Rugby back with JSB Gold Cup

Local rugby returns tomorrow when the inaugural JSB Gold Cup and Silver Cup competitions kick off. 

With Namibia still in the hunt for a place at the 2027 Rugby World Cup, some fierce contests can be expected as local players try to catch the eye of the national selectors, while significant prize money will also be at stake.

The JSB Gold Cup will be contested by the top six teams in the Premier League, while the Silver Cup will be contested by the bottom three as well as a combined team from the southern region. According to the CEO of the Namibia Rugby Union, John Heynes, the Gold Cup will serve as the second round of this year’s season.

“This year the rugby season was restructured and split into two rounds. We only had one round in the Premier League and Reserve League competitions, so now the Gold and Silver Cup competitions will be held, basically as the second round of the season.

“The Gold Cup is similar to the Boland Super 12 competition and the idea was also to give some of our first division players a chance to compete at a higher level,” he said.

The Gold Cup will be contested by the defending premier league champions FNB Kudus, FNB Wanderers, FNB Grootfontein, FNB Unam, FNB Rehoboth, and Trustco United, while the Silver Cup will be contested by FNB Reho Falcon, FNB Western Suburbs, FNB Dolphins, and a Southern regional team.

“Originally, three combined regional teams would have competed in the Silver Cup, but now only a combined Southern Team will compete,” according to Heynes. “We also planned to have combined teams from the West and Central regions but they could not get players to commit so they withdrew from the competition. The South Region, however, will compete and will include players from the first division teams of Ocean Swallows, Oranjemund, and Keetmanshoop,” he said.

In first round matches tomorrow, Premier League champions FNB Kudus will be back in action for the first time since 7 June when they made history by winning the title for the first time. They, however, can expect a tough encounter when they host Trustco United at the Jan Wilken Stadium in Walvis Bay. United reached the semifinals of the Premier League where they lost to eventual runners-up FNB Wanderers, while they have also been active recently, reaching the semifinals of the JSB Club Championships a fortnight ago.

The Premier League runners-up FNB Wanderers will start as strong favorites when they host FNB Rehoboth at the Wanderers field tomorrow. Their coach Dirk Human yesterday said they still have to finalize their team, although he confirmed that their national players who were recently in Uganda will not be available for selection. Wanderers, however, have a lot of quality and depth and won the JSB Club Championships with a second-string side after beating FNB Grootfontein 8-3 in the final.

In the final match tomorrow, FNB Unam host FNB Grootfontein in an encounter that could go down to the wire. Unam failed to reach the knockout stages of the Premier League after finishing fifth on the log, while they also lost 37-20 to Grootfontein in their only league encounter. Grootfontein also fared better in the recent JSB Club Championships, reaching the final, but Unam showed signs of improvement after beating Grootfontein 14-5 during the round-robin stages, while they also pushed Wanderers all the way before losing their semifinal 7-5.

The JSB Silver Cup also gets underway tomorrow with FNB Dolphins hosting the Southern XV team at Swakopmund, while FNB Reho Falcon host FNB Western Suburbs at Rehoboth. 

The women’s competition will be contested by Unam, Wanderers, United and Grootfontein, but there will only be one match tomorrow, with Wanderers hosting Rehoboth at 12h30. 

The total prize money for the JSB Gold Cup amounts to N$190 000, with the winners receiving N$50 000 and the runners-up N$30 000. There will also be a JSB Gold Cup Reserve League with the winners receiving N$15 000 and the runners-up N$10 000.

The winners of the JSB Silver Cup will receive N$35 000 and the runners-up N$25 000, while the winners of the JSB Silver Cup Reserve League will receive N$15 000 and the runners-up N$10 000.

Heynes said there will also be prize money allocated for the women’s competition although their budget still has to be finalised. 

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