Bobbies back on the SAA National Club Championships beat

Pretoria Police Rugby Club will return to the SAA National Club Championships for the first time since 2006 after they beat defending Blue Bulls champions Tukkies 31-28 (halftime 6-12) in a dramatic Carlton Cup final that was only decided in the final two minutes of extra time.

In doing so, the Bobbies not only dashed Tukkies’ dreams of an historic hat-trick of Carlton Cup titles, but also the chance of challenging for the most prestigious trophy in South African club rugby in front of their home fans.

The 35th edition of the SAA-sponsored national tournament will take place at the University of Pretoria’s LC de Villiers sports grounds from 20-26 September.

The Carlton Cup is one of the most sought-after trophies in club rugby circles and the final lived up to its pre-match billing as a clash of the Pretoria heavyweights. The sides were deadlocked at 21-21 when the full-time whistle blew but in the end it was the boot of Police’s Mike Erasmus, who contributed 16 points, that made all the difference. For Tukkies, fullback Justin van Staden scored 18 points, including a try.

East London’s Police club wasn’t as fortunate as their upcountry namesakes, losing 35-21 to Buffaloes in the Border Premier League final, which was played at the Border Rugby Stadium last Saturday.

Buffs did what Tukkies couldn’t do – they won their third consecutive Border title (and completed a hat-trick of victories over Police in 2009), after trailing by 13 points going into the final quarter. A try by centre Dylan Swartz drew matters level at 21-21 before Buffs’ flyhalf Dennis Taylor gave the champs the lead for the first time. Wing Grant Cottrell then scored in injury time to seal the win.

Another noteworthy achievement on the day was the performance in the curtain-raiser of Fort Hare University’s Under-21 team, who beat Police 19-14 in the provincial age-group final.

Pretoria Police and Buffaloes bring to 13 the number of provincial qualifiers now confirmed for the tournament, with only the Eastern Province title to be decided in the coming weeks.

Interestingly, 11 of the 14 provincial champions that will travel to Pretoria did not appear in last year’s tournament, with only defending champions NWU-Pukke (Leopards), 2008 losing finalists College Rovers (KZN) and Buffaloes making the return trip.

The Eastern Province Grand Challenge semi-finals are due to take place this coming weekend, but defending champions Despatch are no longer in the running after losing heavily (43-15) to Progress last Saturday. Instead, the winners of the Park v Progress and Gardens v Police semis will fight it out on 29 August for the right to represent EP at the Club Champs.

Tukkies’ loss in the Carlton Cup final also means that only two Varsity Cup teams – NWU-Pukke and Shimlas (Free State) – have managed to qualify.

Joining Pretoria Police, Buffaloes, College Rovers, Pukke and Shimlas in the capital next month will be Hamiltons (Western Province), Pirates (Golden Lions), Great Brakriver (South Western Districts), Rovers (Griffons), Springs (Valke), Kuruman (Griqualand West), Rawsonville (Boland) and Middelburg (Mpumalanga).

In other countrywide club rugby action, the KZN Murray Cup semi-finals saw College Rovers remain on course for the league and cup double with an 18-13 win over defending champions Zululand Rhinos. In the other match, Old Boys beat Durban Collegians 22-18 in extra time after the teams finished 15-15 after the regulation 80 minutes.

The final will be played at the Durban University grounds on Friday, 14 August with kick-off at 20h00. In the curtain-raiser, the 2nd XVs of Rovers and Old Boys will contest the Peter Taylor Cup at 18h30.

At the same venue on Saturday, a number of other cup finals will bring the curtain down on the KZN season: Vryheid v South Coast Warriors (First Division Junior Murray Cup); Pongola 1st XV v Amanzimtoti 2nd XV (Second Division Keith Parkinson Trophy); and Drakensberg v Matatiele (Third Division Findlay Cup).

Hamiltons remain on course to win their first Western Province Super League A title since 1936. They have a six-point lead over second-placed SK Walmers at the top of the table, but Hammies have played five fewer matches. Their closest rivals, Maties, still have a mathematical chance of claiming the title, but the Stellenbosch students did themselves no favours last week when they lost 32-28 away to Durbanville-Bellville.

This Saturday’s fixtures see Maties at home to SK Walmers, Hammies travelling to Parow to play NNK, Kraaifontein hosting Vics, and Helderberg at home to Villager. All matches kick off at 16h00.

Issued by SA Rugby