Decider in Mayoral Cup games
Spring Rose tournament favourites as exciting pool stages draw to close
THE Mayoral Cup club rugby competition shifts to its final pool stages at the Adcock, Dan Qeqe and Daleview stadiums tomorrow. Spring Rose enter the third round of the Mayoral Cup as tournament favourites and will want to maintain their dominant status after hammering PE Harlequins 31-25 last week.
They have already registered a telling 12-point advantage and will be hoping to substantially increase that total against the hefty Park outfit, who have been inconsistent during the competition.
Park, however, did have an emphatic 48-16 win over Gelvandale Wallabies in their opening match and were able to chalk up seven points from that convincing victory.
It will be interesting to see if they can find a counter to a robust Spring Rose forward pack.
Gardens will take on Star of Hope and their job will be to gain parity in the tight exchanges and then use their penetrative backs to force openings in their opposition defence.
Last year’s champions, Harlequins, and Progress have been knocked out of the running for the silverware and it is now the chance of the underdogs to showcase their abilities.
African Bombers’ loss to Spring Rose in the opening match has seen them fall out of the running as well.
Club rugby giants Swallows lost their first game to Kabah United and will also be watching the final round of group games from the sidelines.
At the Daleview Stadium, Siyakhula will clash with Kabah United, where both will be looking to pile on the tries.
If they can achieve that, they can boost their points tally, creating an opportunity to feature in the final rounds of the competition.
Both teams got off to poor starts, recording low scores in their previous encounters, and need to overcome that deficit.
Winter Rose have won both of their opening matches and should continue their winning run tomorrow when they clash with Uitenhage.
However, it should still be a thrilling encounter as the Uitenhagers strive for a good haul of points.
St Marks, who produced good results last season, have yet to hit their straps and need to down a high-flying Missionvale to guarantee themselves a spot in the semifinals. A tight encounter is expected when the Kwaru women’s team take on African Bombers.
Kwaru will be looking to use their experience from the national club championship competition to overcome Bombers.
The first match tomorrow kicks off at 11am, with the final game played at 5pm.
The fixtures are: Adcock Stadium: Park v Spring Rose, Star of Hope v Gardens, St Marks v Missionvale, Walmer Wallabies v Kuyga, Thistles v Glen Rose Dan Qeqe: St Cyprians v Hilltop Eagles, Moonlight v Star of Hope Daleview: Kabah United v Siyakhula, Uitenhage v Winter Rose