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TV derbies highlight Community Cup

PUBLISHED: February 23, 2014


Club rugby will step back into the television spotlight next month when two of the country’s biggest derbies will be broadcast live during the 2014 Cell C Community Cup, which kicks-off on March 8.

New ground will be broken at Bosman Stadium on Thursday, March 20 when last year’s bronze medallists, G5 Metals Brakpan face arch-rivals Kaufela Boksburg in an eagerly-anticipated Pool C match that will be televised on SuperSport 1 & HD (kick-off 18h00). The East Rand derby will represent the first time open-club rugby has occupied a prime-time TV slot on a weeknight.

This follows confirmation that this year’s opening match, between defending champions Gap Management Despatch and their Eastern Province rivals Spring Rose, will be broadcast live from the WJ de Wet Stadium in Despatch on Saturday, March 8 (kick-off 14h30).

And the Cell C Community Cup Easter Championship play-offs, to be hosted at Outeniqua Park in George from April 17-21, will once again be broadcast in its entirety – thereby bringing to 14 the number of live matches in the 2014 edition of SARU’s flagship tournament for non-university clubs.

Additionally, a second six-part season of the popular Cell C Community Cup television magazine show, ‘Working-Class Heroes’, will be broadcast in a new timeslot, starting on Thursday, March 13 at 19h00 on SuperSport 1 & HD.

“Club rugby is slowly but surely reclaiming the territory it has lost in recent years and we are very happy in particular to see the growth in TV exposure compared to last year,” said SARU CEO Jurie Roux.

“Apart from the 14 lives games, SuperSport will be covering each of the 40 pool matches for the magazine show, which means all 20 competing clubs will have a great platform to showcase themselves, both on and off the field.

“The popularity and reach of the Cell C Community Cup is growing rapidly and on that note we will also be making a number of other exciting announcements before the 2014 tournament kicks off in two weeks’ time.”

The Cell C Community Cup begins on March 8, with eight pool matches taking place across the length and breadth of the country.

From a Western Province point of view, Hamilton’s are the team to watch – the historic club from

Green Point having qualified for the 2014 tournament by virtue of being the top open club in the 2013 Super League A.

Said Roux: “No other tournament that SARU runs covers literally as much ground, or has the opportunity to leave its mark on so many geographically and culturally diverse communities.

“In the pool stages alone, clubs will be travelling nearly 25,000 kilometres, which is an average of over 600km per match. It’s a tough tournament but club rugby players have never lacked an appetite for a challenge.”

The two highest-placed clubs in each of the four pools will qualify for the Easter Championships.

THE CELL C COMMUNITY CUP 2014 FIXTURES:

POOL STAGES:
(All kick-off times 16h00 – unless otherwise indicated)

Round One – Saturday, March 8:
Match 1 (Pool A) – Gap Management Despatch v Spring Rose (WJ de Wet Stadium, Despatch, 14h30 – TV)
Match 2 (Pool A) – Mossel Bay Barbarians v Bridgton (D’Almeida Stadium, Mossel Bay)
Match 3 (Pool B) – Roodepoort v Bloemfontein Crusaders (Rand Leases Sports Ground, Roodepoort)
Match 4 (Pool B) – Jonsson College Rovers v E-Car Welkom (KP3, Kings Park, Durban, 13h00)
Match 5 (Pool C) – BB Truck Noordelikes v Kaufela Boksburg (Noordelikes Rugby Club, Polokwane, 16h30)
Match 6 (Pool C) – Roses United v G5 Metals Brakpan (Pelican Park, Wellington)
Match 7 (Pool D) – Shumba Ferros v Wesbank (Puma Stadium, Emalahleni/Witbank, 15h30)
Match 8 (Pool D) – Rustenburg Impala v Sishen (Rustenburg Impala Rugby Club, Rustenburg)
Byes: Kempston Old Selbornians, Eagle Towing Rovers, Centurion, Hamilton’s.

Round Two – Saturday, March 15:
Match 9 (Pool A) – Bridgton v Gap Management Despatch (Bridgton Sports Grounds, Oudtshoorn)
Match 10 (Pool A) – Spring Rose v Kempston Old Selbornians (New Brighton Oval, Port Elizabeth, 15h30)
Match 11 (Pool B) – E-Car Welkom v Roodepoort (Griffons Rugby Stadium ‘B’ Field, Welkom)
Match 12 (Pool B) – Bloemfontein Crusaders v Eagle Towing Rovers (Clive Solomon Stadium, Heidedal)
Match 13 (Pool C) – Kaufela Boksburg v Roses United (Prince George Park, Boksburg)
Match 14 (Pool C) – Centurion v BB Truck Noordelikes (Centurion Rugby Club, Centurion)
Match 15 (Pool D) – Hamilton’s v Sishen (Stephan Oval, Green Point, Cape Town)
Match 16 (Pool D) – Shumba Ferros v Rustenburg Impala (Puma Stadium, Emalahleni/Witbank, 15h30)
Byes: Mossel Bay Barbarians, Jonsson College Rovers, G5 Metals Brakpan, Wesbank.

