Noordelikes first up for Pukke
NWU-Pukke will begin the defence of their SAA National Club Championships title against invited Limpopo side, Noordelikes, when the 35th edition of the tournament gets underway at the LC de Villiers sports grounds on the University of Pretoria’s Sport Campus on Sunday, September 20.
SA Rugby has also announced that the final will be played at Loftus Versfeld on September 26 as a curtain-raiser to the Currie Cup match between the Blue Bulls and the Free State Cheetahs.
The seeding for the 16-team event is done by province and is based on the performances of the 14 provincial representatives at the previous year’s tournament. The two clubs invited annually to take part are automatically seeded 15th and 16th.
This year, the Leopards and KwaZulu-Natal are seeded first and second, respectively, because Pukke – the losing 2009 Varsity Cup finalists – and College Rovers contested the 2008 final; won 17-12 by the Potchefstroom students
Of the 16 teams that will take part this year, only NWU-Pukke, College Rovers and Buffalo played in the 2008 tournament, while the only Varsity Cup sides who managed to qualify are Pukke and Shimlas – with the likes of Maties (the back-to-back Varsity Cup champions), Tukkies and UJ all narrowly missing out.
The only province yet to confirm its entrant is Eastern Province. That will be decided on Saturday when the Grand Challenge Final is contested between Port Elizabeth teams Park and SAPS.
