Rugby

The South African Vodacom United Rugby Championship franchises will be wary of the fact that a massive effort will be required to topple the opposition in crucial matches for their playoff hopes when they return to the field in the big north versus south showpiece this weekend.

The stakes will be sky-high for all four South African teams this weekend as a full round of Vodacom United Rugby Championship action returns and sides turn their attention on the race to the playoffs, with the Grand Final happening in exactly 100 days.

The DHL Stormers remained on course for a possible home playoff spot in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship on Saturday as they registered their ninth victory of the competition by defeating the Cell C Sharks 46-19 in their postponed Round one clash at Hollywoodbets Kings Park in the only match of the weekend.

SA Rugby has announced the exciting competition structure for the 2023 rugby season, which will see an expansion of the Currie Cup Premier Division, the addition of the Mzanzi Challenge comprising five international teams, as well as the plenty of provincial women’s and age-group rugby.

As the triumphant Blitzboks settled back into Cape Town after their fourth successive victory in the Emirates Dubai Sevens, the supporting cast was also tuning up for another three days of Mother City magic at the weekend.

The Emirates Dubai Sevens Trophy fitted nicely in Ricardo Duarttee's arms as he walked around the Springbok Sevens changeroom at the completion of the second round of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series.

Hospitality sales have opened to the season’s best networking event; the HSBC Cape Town Sevens.

The second Vodacom United Rugby Championship season kicks off in 50 days’ time with the league ready to build upon an enormously successful first campaign that saw the DHL Stormers claim the inaugural title.

The DHL Stormers and Vodacom Bulls had to work hard in their Vodacom United Rugby Championship quarter-finals on Saturday, but in the end did what was needed to book their places in next weekend’s semi-finals.

The ever-popular HSBC Cape Town Sevens will return to the Mother City on the weekend of 9-11 December this year, when the best men’s and women’s sevens teams in the world will return to the DHL Stadium for the first time since 2019.