adminSenior Sports Reporter
ONE Bulawayo club will get an opportunity to play in South Africa’s Gold Cup in September, but they will have to conquer three teams from Harare in the play-offs.
Zimbabwe Rugby Union (ZRU) director of rugby Brighton Chivandire said a team that tops the log after the first round of matches in Bulawayo will join three other teams in a play-off where they will meet a team from Harare, while two clubs from the capital will battle it out in the other semi-final.
The winners will clash in the final in which the victor will represent the country in South Africa.
“We are not taking it to the end of the league, the Bulawayo clubs have been told that whoever is on top of the log after round one will play in a qualifying tournament,’’ said Chivandire.
The Zimbabwean representatives are drawn in Pool C where they will square off against False Bay, Durban Collegians, White River and a team from the Valke region.
The Zimbabwean club will host two of its matches in the country.
The Gold Cup will kick off on Saturday 10 September with 20 clubs once again competing in a Rugby World Cup-style format, with five weeks of pool stages.
The top two teams from each group will progress to the knockout stages of the tournament which will feature 47 matches.
South African Rugby Union (SARU) have given ZRU up to 11 June to come up with the name of the team that will represent Zimbabwe in the competition meant for non-university clubs.
Matabeleland Rugby Football Board vice-chairman Theodore Weale said they will meet tomorrow to decide on the format of the league for the Bulawayo, Midlands and Masvingo teams.
Weale pointed out that tomorrow’s gathering will decide whether the Bulawayo teams either go it alone or involve clubs from Gweru and Masvingo.
Bulawayo has four clubs, Police Bulldogs, Western Panthers, Old Miltonians and Matabeleland Warriors.
derick.khumalo