Super Rugby back with bang in Durban
Domestic rugby will return with a bang on October 9 when the Cell C Sharks take on the Emirates Lions in Durban in the opening game of the Vodacom Super Rugby Unlocked series in Durban on October 9.
Both teams are licking their wounds after defeats at the Vodacom Super Fan double header played at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.
The Sharks were beaten 4928 by the Bulls, the Lions crashed to a 34-21 defeat against the Stormers.
The full weekend of matches will be the last opportunity for players to catch the eye of the Springbok selectors because the Boks are expected to join up for a training camp ahead of the Rugby Championship on October 11.
Sharks coach Sean Everitt said he had taken a lot of positives from the loss to the Bulls.
“The score line is obviously not what we wanted‚ that’s the first thing and the second thing is that we play this game that we want to play with turnovers so that we can contest the Bulls‚” Everitt said.
Rugby-starved fans can expect seven weeks of action as SA’s top franchises slug it out for honours.
The competition went into lockdown with the rest of SA at the end of March, but returns with three added teams and a chase to a unique finale in November.
The four, existing Vodacom Super Rugby teams the Vodacom Bulls, Emirates Lions, Cell C Sharks and DHL Stormers, have been joined by the Toyota Cheetahs, Phakisa Pumas and Tafel Lager Griquas.
All 21 matches will be broadcast live on SuperSport.
After the Sharks vs Lions clash, the Toyota Cheetahs and Vodacom Bulls will host the Phakisa Pumas (at 16h30), and Tafel Lager Griquas (19h00) respectively on October 10.
The DHL Stormers have a bye in the opening round, but they will host the Lions the following week, when the men from Johannesburg will visit Newlands on October 17.
“We’d like to thank all our stakeholders in getting to this point,” SA Rugby CEO Jurie Roux said. “It has been an extremely trying time but thanks to Vodacom, SuperSport and the seven teams involved we are able to resume rugby with a really exciting series of matches featuring the best players in the country.
“We have had to make some major format changes and look at creative ways to look after everyone’s needs but we think between now and the end of the season which will only be in January we will provide rugby and entertainment to excite the fans once more.”
Vodacom’s executive head of sponsorships, Michelle van Eyden, said: “The success of Vodacom SuperFan Saturday and the energy and passion of the players and fans was a fantastic way to celebrate the restart of rugby, and to get South Africans connected again around their shared passion for the game.
“There is now a palpable excitement brimming over about the coming season of Vodacom Super Rugby Unlocked. The players are itching to go and the fans are ready to get behind their teams.
“Vodacom is grateful to join all of our rugby partners in what is going to be an unlocking of the real heart and spirit of SA rugby on our fields.”
Vodacom Super Rugby Unlocked ends on the weekend of November 20-21.
The team at the top of the standings at this stage of the season will be crowned Vodacom Super Rugby Unlocked champions, after which all log points will be transferred to the Currie Cup (for which fixtures are to be announced soon).