Hamiltons set for club cup debut

 

Up north, victory at home for fellow newcomers Kaufela Boksburg and Shumba Ferros will move them one step closer to next month's knockout stages.

 

Hamiltons, established in 1876, have named a strong line-up for their Pool D match at the Stephan Oval in Green Point against Griquas champions Aveng Moolmans Sishen, who travel to the Mother City for their second consecutive away match having lost 29-17 to fellow miners Rustenburg Impala in round one.

 

Former  Stormers centre Morgan Newman will captain a side brimming with provincial experience, which also includes former Griquas back Richard Lawson and veteran Attie Winter.

 

Impala, meanwhile, will travel to Emalahleni on Saturday for another mining derby against Ferros, who opened their account with a 33-20 victory over Boland's Wesbank, who this week enjoy a bye before their highly-anticipated WP-Boland derby against Hamiltons in Malmesbury next week.

 

And at Prince George Park in Boksburg, the home side, buoyed by their first-round 42-13 win over BB Truck Noordelikes, will face high-flying Roses United in what could prove to be a crucial Pool C encounter. Roses, the Boland champions, shocked tournament favourites G5 Metals Brakpan 27-26 at Pelican Park in Wellington on the opening weekend to set up an intriguing battle with the Valke runners-up.

 

Golden Lions champions Roodepoort embark on the first of two trips to Welkom this weekend to play E-Car Welkom in a Pool B encounter. The Gautengers, who finished seventh overall last year in SARU's flagship tournament for non-university clubs, began their campaign with a hard-fought 19-17 win over Free State's top open club, Bloemfontein Crusaders.

 

A win for Roodepoort will set them up nicely ahead of their clash with 2013 runners-up  College Rovers in round four. Rovers, the 2010 and 2012 national club champions, meanwhile looked in ominous form at Kings Park last week when they trounced E-Car Welkom 85-0. But the Northern Free Staters are always a tougher nut to crack at home, and will want to make amends for their disappointing tournament debut in Durban.

 

And in Pool A, defending champions Despatch, fresh off their stuttering 24-6 win over Spring Rose in the tournament opener, will travel to Oudtshoorn to face SWD champions Bridgton, who will want to make amends for their 32-13 loss to Mossel Bay Barbarians last weekend. 

 

Upcoming  Community Cup fixtures (all kick-off times 16h00 unless otherwise indicated):

 

Match 9 (Pool A) – Bridgton vs Despatch (Bridgton Sports Grounds, Oudtshoorn)

Match 10 (Pool A) – Spring Rose vs Kempston Old Selbornians (New Brighton Oval, Port Elizabeth, 15h30)

Match 11 (Pool B) – E-Car Welkom vs Roodepoort (Griffons Rugby Stadium 'B' field, Welkom)

Match 12 (Pool B) – Bloemfontein Crusaders vs Eagle Towing Rovers (Clive Solomon Stadium, Heidedal)

Match 13 (Pool C) – Kaufela Boksburg vs Roses United (Prince George Park, Boksburg)

Match 14 (Pool C) – Refreshhh! Centurion vs BB Truck Noordelikes (Centurion Rugby Club, Centurion)

Match 15 (Pool D) – Hamiltons vs Aveng Moolmans Sishen (Stephan Oval, Green Point, Cape Town)

Match 16 (Pool D) – Shumba Ferros vs Rustenburg Impala (Puma Stadium, Emalahleni/Witbank, 15h30)

Byes: Mossel Bay Barbarians,  College Rovers, G5 Metals Brakpan, Wesbank.

 

Match 22 (Pool C) – G5 Metals Brakpan vs Kaufela Boksburg (Bosman Stadium, Brakpan, 18h00 – live on SS1 & HD)

 

Match 17 (Pool A) – Kempston Old Selbornians vs Bridgton (Kempston Park, East London)

Match 18 (Pool A) – Despatch vs Mossel Bay Barbarians (WJ de Wet Stadium, Despatch)

Match 19 (Pool B) – Bloemfontein Crusaders vs  College Rovers (Clive Solomon Stadium, Heidedal)

Match 20 (Pool B) – Eagle Towing Rovers vs Roodepoort (Rovers Rugby Club, Welkom, 16h30)

Match 21 (Pool C) – Roses United vs Refreshhh! Centurion (Pelican Park, Wellington)

Match 23 (Pool D) – Aveng Moolmans Sishen vs Shumba Ferros (Sivos Rugby Stadium, Kathu)

Match 24 (Pool D) – Wesbank vs Hamiltons (Wesbank Sports Grounds, Malmesbury)

Byes: Spring Rose, E-Car Welkom, BB Truck Noordelikes, Rustenburg Impala.

