Saturday is the day when all previous results do not mean a thing. It is championship time and to use an old cliche - "when a title is at stake there is no certainties" whatever sport you are competing in and Saturday will be no exception. Monnas must be the favourites at a 100 to 1 BUT as said no certainties.
1stXV and Stadium Fixtures.
| 08h00 | Menlopark | - | Eldoraigne | Stadium - Places 5/6 | ||
| 09h00 | Rustenburg | - | Transvalia | "A" Field - Places 9/10 | ||
| 09h30 | Nelspruit | - | Garsfontein | Stadium - Places 3/4 | ||
| 10h20 | Kempton Park | - | Middelburg HTS | "A" Field - Places 7/8 | ||
| 11h00 | Monnas | - | Menlopark | Stadium - 14A Final | ||
| 11h40 | Pietersburg | - | Florida | "A" Field - Places 11/12 | ||
| 12h30 | Monnas | - | Transvalia | Stadium - 15A Final | ||
| 13h20 | Monnas | - | Menlopark | Stadium - 16A Final | ||
| 14h40 | Monnas | - | EG Jansen | Stadium - 1stXV Final |
The match for the 11th and 12th place is between Pietersburg and Florida. One could be excused if thinking it is two substandard teams but it really is not. However, the gap between the top & bottom teams in the Tuks Competition is widening at an alarming rate and needs to be addressed. Florida with their performance at the st John's festival especially against Affies must be the favourite to avoid the wooden spoon.
The match between Rustenburg and Transvalia will see two schools who is really hard at work to improve the rugby in order to compete against the big guns. Rustenburg was without a win after five matches but managed to turn around their season with wins against Augsburg 45-0 at the Oakdale Festival and against Pietersburg 54-12 in their last two matches. Transvalia's season is looking much better with only two losses from eight games and beating Rustenburg 42-41 during the Tuks Series league games. No favourite here.
Middelburg HTS is playing against Kempton Park for the 7th place and although Middelburg HTS has lost five matches in a row they still must be the firm favourites.
The 5th and 6th spots will be decided between Eldoraigne and Menlopark. Menlopark should be able to win this one as their losses, 3 was against top competition whereas Eldoraigne's only claim to fame is the scalp of Monnas at Ellispark but never underestimate the boys from Eldoraigne. But Menlopark firm favourites.
The match between Nelspruit and Garsfontein should be an entertaining match where Garsfontein will certainly look to use their forwards to dominated and provide good quality ball to their dangerous backs. They come up against a Nelspruit side that showed against Helpies that their 10 can control the game and beat a side who loves to run the ball. In the semi-finals a week later, they were well beaten by an EG Jansen side that simply ran them of their feet. Garsfontein should be the firm favourites BUT remember Nelspruit vs Helpies.
And then the big one Monnas vs EG Jansen. Monnas with their macro forwards and brilliant backline must be the overwhelming favourites, but the boys from the East Rand do not understand this statement. They go into every match and do not walk off the field before leaving everything and some more behind. Boland Landbou showed against Monnas at the Wildeklawer just how to beat them playing a similar style than the normal style of EG Jansen.