It’s Unam v Wanderers for final spot 

FNB Unam and FNB Wanderers will battle it out for a place in the JSB Rugby Gold Cup final at Unam Stadium tomorrow afternoon. 

Since there are no semifinals, with only the top two teams on the log progressing to the final, FNB Grootfontein on 25 points have already clinched their place, while Wanderers (18) and Unam (16) will now be involved in a straight shoot-out for the second spot. 

Grootfontein were supposed to host Trustco United tomorrow, but collected maximum points by default after United forfeited the game. 

United coach Robbie Dickson said they had to forfeit the match due to a lack of players. 

“It’s a bit of a better pill to swallow but we’ve got 23 players who aren’t available for this weekend, either due to work or family-related issues. We tried our absolute best to get at least 18 players together, but there’s no use in us taking a team to Grootfontein if we’re not adequately prepared and it costs us too much money to go all the way to Grootfontein for a friendly,” he said. 

“So it’s not a good situation, but at the same time, the seven-week break that we had in the middle of the season didn’t help anyone. We would have liked to go to Grootfontein, that was the plan, and for me personally its also a disappointment because it would have been my last game as coach at United,” he added. 

“But it is what it is – it’s an amateur rugby set up, so you work on availability. If the player isn’t available, you can’t play, that’s the long and the short of it,” he said. 

With the Grootfontein-United fixture now off, all eyes will be on the Unam-Wanderers clash at the Unam Stadium with a place in the final at stake.

Both teams have won three and lost one of their four encounters and with only two points separating them on the log there is not much to choose between the two.

Unam will have home ground advantage, but Wanderers have a lot of depth and experience with national players like Danco Burger, Danie van der Merwe, JC Greyling and Johan Deysel in their squad, although captain Ruan Ludick is out injured, according to Wanderers coach Dirk Human.

“It will be a straight shoot-out and we are expecting Unam to come for us, because whoever wins will go to the final. But our preparations have gone well, the guys are fired up and are ready for the match. We have also built up a lot of depth over the past few months and I have a lot of faith in the guys,” he said. 

Unam coach Russel van Rooi said they are looking forward to the match. 

“The two-week break was good for the players to rest their niggles. Wanderers, the finalists of the 2025 Premier League will always be a tough opponent, but it’s a good opportunity for our youngsters to measure themselves against the best, so we are happy for the opportunity,” he said. 

FNB Kudus, who are fourth on 13 points, travel to Rehoboth to take on Rehoboth Rugby Club, who are bottom of the log on four points, but even with a maximum bonus point victory, Kudus will not be able to reach the final. 

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