The third Rugby Festival of the SuperSport Rugby Challenge will be crucial to the fortunes of the four teams playing at Impala Rugby Club in Rustenburg on Sunday, while Saturday’s action will see two of the front-runners in the highly competitive North Section battle it out.

The North West venue will see the Down Touch Griffons face the Windhoek Draught Welwitschias in the opening clash at the Festival, while the second match, between hosts, the Leopards, and the Valke will see the losing side without a win halfway through the competition. 

All four teams are on the wrong side of the log, and will have to start building winning momentum in the Platinum Belt or face the prospect of dropping out of the play-off race.

After three rounds of North Section action, the Tafel Lager Griquas, Xerox Golden Lions XV and iSG Pumas are yet to taste defeat, but this will change in Johannesburg Saturday, when the defending champions travel to Emirates Airline Park for their clash against the home side.

The other big clash in the North Section will be at Tafel Lager Park where the home team’s unbeaten status will be tested by a Vodacom Blue Bulls side boosted by a number of players who participated in the Vodacom Super Rugby competition this year.

South Section

Regular South Section leader, DHL Western Province, is again setting the pace and appears to be in a comfortable position to top the log again. They will play at DHL Newlands for the first time this season when they line up against the Zimbabwe Academy, who will make the short trip north from False Bay Rugby Club to the historical rugby venue.

The clashes in Durban and Bloemfontein respectively could also determine the participating teams’ further progress. The Cell C Sharks XV will host the undefeated Boland Cavaliers in Durban on Friday, and on Saturday, the Toyota Free State XV take on the SWD Eagles in a match that will decide which side keeps their play-off hopes alive.

Sunday’s South Section match where the Multisure EP Elephants host Border in Port Elizabeth in an Eastern Cape derby, will be more about bragging rights than log positions, as both teams are currently languishing in the bottom half of the log.

Round Four fixtures are:

17 May 2019:

Cell C Sharks XV vs Boland Cavaliers

Venue: KP2, Durban

Kick-off: 15h00

Referee: Stephan Geldenhuys

Saturday, 18 May 2019

Xerox Golden Lions XV v iSG Pumas

Venue: Emirates Airline Park, Johannesburg

Kick-off: 12h00

Referee: Quinton Immelman

DHL Western Province v Zimbabwe Academy

Venue: DHL Newlands, Cape Town

Kick-off: 14h30

Referee: Vusi Msibi

Toyota Free State Cheetahs XV v SWD Eagles

Venue: Toyota Stadium, Bloemfontein

Kick-off: 14h30

Referee: Divan Uys

Tafel Lager Griquas v Vodacom Blue Bulls

Venue: Tafel Lager Park, Kimberley

Kick-off: 14h30

Referee: Egon Seconds

Sunday, 19 May (Rugby Festival, Impala Rugby Club, Rustenburg)

Down Touch Griffons v Windhoek Draught Welwitschias

Kick-off: 12h30

Referee: Ben Crouse

TMO: Johan Greeff

TV: SuperSport 10

Leopards v Valke

Kick-off: 14h30

Referee: Paul Mente

TMO: Johan Greeff

TV: SuperSport 10

Multisure EP Elephants v Border

Venue: Wolfson Stadium, Port Elizabeth

Kick-off: 15h00

Referee: Archie Sehlako