Mouthwatering rugby action heads to Mdantsane this weekend as the SuperSport Rugby Challenge Festival takes centrestage at the Sisa Dukashe Stadium on Sunday.
The Border Bulldogs will be looking to delight what is expected to be a capacity crowd, as they take on Western Province in the day’s main match.
“The team is very excited, we are looking forward to the festival, especially playing in Mdantsane, which is going to be a very special occasion,” Bulldogs coach David Dobela said.
“This is a great thing that SuperSport are doing, bringing rugby to the townships is wonderful and we are expecting to see massive support on Sunday.”
Eastern Province Kings will also be participating on the day, taking on the South Western District Eagles. The day’s action kicks off with a massive local club rugby derby between Swallows and Winter Rose.
“It is a huge club rugby derby and I believe that we will see a big crowd at the match and they will then stay on for the two provincial clashes,” Dobela said.
For the Bulldogs, the Western Province match will be a massive one as they need to pick up a win to keep ahead of the chasing pack on the log.
Province are the only unbeaten team left in the competition and are in fantastic form, while Border will be aiming to bounce back after slipping to a narrow 21-20 defeat to the Boland Cavaliers last weekend.
“I was disappointed that we lost to Boland, we should not have lost to them, we lost a lot of points with our goal-kicking and we also had a lot of chances in the second half that we missed,” Dobela said.
“Our second-half performance was much better than the first and the guys showed a lot of guts to keep them scoreless, so hopefully the losing bonus point we earned will help us,” he said.
“But it was a good wake-up call for us and our preparation for Western Province is going well.”
The weekend’s results will be very important in the qualification stakes as despite the loss to Boland, the Bulldogs still sit second on the log, behind Province.
However, with fourth-placed Kings playing bottom-of-the-table Eagles, who are the only team to not have won a match in the competition yet, the Bulldogs lead could be cut drastically should they lose, while third- placed Cavaliers will have a game in hand that could potentially put them above the Bulldogs.
“By the end of this weekend we will have a very good indication of where we are and what we need to do over the final two games,” Dobela admitted.
“If things go our way we will be very well-placed, but if things don’t we will be in a qualification battle.”
The action kicks off on Sunday at 11am with the Swallows v Winter Rose club match, followed by the Kings v Eagles at 1pm and then the Border Bulldogs against Province at 3pm.
Tickets to the rugby festival are free, however to prevent overcrowding, Border Rugby is encouraging fans to pick up tickets from either the BCM Stadium or Sisa Dukashe Stadium during the day or over the week – until Saturday.
Tickets will be available at Sisa Dukashe stadium on Sunday, however fans may miss out if the stadium is filled to capacity.
Bulldogs eye victory over WP- Mdantsane ready to host Sunday festival
The Border Bulldogs will be looking to delight what is expected to be a capacity crowd, as they take on Western Province in the day’s main match.
“The team is very excited, we are looking forward to the festival, especially playing in Mdantsane, which is going to be a very special occasion,” Bulldogs coach David Dobela said.
“This is a great thing that SuperSport are doing, bringing rugby to the townships is wonderful and we are expecting to see massive support on Sunday.”
Eastern Province Kings will also be participating on the day, taking on the South Western District Eagles. The day’s action kicks off with a massive local club rugby derby between Swallows and Winter Rose.
“It is a huge club rugby derby and I believe that we will see a big crowd at the match and they will then stay on for the two provincial clashes,” Dobela said.
For the Bulldogs, the Western Province match will be a massive one as they need to pick up a win to keep ahead of the chasing pack on the log.
Province are the only unbeaten team left in the competition and are in fantastic form, while Border will be aiming to bounce back after slipping to a narrow 21-20 defeat to the Boland Cavaliers last weekend.
“I was disappointed that we lost to Boland, we should not have lost to them, we lost a lot of points with our goal-kicking and we also had a lot of chances in the second half that we missed,” Dobela said.
“Our second-half performance was much better than the first and the guys showed a lot of guts to keep them scoreless, so hopefully the losing bonus point we earned will help us,” he said.
“But it was a good wake-up call for us and our preparation for Western Province is going well.”
The weekend’s results will be very important in the qualification stakes as despite the loss to Boland, the Bulldogs still sit second on the log, behind Province.
However, with fourth-placed Kings playing bottom-of-the-table Eagles, who are the only team to not have won a match in the competition yet, the Bulldogs lead could be cut drastically should they lose, while third- placed Cavaliers will have a game in hand that could potentially put them above the Bulldogs.
“By the end of this weekend we will have a very good indication of where we are and what we need to do over the final two games,” Dobela admitted.
“If things go our way we will be very well-placed, but if things don’t we will be in a qualification battle.”
The action kicks off on Sunday at 11am with the Swallows v Winter Rose club match, followed by the Kings v Eagles at 1pm and then the Border Bulldogs against Province at 3pm.
Tickets to the rugby festival are free, however to prevent overcrowding, Border Rugby is encouraging fans to pick up tickets from either the BCM Stadium or Sisa Dukashe Stadium during the day or over the week – until Saturday.
Tickets will be available at Sisa Dukashe stadium on Sunday, however fans may miss out if the stadium is filled to capacity.
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