Bragging rights high on agenda
REPRESSED emotions could bubble over when bitter rivals Eastern Province and Border clash in a SuperSport Rugby Challenge clash in Mdantsane on Sunday.
The Eastern Cape derby always stirs the blood and Eastern Province’s Elephants can expect a hostile atmosphere at the Sisa Dukashe Stadium when regional pride will be at stake.
Organisers expect 15 000 fans to attend the all-day triple-header which will pit the South Sections two worst performing teams against one another.
A big motivating factor for three of the Elephants players to shine is that they have been invited to join Southern Kings Pro14 training sessions.
With a fulltime professional contract in the offing, prop Zandre Vos, loose-forward Bakkies Brown and fullback Michael Botha will be determined to put their best foot forward.
Despite their poor start, EP can still climb above the Bulldogs on the log if they win their final two games.
The Elephants have five points after six outings, while the second-frombottom Bulldogs have 11 points behind their name after seven matches.
When the Elephants faced the Bulldogs in the opening round of the competition, the East London side emerged narrow 22-17 winners.
After trailing 10-3 at the break, Border turned the tables on the Elephants when they had the wind at their back in a hard-fought showdown.
EP coach Ryan Felix raised the stakes for his team, when he issued a challenge ahead of the showdown.
“I have challenged the players to put in an 80-minute performance against the Bulldogs,” said Felix.
This is the fourth festival in the competition after previous all-day events at the Wolfson Stadium in Kwazakhele, the Impala Rugby Club in Rustenburg and the Bridgton Sports Ground in Outdtshoorn.
When the Elephants faced the Bulldogs in the opening round of the competition, the East London side emerged narrow 22-17 winners.
The 15 teams in the competition are divided into three regional pools (North, South and Central) of five teams.
Each team plays home and away matches against the other four teams in their pool over a 10-week period.
The top two teams from each pool, along with the two third-placed teams with the best record, will progress to the playoffs.
The tournament winners will pocket R500 000 when the competition reaches its conclusion on July 15.