SPORT NEWS - The Karoo Sub Union semi-finals that were meant to start on Saturday 26 August were postponed until further notice. 

This follows an appeal lodged by the Graaff-Reinet Hampshires at the Eastern Cape Rugby Union against their exclusion from the opportunity to take on the top teams in the southern and northern regions for a spot in the finals. 

At present, according to the tournament log, the two top teams in the southern region are Steytlerville Barbarians and Steytlerville United. 

The Graaff-Reinet Hampshires are disputing the tournament log since they were meant to play against Kipplaat United at the Botanical Gardens in Graaff-Reinet on 1 July but Klipplaat United never showed up. 

According to them, in the event of a visiting team failing to show up, five log points need to be allocated to the home team. 

This was confirmed by some southern region team members but at the time of going to press southern region secretary, Thembekile Spogter, has not responded to an inquiry in this regard. In the instance of Klipplaat United vs Graaff-Reinet Hampshires however the log points were divided between the visiting team – Klipplaat United – and the home team – Graaff-Reinet Hampshires, and in effect the latter was excluded from the top two. 

The Eastern Cape Rugby Union conducted a meeting to discuss the matter on Thursday, 31 August and according to Spogter they are awaiting the outcome. Should the five points be allocated to Graaff-Reinet Hamsphires they will have 34 log points. 

This means that they will be replacing Steytlerville United in the semi-finals. The Advertiser will publish an update on the outcome of the meeting and the new date for the Karoo Sub Union semi-finals as soon as it is received. The two top teams in the northern region who will be participating in the semi-finals are Middelburg’s Eagles that goes into the semifinals with 32 log points and Excelsior with 28 log points.

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