 

Match 25 (Pool A) – Mossel Bay Barbarians vs Kempston Old Selbornians (D'Almeida Stadium, Mossel Bay)

Match 26 (Pool A) – Bridgton vs Spring Rose (Bridgton Sports Grounds, Oudtshoorn)

Match 27 (Pool B) – Eagle Towing Rovers vs E-Car Welkom (Rovers Rugby Club, Welkom, 17h00)

Match 28 (Pool B) – Roodepoort vs  College Rovers (Rand Leases Sports Ground, Roodepoort)

Match 29 (Pool C) – G5 Metals Brakpan vs BB Truck Noordelikes (Bosman Stadium, Brakpan, 18h00)

Match 30 (Pool C) – Kaufela Boksburg vs Refreshhh! Centurion (Prince George Park, Boksburg)

Match 31 (Pool D) – Wesbank vs Rustenburg Impala (Wesbank Sports Grounds, Malmesbury)

Match 32 (Pool D) – Hamiltons vs Shumba Ferros (Stephan Oval, Green Point, Cape Town)

Byes: Despatch, Bloemfontein Crusaders, Roses United, Aveng Moolmans Sishen.

 

Match 33 (Pool A) – Spring Rose vs Mossel Bay Barbarians (New Brighton Oval, Port Elizabeth, 15h30)

Match 34 (Pool A) – Kempston Old Selbornians v Despatch (Kempston Park, East London)

Match 35 (Pool B) –  College Rovers vs Eagle Towing Rovers (KP3, Kings Park, Durban, 15h00)

Match 36 (Pool B) – E-Car Welkom vs Bloemfontein Crusaders (Griffons Rugby Stadium 'B' field, Welkom)

Match 37 (Pool C) – Refreshhh! Centurion vs G5 Metals Brakpan (Centurion Rugby Club, Centurion)

Match 38 (Pool C) – BB Truck Noordelikes vs Roses United (Noordelikes Rugby Club, Polokwane, 16h30)

Match 39 (Pool D) – Rustenburg Impala vs Hamiltons (Rustenburg Impala Rugby Club, Rustenburg)

Match 40 (Pool D) – Aveng Moolmans Sishen vs Wesbank (Sivos Rugby Stadium, Kathu)

Byes: Bridgton, Roodepoort, Kaufela Boksburg, Shumba Ferros.

 

Easter Championship Play-offs – Outeniqua Park, George (all matches live on SuperSport. K/o times tbc):

 

Match 41 (Cup QF1) – Winner Pool C vs Runner-up Pool D

Match 42 (Cup QF2) – Winner Pool B vs Runner-up Pool A

Match 43 (Cup QF3) – Winner Pool D vs Runner-up Pool C

Match 44 (Cup QF4) – Winner Pool A vs Runner-up Pool B

 

Match 45 (Losers' match 1) – Loser Match 41 (QF1) vs Loser Match 42 (QF2)

Match 46 (Losers' match 2) – Loser Match 43 (QF3) vs Loser Match 44 (QF4)

Match 47 (Cup SF1) – Winner Match 41 (QF1) vs Winner Match 42 (QF2)

Match 48 (Cup SF2) – Winner Match 43 (QF3) vs Winner Match 44 (QF4)

 

Match 49 (7th/8th Place Play-off) – Loser Match 45 vs Loser Match 46

Match 50 (5h/6th Place Play-off) – Winner Match 45 vs Winner Match 46

Match 51 (3rd/4th Place Play-off) – Loser Match 47 (SF1) vs Loser Match 48 (SF2)

Match 52 (Cup Final) – Winner Match 47 (SF1) vs Winner Match 48 (SF2)