Publications
Partners
Cape Town - Western Province had to buy their own title after finishing top of Currie Cup Qualifiers.
Western Province were crowned "Qualifier" champions this past weekend when they thumped Namibia’s Welwitschias 71-7 in Windhoek.
They won 13 of their 14 games and finished five points clear of runners up Griquas.
Unfortunately the first stage of the competition had no sponsor and SA Rugby was unable to provide a trophy or prize money.
According to Netwerk24, the WP Rugby Union took the matter into their own hands by buying their own trophy which was handed out in the change room in Windhoek on Saturday.
“If you look carefully, it’s actually a soccer trophy,” WP coach John Dobson quipped.
WP, along with the other five SA Super Rugby-playing unions - Blue Bulls, Sharks, Golden Lions, Free State Cheetahs and Eastern Province - will now be joined by Griquas, Boland and the Pumas in the nine-team Premier Division to do battle for the trophy.
The Boland Cavaliers will have the honour of hosting the opening match (against the Free State Cheetahs) in Wellington on Friday, August 5 at 15:00.
Later that day the Blue Bulls will welcome WP to Loftus Versfeld (17:10), after which the Pumas and Sharks will do battle in Nelspruit (19:20).
The final is scheduled for Saturday, October 15.
