Poorte fixture dates announced for Gold Cup
Roodepoort Rugby Club has finally received the dates on which it will play its warm-up and group fixtures for the 2019 Saru Gold Cup.
After qualifying for the Saru Gold Cup for the first time since 2015, Roodepoort Rugby Club has finally received the dates on which it will play its Gold Cup fixtures.
From the outset, this year’s Pirates Grand Challenge (PGC) was to be a stern challenge for Poorte, as last year they narrowly avoided relegation, having won the relegation/ promotion playoff. The first team coach, Alwyn Hollenbach is hoping to return the club to its former glory in his first full season at the helm.
Alwyn and his charges showed promising signs in the build-up to the season, with strong showings in a few friendly games. Their season got off to the best possible start with a dominant victory over age-old rivals, Randfontein Rugby Club.
The rest of the season would however not exactly be smooth sailing, as they would be on-song one week and failing to fire the next. The heart and determination showed in the new system under Alwyn, seemed to keep them going forward, regardless of the outcome. They played the entire season with a never-say-die attitude, and this paid off as they finished top in the open clubs division of the PGC, and fourth in the overall rankings of the PGC. They were the only open club to make it to the semi-finals of the PGC, and managed to defeat University of Johannesburg to play in the final against North West University, whom they narrowly lost out to following a late drop goal from Pukke.
Despite narrowly losing out to Pukke, Poorte still managed to secure a Gold Cup spot as the top-placed open club in the Golden Lions union. While the full list of teams to take part in the Gold Cup hasn’t been decided yet, the dates of the fixtures have been announced.
Poorte will play three friendlies in preparation for the Gold Cup on 16 and 23 February and 2 March next year. Their group stage matches will then get under way on 9 March, with the others to be played on 16 and 23 March. The quarterfinals of the Cup will be played on 30 March, the semifinals on 6 April, and the final on 13 April.
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