Round Three – Thursday, March 20:
Match 22 (Pool C) – G5 Metals Brakpan v Kaufela Boksburg (Bosman Stadium, Brakpan, 18h00 – live on SS1 & HD)

Round Three – Saturday, March 22:
Match 17 (Pool A) – Kempston Old Selbornians v Bridgton (Kempston Park, East London)
Match 18 (Pool A) – Gap Management Despatch v Mossel Bay Barbarians (WJ de Wet Stadium, Despatch)
Match 19 (Pool B) – Bloemfontein Crusaders v Jonsson College Rovers (Clive Solomon Stadium, Heidedal)
Match 20 (Pool B) – Eagle Towing Rovers v Roodepoort (Rovers Rugby Club, Welkom, 16h30)
Match 21 (Pool C) – Roses United v Centurion (Pelican Park, Wellington)
Match 23 (Pool D) – Sishen v Shumba Ferros (Sivos Rugby Stadium, Kathu)
Match 24 (Pool D) – Wesbank v Hamilton’s (Wesbank Sports Grounds, Malmesbury)
Byes: Spring Rose, E-Car Welkom, BB Truck Noordelikes, Rustenburg Impala.

Round Four – Saturday, March 29:
Match 25 (Pool A) – Mossel Bay Barbarians v Kempston Old Selbornians (D’Almeida Stadium, Mossel Bay)
Match 26 (Pool A) – Bridgton v Spring Rose (Bridgton Sports Grounds, Oudtshoorn)
Match 27 (Pool B) – Eagle Towing Rovers v E-Car Welkom (Rovers Rugby Club, Welkom, 17h00)
Match 28 (Pool B) – Roodepoort v Jonsson College Rovers (Rand Leases Sports Ground, Roodepoort)
Match 29 (Pool C) – G5 Metals Brakpan v BB Truck Noordelikes (Bosman Stadium, Brakpan, 18h00)
Match 30 (Pool C) – Kaufela Boksburg v Centurion (Prince George Park, Boksburg)
Match 31 (Pool D) – Wesbank v Rustenburg Impala (Wesbank Sports Grounds, Malmesbury)
Match 32 (Pool D) – Hamilton’s v Shumba Ferros (Stephan Oval, Green Point, Cape Town)
Byes: Gap Management Despatch, Bloemfontein Crusaders, Roses United, Sishen.

Round Five – Saturday, April 5:
Match 33 (Pool A) – Spring Rose v Mossel Bay Barbarians (New Brighton Oval, Port Elizabeth, 15h30)
Match 34 (Pool A) – Kempston Old Selbornians v Gap Management Despatch (Kempston Park, East London)
Match 35 (Pool B) – Jonsson College Rovers v Eagle Towing Rovers (KP3, Kings Park, Durban, 15h00)
Match 36 (Pool B) – E-Car Welkom v Bloemfontein Crusaders (Griffons Rugby Stadium ‘B’ Field, Welkom)
Match 37 (Pool C) – Centurion v G5 Metals Brakpan (Centurion Rugby Club, Centurion)
Match 38 (Pool C) – BB Truck Noordelikes v Roses United (Noordelikes Rugby Club, Polokwane, 16h30)
Match 39 (Pool D) – Rustenburg Impala v Hamilton’s (Rustenburg Impala Rugby Club, Rustenburg)
Match 40 (Pool D) – Sishen v Wesbank (Sivos Rugby Stadium, Kathu)
Byes: Bridgton, Roodepoort, Kaufela Boksburg, Shumba Ferros.

EASTER CHAMPIONSHIP PLAY-OFFS – OUTENIQUA PARK, GEORGE:
(All matches live on SuperSport. Kick-off times TBC)

Day One – Thursday, April 17:
Match 41 (Cup QF1) – Winner Pool C v Runner-up Pool D
Match 42 (Cup QF2) – Winner Pool B v Runner-up Pool A
Match 43 (Cup QF3) – Winner Pool D v Runner-up Pool C
Match 44 (Cup QF4) – Winner Pool A v Runner-up Pool B

Day Two – Saturday, April 19:
Match 45 (Losers’ match 1) – Loser Match 41 (QF1) v Loser Match 42 (QF2)
Match 46 (Losers’ match 2) – Loser Match 43 (QF3) v Loser Match 44 (QF4)
Match 47 (Cup SF1) – Winner Match 41 (QF1) v Winner Match 42 (QF2)
Match 48 (Cup SF2) – Winner Match 43 (QF3) v Winner Match 44 (QF4)

Day Three – Easter Monday, April 21:
Match 49 (7th/8th Place Play-off) – Loser Match 45 v Loser Match 46
Match 50 (5h/6th Place Play-off) – Winner Match 45 v Winner Match 46
Match 51 (3rd/4th Place Play-off) – Loser Match 47 (SF1) v Loser Match 48 (SF2)
Match 52 (Cup Final) – Winner Match 47 (SF1) v Winner Match 48 (SF2)