Nelspruit and White River qualify for knockouts
The Phakisa Mpumalanga Premier Rugby League round-robin matches have come to an end and the play-offs will commence this Saturday.
Log leaders, White River will host Highveld rivals and defending champions, Sasol.
Kick-off is at 15:30.
Nelspruit will travel to Witbank for the other play-off match. This game will also start at 15:30.
Nelspruit finished with 25 log points, the same number as Middelburg. They claimed fourth place due to a better points difference.
The winner of the White River versus Sasol match will qualify for the final to be played on Saturday August 3 at Mbombela Stadium. The loser will play the winner of the match between Witbank and Nelspruit in a semi-final on Saturday July 27.
According to the manager of amateur rugby in Mpumalanga, Roelof Kotze, Sasol were docked five log points for not honouring their away fixture against Nelspruit last Saturday. “They (Sasol) will play their next home fixture versus Nelspruit in Nelspruit,” said Kotze.
Sasol also forfeited the one, two, four or five log points they could have secured, although it would not have made a difference to their position on the log. Nelspruit were awarded five log points for the unfulfilled fixture.
“The union is disappointed that our top club did not fulfil their fixture in the Phakisa Premier League, but we understand they had issues with illness and work commitments in their club,” Kotze concluded.