Kwaru and Walker Babes will contest the Betway Women’s Club Championship Cup final for the second year running at Alberton Rugby Club in Gauteng after two cliffhanger semifinals on Wednesday that were separated by a combined one point.
Defending champions Kwaru, of Gqeberha, held on for a dramatic 12-12 draw against home side Pirates in Wednesday’s first Cup semifinal, with the defending champions advancing to Friday’s Cup final after having scored the first try of the match.
The Eastern Province champions will face Walker Babes in the gold medal match after the Bolanders sneaked through 21-20 against Pretoria’s Harlequins in the second semifinal.
Last year’s inaugural final between the two sides was also a nail-biting affair, with Kwaru eventually winning 17-14 to bring the curtain down on a watershed week for SA women’s rugby.
If Wednesday’s action is anything to go by, Friday’s final promises to provide even more drama.
In the main curtain-raiser, Pirates and Harlequins will play the women’s club version of the Jukskei derby, with the bronze medal up for grabs.
Busy Bees (WP) and Mqanduli Sharks (Border) will battle it out for fifth place in the premier division on Friday.
The Bees defeated Collegians Valkyries (Cheetahs) 29-19 and the Sharks beat DUT (KZN) 26-22.
DUT and Valkyries will play for seventh place.
In the first Cup semifinal, Kwaru and Pirates went at it hammer and tongs from the opening whistle, with the Gautengers forced to absorb wave upon wave of Eastern Cape attacks.
The dam wall eventually broke after 10 minutes when flyhalf Julene Haas went over in the right-hand corner to set the alarm bells ringing for the home side.
But Pirates hung in there and were rewarded with a try of their own in the 25th minute, right wing Andiswa Maseko diving over near the corner to cut the deficit to two points.
The momentum seemed to shift away from Kwaru when flank Pheliswa Mrwebi was yellow-carded on the stroke of halftime, but the champions eventually put some daylight between them and their hosts with 13 minutes remaining when No 8 Yolanda Ntibane went over from a ruck to make it 12-5.
But there was to be a late twist in the tale when Pirates loosehead prop Sharon Baloyi went over underneath the posts with a minute remaining.
Former Springbok Rumandi Potgieter converted to make it 12-12, but with the tournament rules not allowing for extra time, Kwaru qualified for the final.
● Fixtures for Friday’s final day:
First division: VUT v University of Limpopo, Potch Dorp v Welkom, Titans v Middelburg Stormers, Nelspruit v Sol Plaatje University
Premier division: DUT v Collegians Valkyries, Busy Bees v Mqanduli Sharks, Pirates v Harlequins, Kwaru v Walker Babes. — SA Rugby Communications
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