Defending champions Maties will open the defence of their SAA National Club Champs title against invited Golden Lions team Raiders, when the 34th staging of the tournament gets underway at the Danie Craven Stadium in Stellenbosch on 7 September.

The country’s 14 provincial champions will be joined by Raiders and another top black club, SK Walmers of Western Province, in a 16-team Premier draw that kicks off at 10am on Sunday. The teams have been seeded according to the 2007 Club Champs results.

The pick of the opening-day Premier matches looks set to be newly-crowned Eastern Province champions Despatch, who won the Club Champs in 1985 and again in 1988, up against Valke heavyweights Brakpan, kicking off at 10am on Field B, while the clash between WP’s SK Walmers and Blue Bulls champions Tukkies at 2.30pm at the Danie Craven Stadium should also attract a large crowd.

Another four invited black clubs, namely Eersterust (Blue Bulls), Barbarians (SWD), Gardens (EP) and Wesbank (Boland) will contest the Bowl competition, to be played on a round-robin basis.

The eight losing teams from the first round of the Premier division will contest the Plate competition, starting on Tuesday 9 September.

The Plate and Premier finals will take place on Saturday 13 September, kicking off at 5pm and 7pm respectively.

Premier Teams:

College Rovers (KZN)
Buffalo (Border)
Pukke (Leopards)
Bridgton (SWD)
Despatch (EP)
Brakpan (Valke)
UJ (Golden Lions)
Welkom (Griffons)
CUT Ixias (Free State)
Kimberley Police (Griqualand West)
Roses United (Boland)
Nelspruit (Mpumalanga)
Tukkies (Blue Bulls)
Maties (WP)
Invited:
SK Walmers (WP)
Raiders (Golden Lions)

FIXTURES:

Sunday 7 September:

Bowl
10am Barbarians v Eersterust (Field G)
11.30am Wesbank v Gardens (Field G)

Premier
10am: Match G – College Rovers (KZN) v Buffalo (Border) (Field F)
11.30am: Match E – Pukke (Leopards) v Bridgton (SWD) (Field F)
10am: Match F – Despatch (EP) v Brakpan (Valke) (Field B)
11.30am: Match D – UJ (Golden Lions) v Welkom (Griffons) (Field B)
11.30am: Match C – CUT Ixias (Free State) v Kimberley Police (Griqualand West) (Danie Craven Stadium)
1pm: Match H – Roses United (Boland) v Nelspruit (Mpumalanga) (Danie Craven Stadium)
2.30pm: Match B – Tukkies (Blue Bulls) v SK Walmers (WP, invited) (Danie Craven Stadium)
4.15pm: Match A – Maties (WP) v Raiders (Golden Lions, invited) (Danie Craven Stadium)

Tuesday 9 September:

Bowl
10am Gardens v Barbarians (Field F)
11.30am Wesbank v Eersterust (Field F)

Premier
Match L: Winner D v Winner E (11.30am Stadium)
Match K Winner C v Winner F (1pm Stadium)
Match J: Winner B v Winner G (2.30pm Stadium)
Match I: Winner A v Winner H (4pm Stadium)

Plate
Match BB: Loser B v Loser F (10am B Field)
Match AA: Loser A v Loser H (11.30am B Field)
Match CC: Loser D v Loser E (10am C Field)
Match DD: Loser C v Loser G (11.30am C Field)

Thursday 11 September:

Bowl
10am: Eersterust v Gardens (Field B)
11.30am: Wesbank v Barbarians (Field B)

Premier
Loser I v Loser K (C Field 10am)
Loser J v Loser L (C Field 11.30am)
Match R: Winner J v Winner L (Stadium 2pm)
Match Q: Winner I v Winner K (Stadium 4pm)

Plate
Match FF: Winner BB v Winner DD (B Field 10am)
Match EE: Winner AA v Winner CC (Stadium 11.30am)
Loser Plate AA v Loser Plate CC (F Field 10am)
Loser Plate BB v Loser Plate DD (F Field 11.30am)

Saturday 13 September:

Plate
Winner EE v Winner FF (Stadium 5pm)

Premier
Final: Winner Q v Winner R (Stadium 7pm)

ISSUED BY THE SOUTH AFRICAN RUGBY UNION