Community Cup: Brakpan versus Boksburg to be televised
The mouth-watering local derby clash between the two Valke League foes will be televised on SuperSport HD1 (channel 201 and/or 211 on DStv) on Thursday, March 20.
The Pool C encounter will take centre stage at Brakpan’s Bosman Stadium with kick-off scheduled for 6pm.
With the game set for an evening start, rugby lovers across the East Rand are given enough time to prepare and get to the stadium on time to catch every second of the clash.
“This is a good chance for the two local sides to show what they can do,” says Boksburg Rugby Club chairman Sean Scheepers.
“It’s a good showcase for East Rand rugby and we are very proud of to be given this opportunity.”
Out of the total 40 pool matches of the cup, only two matches, including the local derby, will be televised. The other screened match was the clash between defending champions GAP Management Despatch and Spring Rose on Saturday, March 8.
According to Scheepers, two major factors taken into account for a match to be televised – high fan attendance and overall match quality were listed as the reason behind the screening of the match.
“Local derbies normally attract the biggest attendances to stadiums and the Valke League final between Boksburg and Brakpan last year received a lot of attention. SA Rugby Union (Saru) representatives rated it as “one of the best finals they’ve ever seen”, and that’s why it was chosen to be televised.”
Brakpan Rugby Club chairman, Harry Nieuwenhuis, echoed his counterpart’s sentiments.
“We have established a committee between ourselves and Boksburg’s management to ensure that we work together with our communities, and all of our schools to get as much supporters as possible into Bosman Stadium, on March 20.
“We will hold competitions and we want to request all the people in all the surrounding communities to support both the clubs similar to the Varsity Cup.”
With the following day being a public holiday (March 21), Nieuwenhuis has challenged the East Rand community to help make this a memorable day for East Rand rugby.
“We must make this game a success, so that more games will be televised in future, which will benefit all club rugby on the East Rand,” he said, adding that Brakpan has a great working relationship with Boksburg.
“We respect their team, but there won’t be any sentiments on the field of play,” he concludes.
