Central Rugby Club brings the cup home

GRAAFF-REINET RUGBY NEWS - Central Rugby Club from Graaff-Reinet were crowned winners of the Eastern Province Karoo Regional League for 2019 at the Eastern Province Rugby union gala event in Port Elizabeth on 14 December.

The new champions will participate in the play-offs in January to be promoted to the EC Gold Cup league. Excelsiors and Mid-Eagles, both from Middelburg, finished respectively second and third out of the 14 teams competing in the league.

Central, Born Eagles (Somerset East), Aberdeen, Excelsiors, Adelaide Rangers and Evergreens (Cradock), will compete against each other in the fight for a place in the Gold Cup.

Hento Davids, chairperson and president of Central, received the winning trophy and R10 000 cash prize on behalf of his team.

Davids said his players showed they can play against the best teams in the province's 14 sub-region leagues. He expressed his concern that teams competing in the Karoo League are neglected financially. "Most of the players are unemployed and we have to travel long distances to play matches. The club had to make many sacrifices this year to pay for players' transport costs," Davids said.

However, Davids is very positive about the 2020 season, because more sponsors indicated that they will become involve in assisting the club.

Gapto Voetpad, Central loose forward, winning the ball from a scrum against Excelsiors. Photo: Christo Vermaak