Do or die for final four in First Division
SEMIFINALS PREVIEW: All eyes will be on Kempton Park and Welkom on Saturday when the First Division semifinals take place on the East Rand and the Northern Free State.
The unbeaten and table-topping Falcons host the fourth-placed Leopards at the Barnard Stadium, while the Griffons, second on the log, take on the third-placed Eastern Province.
The home teams should go into the play-offs as favourites, judging by recent results between the sides, but stranger things have happened in the past.
The Falcons beat the Leopards by 50-24 when the two teams clashed in the second round a few weeks ago, which was their seventh consecutive win over the team from North West province.
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The Leopards’ last victory over the Falcons was more than three years ago, on May 7, 2022, by 22-15, but since then, the East Randers have been in control of this fixture.
Ironically, the second round was also the last time the Griffons and EP clashed in the First Division this season, with the men from the Northern Free State winning by 66-32.
However, the Elephants beat the Griffons earlier this year in the SA Cup, when they won this clash by 20-14 at home in Gqeberha, but that was their only victory in the last eight encounters between the sides.
EP will do well to keep an eye out for the two top scorers from the Griffons, Andrew Kota (most points with 89) and Willem van den Hever (most tries with 11).
The Elephants’ Rodney Damons has scored the second most tries this season, with six five-pointers.
Quan Eymann of the Griffons and the Falcons’ Ezrick Alexander are amongst a group of players next on the try-scorers list, with five tries each this season.
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All the match info:
Falcons v Leopards
Date: Saturday, 19 July
Venue: Barnard Stadium, Kempton Park
Kick-off: 15,00
Referee: Jonathan Lottering
Griffons v Eastern Province
Date: Saturday, 19 July
Venue: Welkom Stadium, Welkom
Kick-off: 15.00
Referee: Hanru van Rooyen