold Cup three times in the 2010s – in 2014, 2016 and 2019.
Villager, at 149 years the second oldest non-university club in the country after arch-rivals Hamilton, last month lifted the Western Province Grand Challenge trophy – and the Super League A title – for the first time in 25 years.
The men in white from Cape Town’s southern suburbs, coached by Andy Coetzee, now also find themselves one match away from their first national crown in almost half a century, when legendary Springbok captain and 1995 Rugby World Cup-winning manager Morné du Plessis lifted the old national club championship trophy in 1980.
In Cape Town, Villager got off to a flying start when lock Ewan Coetzee barged over after just seven minutes, in what proved to be a man-of-the-match performance for the home side.
Centre Noegh Hayward’s try, converted by fullback Jandre Grobler, made it 12-3 less than five minutes later but Rovers are not a championship side for nothing, lock Rita Sibi adding to flyhalf Aphiwe Stemele’s early penalty goal to cut the deficit to four points.
Further first-stanza tries to No 8 Adriaan Rabie and loosehead prop Adam Neethling gave Villager a commanding 22-11 lead at the break, but that lead was again cut to just four points from the restart when Rovers centre Alwayno Visagie went over, converted by Stemele.
The flyhalf then made it a one-point game with a second penalty goal to set up a tense final half-hour dominated in large parts by the visitors, who were just not able to convert their ascendancy into points at crucial times.
Villager hooker MC de Jongh opened some daylight with a driving maul try with 14 minutes remaining, but it was only flyhalf Bradley Thain’s 80th-minute penalty goal that put the result beyond doubt, against a dogged Durban side, coached by Derek Heiberg, who refused to throw in the towel.
A thousand miles to the north-east, Naka Bulls brought their A-game to Bushveld Park in what was one of the most eagerly-anticipated club matches of the year against arch-foes Northam Rhinos.
No 8 Marco van Baalen, hooker Christoff Craill and scrumhalf Jack Hart scored first-half tries to give the visitors an 18-point lead at the break, in front of a stunned home crowd.
Rhinos, who were scintillating in their 62-21 quarterfinal win over Harlequins at the same ground just seven days earlier, simply could not gain any kind of foothold in the match.
However, centre Jade Stoffels’ 47th-minute intercept touchdown, converted by flyhalf Jaylen James, gave the platinum miners a ray of hope, but Craill’s brace on 50 minutes made it 28-10.
Thereafter followed a slew of replacements from both sides, which swung the momentum in Rhinos’ favour, especially up front.
Naka Bulls, with a retreating scrum and a resurgent home side sensing an unlikely victory, did not trouble the scorers in the last half-hour, Rhinos edging closer with a penalty try on the hour mark to cut the deficit to 11 points.
Stoffels’ second try two minutes from time made it a one-score game and help set up a tense conclusion, but Naka Bulls held their nerve to close out a match of two halves – they were outscored 19-7 in the second stanza – to deservedly book their airline tickets to a Mother City showpiece final.
Pick n Pay Gold Cup semifinal results
Saturday 18 October:
South section:
Villager FC 30 (22), College Rovers 21 (11)
Villager – Tries: Ewan Coetzee, Noegh Hayward, Adriaan Rabie, Adam Neethling, MC de Jongh. Conversion: Jandre Grobler. Penalty: Bradley Thain.
College Rovers – Tries: Rita Sibi, Alwayno Visagie. Conversion: Aphiwe Stemele. Penalties: Stemele (3).
North section:
Northam Rhinos 22 (3), Naka Bulls 28 (21)
Northam Rhinos – Tries: Jade Stoffels (2), penalty try. Conversion: Jaylen James. Penalty: James.
Naka Bulls – Tries: Marco van Baalen, Christoff Craill (2), Jack Hart. Conversions: Hansie Graaf (3), Hart.
Pick n Pay Gold Cup – Final (live on SuperSport; channel tbc)
Saturday 25 October:
15h00: Villager FC v Naka Bulls – Brookside, Claremont, Cape Town
