The Sunday Mail
Online Reporter
THE Nedbank Rugby Challenge Cup is set to undergo a change in format, with the annual competition set to be played under festival rules this year.
The rugby competition has also been reduced to a three-day event that will now be held between March 17 and 19 at Harare Sports Club.
Eight teams have been confirmed for the three-day rugby extravaganza, which is being used primarily as a last chance for Zimbabwe senior rugby coach Brendan Dawson to have a look at some of the local players.
The teams include last year’s winners Old Georgians, Harare Sports Club, Pitbulls, Mutare Sports Club, Matabeleland Warriors, Old Hararians, a Nedbank developmental side and an Under-20 High-Performance Centre (HPC) team.
According to the competition organisers, the changes in format have been ocassoined by the Zimbabwe Goshawks’ participation at the 2023 edition of the Currie Cup First Division and Mzanzi Challenge.
The Goshawks open their account of the Currie Cup First Division/Mzanzi Challenge on March 25, when they play the Leopards at Olen Park, Potchefstroom, South Africa.
The South African provincial competition has itself gone through some changes, especially with the addition of the Mzanzi Challenge.
The traditional six provincial teams – Boland Kavaliers, Leopards, Border Bulldogs, SWD Eagles, Eastern Province and Valke – will still contest in the Currie Cup First Division, which began on February 10.
This month, however, they will be joined by five international teams – Diables (Spain), Simbas (Kenya), Windhoek Draught Welwitschias (Namibia), Tel Aviv Heat (Israel) and the Zimbabwe Goshawks – to compete in the Mzanzi Challenge, which kicks off on March 24.
All eleven teams will contest in the Mzanzi Challenge in a single-round format, which includes semi-finals and a final, during the 14-week period.
