The SA Cup is going down to the wire with only one semi-final spot and a coveted qualifying place in the Carling Currie Cup Premier Division at stake in the last round of league matches this weekend, with two crunch matches shown live on SuperSport.
All five of the weekend’s games in the final round of the regular season will kick off at 15h00 on Saturday.
Heading into the weekend’s final round fixtures, the Airlink Pumas are in pole position with 40 points, three more than the Suzuki Griquas, with the Toyota Cheetahs third on 32 points.
These three sides have secured their places in the semi-finals, where they will be joined by one of the Sanlam Boland Kavaliers (27 points), NovaVit Griffons (26 points), or the Valke (25 points).
Eastern Province (21 points), the Phangela SWD Eagles (seven points), the Leopards (five points), and Border (two points) complete the log standings and are not in contention for the semi-finals, but they can still make life difficult for the other sides.
The teams that managed to end in the top four positions after this weekend’s ninth round qualify for the forthcoming Carling Currie Cup Premier Division, while the rest will battle each other in the First Division.
The defending champion Suzuki Griquas host the Toyota Cheetahs in Kimberley, while the important clash between the NovaVit Griffons and Airlink Pumas will be staged in Welkom.
In Potchefstroom, the Leopards and Phangela SWD Eagles will be hoping to finish the competition on a high, while Eastern Province can make life difficult for the Sanlam Boland Kavaliers in a crunch battle in Gqeberha. The fifth match is in Kempton Park, where the Valke should have too much firepower for the Border Bulldogs.
It will be a case of playing to consolidate their top-three positions for Griquas and the Cheetahs, with both teams probably using this encounter to give some much-needed squad rotation with the all-important semi-finals looming.
Griquas’ only blemish on their league form is a loss to the Pumas two weeks ago, while the Cheetahs have managed to steady the ship and stacked up six wins after a slow start.
The men from Bloemfontein can still finish second on the log, but to do that, they must beat their neighbours by a big margin while also denying them a try-scoring bonus point.
The Griffons must win to stay in contention, which will be a challenging task against the unbeaten log leaders from Mpumalanga, although they have home ground advantage in Welkom.
Last season, the Pumas comfortably defeated the Griffons in Nelspruit, and with the momentum on the side of the visitors, the Northern Free Staters face an uphill battle.
Boland has everything to play for as they are currently in the driving seat to clinch that fourth spot. However, Allister Coetzee’s Eastern Province side has won four of their eight games, including last week’s home meeting with the Griffons, and will take momentum and belief into the clash.
The Kavaliers’ two-point home loss to the Pumas meant they collected two crucial points, which means a bonus-point victory at the Nelson Mandela University Stadium will secure them a spot in the semi-finals.
With the Valke playing the last-placed and winless Border at home on the East Rand, all the pressure will be on Boland and the Griffons not to lose in their last league games.
Match information:
Suzuki Griquas vs Toyota Cheetahs
Date: Saturday, 10 May
Venue: Suzuki Stadium, Kimberley
Kick-off: 15h00
Referee: Morne Ferreira
TV: SS Channel 950
NovaVit Griffons vs Airlink Pumas
Date: Saturday, 10 May
Venue: Down Touch Investments Stadium, Welkom
Kick-off: 15h00
Referee: Stephan Geldenhuys
TV: SS Channel 245
Leopards vs Phangela SWD Eagles
Date: Saturday, 10 May
Venue: Olen Park, Potchefstroom
Kick-off: 15h00
Referee: Hernus Coetzee
Eastern Province vs Sanlam Boland Kavaliers
Date: Saturday, 10 May
Venue: Nelson Mandela University Stadium, Gqeberha
Kick-off: 15h00
Referee: Jonathan Lottering
Valke vs Border Bulldogs
Date: Saturday, 10 May
Venue: Barnard Stadium, Kempton Park
Kick-off: 15h00
Referee: Paul Mente