Rovers to host Rhinos in Pick n Pay Gold Cup Final

College Rovers will host Northam Rhinos in the 2026 Pick n Pay Gold Cup Final after both sides recorded impressive semi-final victories on Saturday in the ‘FA Cup’ of South African club rugby.

The country’s pre-eminent knockout championship for non-university clubs – which is sponsored by the national retail chain for the second season – is also supported by Northam Platinum, whose commitment to community aligns with the grassroots spirit of the Pick n Pay Gold Cup.

A new name will be engraved onto the priceless, 97-year-old golden trophy this coming Sunday at Kings Park, after Rovers scored eight tries in a 48-11 demolition of 2015 champions Durbanville-Bellville in Durban, while Northam Platinum Rhinos matched their Grand Final opponents point for point, beating three-time defending champions, Sanlam Naka Bulls, 48-22 at their Bushveld stronghold in Limpopo.

Neither Rovers nor Rhinos have ever lifted the Gold Cup since it was introduced in 2013 as the Holy Grail of South African club rugby.

The Durbanites were the last winners of the erstwhile National Club Championship title in 2012 and since then have played in two Gold Cup finals, losing to False Bay in Cape Town in 2017 and to Naka Bulls in Pretoria in 2023, when the Gold Cup resumed following a three-year, pandemic-enforced hiatus.

In an interesting quirk of fate, this year’s tournament will conclude on the same Kings Park 3 field that launched the Gold Cup era 13 years ago, when Rovers beat Despatch in the 2013 tournament-opener that saw Springbok legend, Danie Gerber, deliver the iconic trophy to the ground by helicopter.

The ‘Doring of Despatch’ may not be dropping in to Sunday’s Final by air, but Gerber’s gift from the skies that day – fittingly, his name is engraved on the Gold Cup as an assistant coach after Despatch turned the tables on Rovers in the inaugural Final – ushered in a new era for community rugby in South Africa.

Rovers coach Derek Heiberg would have been ecstatic with his side’s performance against Durbell, which saw wings Duran Krummeck and Malcolm Cele each score a brace. But for Heiberg, who was at the helm during the disappointments of 2017 and 2023, there would have also been a sense of satisfaction: this was Rovers’ first Gold Cup victory over Durbell in four attempts, having lost in 2015, 2016 and 2019.

Rhinos coach Nollis Marais would have felt the same levels of satisfaction as Heiberg, after his team finally overcame Naka Bulls – their Gold Cup bogey team – in a statement performance that saw player of the match, flyhalf Jaylen James, score 21 points.

Having lost the 2024 final to Naka by just three points, as well as last year’s corresponding semi-final fixture between the two sides at the same ground, Marais and his group of mineworkers now find themselves – as does Heiberg and his troops – just 80 minutes away from drinking out of a cup that has tantalisingly eluded both sides since its inception.

Naka Bulls’ hopes of a fourth consecutive Gold Cup trophy may have wilted in the Bushveld heat, but for Director of Rugby Marinus van der Watt and his side, the Moot club’s place among the great club sides of post-isolation South African rugby is secure.

Semi-final scores

C. Steinweg College Rovers 48 (19), Lone Bull Durbanville-Bellville 11 (6)

Rovers – Tries: Duran Krummeck (2), JP du Preez, Marco Palvie, Malcolm Cele (2), Ian de Fouw, Kyle Theron. Conversions: Tian Meyer (2), Du Preez (2).

Durbell – Try: Tiaan Radyn. Penalties: Grant Hermanus (2).

Northam Platinum Rhinos 48 (24), Sanlam Naka Bulls 22 (10)

Rhinos – Tries: Riaan Louw (2), Eldred James, Khwezi Mkhafu, Jaylen James. Conversions: Jaylen James (5). Penalties: Jaylen James (2).

Naka Bulls – Tries: Christoff Craill (2), Boela Venter, Christo Bezuidenhout. Conversion: Hansie Graaf.

Grand Final - Sunday 25 October

2pm: C. Steinweg College Rovers v Northam Platinum Rhinos (Kings Park 3, Durban)