The 2 biggest ‘dogs’ in the history of the Vodacom Cup, the Golden Lions and GWK Griquas, take on each other in Kimberley on Friday evening in the grand finale of the competition in 2014.
Between these 2 sides, who will clash at 19:10 SA Time at GWK Park, they have won the Vodacom Cup 9 times since its inception in 1998. That means more than half of all the titles have gone either to Johannesburg or Kimberley.
It’s the Lions’ 2nd visit to Kimberley this year. They lost their Round 5 encounter at GWK Park by 33-18.
sarugby
This will also be the 3rd time these 2 sides face each other in the Final of the Vodacom Cup. Both previous finals ended in complete blow-outs – in 1998 GWK Griquas won 57-0 and a year later, in 1999, they were smashed by the Golden Lions, 73-7.
GWK Griquas coach Peter Engledow has 2 players in his match-22 who were part of the GWK Griquas team which last won the title in 2009. They are Steph Roberts (prop) and Simon Westraadt (replacement hooker).
4 More members of the GWK Griquas squad have been part of Vodacom Cup-winning teams. They are Francois Brummer (flyhalf) and Rocco Jansen (wing), both with the Vodacom Blue Bulls, as well as the former DHL WP duo of Ederies Arendse (wing) and Hilton Lobberts (lock).
In Johannesburg, Lions coach Russell Winter has selected 2 players who were part of their title-winning side last year in Hugo Kloppers (lock) and Michael Bondesio (replacement scrumhalf). Vainon Willis (fullback) was a member of the Vodacom Blue Bulls team which won the competition in 2010, when Brummer kicked a last-gasp drop goal in Pretoria.
Only 7 teams have won the Vodacom Cup – the Golden Lions (5 times) GWK Griquas (4), the Vodacom Blue Bulls (3), DHL Western Province, Toyota Free State XV, Valke and Pampas XV (once each).
Vodacom Cup Final:
GWK Griquas vs Golden Lions:
Date: Friday 16 May
Kick-Off: 19:10 SA Time (17:10 GMT)
Venue: GWK Park, Kimberley
Referee: Jaco van Heerden
Assistant Referees: Lourens van der Merwe and Francois de Bruin
TMO: JJ Wagner
Teams:
GWK Griquas: 15 Gouws Prinsloo, 14 Ederies Arendse, 13 Jonathan Francke, 12 Wayne Stevens (Captain), 11 Rocco Jansen, 10 Francois Brummer, 9 Tian Meyer, 8 Burger Schoeman, 7 Jaco Nepgen, 6 Marnus Schoeman, 5 Hilton Lobberts, 4 Jonathan Adendorf, 3 Ewald van der Westhuizen, 2 Martin Bezuidenhout, 1 Steph Roberts
Replacements: 16 Simon Westraadt, 17 Janro Van Niekerk, 18 Stephan Greeff, 19 RJ Liebenberg, 20 Dustin Jinka, 21 Howard Mnisi, 22 Danie Dames.
Golden Lions: 15 Vainon Willis, 14 JR Esterhuizen, 13 Stokkies Hanekom, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 Selom Gavor, 10 Willie du Plessis, 9 Ricky Schroeder (Captain), 8 Ruaan Lerm, 7 Cyle Brink, 6 Stephan de Witt, 5 Hugo Kloppers, 4 Thabo Mamojele, 3 Charles Marais, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Dylan Smith
Replacements: 16 Mark Pretorius, 17 Nico du Plessis, 18 Lourens Erasmus, 19 Thabo Mabuza, 20 Michael Bondesio, 21 Marais Schmidt, 22 Caswell Khoza.
Road to the Final:
Round 1
GWK Griquas beat Vodacom Blue Bulls 26-24 (Pretoria)
Golden Lions beat Leopards XV 18-16 (Potchefstroom)
Round 2
GWK Griquas beat Down Touch Griffons 20-12 (Kimberley)
Golden Lions beat Valke 23-22 (Johannesburg)
Round 3
GWK Griquas beat Assupol Limpopo Blue Bulls 68-13 (Kimberley)
Golden Lions lost to Vodacom Blue Bulls 22-20 (Pretoria)
Round 4
GWK Griquas lost to Steval Pumas 25-16 (Nelspruit)
Golden Lions beat Down Touch Griffons 40-37 (Johannesburg)
Round 5
GWK Griquas beat Golden Lions 33-18 (Kimberley)
Round 6
GWK Griquas beat Valke 64-43 (Kimberley)
Golden Lions beat Assupol Limpopo Blue Bulls 110-0 (Polokwane)
Round 7
GWK Griquas beat Leopards 32-8 (Klerksdorp)
Golden Lions lost to Steval Pumas 48-27 (Alberton)
Quarter-finals
GWK Griquas beat SWD Eagles 84-15 (Kimberley)
Golden Lions beat Cell C Sharks XV 27-20 (Durban)
Semi-finals
GWK Griquas beat Steval Pumas 15-14 (Nelspruit)
Golden Lions beat Vodacom Blue Bulls 16-15 (Pretoria)
Previous Vodacom Cup Final results:
- 1998: GWK Griquas beat Golden Lions 57-0
- 1999: Golden Lions beat GWK Griquas 73-7
- 2000: Toyota Free State XV beat GWK Griquas 44-24
- 2001: Vodacom Blue Bulls beat Regent Boland Cavaliers 42-24
- 2002: Golden Lions beat Vodacom Blue Bulls 54-38
- 2003: Golden Lions beat Vodacom Blue Bulls 26-17
- 2004: Golden Lions beat Vodacom Blue Bulls 35-16
- 2005: GWK Griquas beat Leopards 27-25
- 2006: Valke beat Cell C Sharks XV 25-17
- 2007: GWK Griquas beat Vodacom Blue Bulls 33-29
- 2008: Vodacom Blue Bulls beat Toyota Free State XV 25-21
- 2009: GWK Griquas beat Vodacom Blue Bulls 28-19
- 2010: Vodacom Blue Bulls beat Toyota Free State XV 31-29
- 2011: Pampas XV beat Vodacom Blue Bulls 14-9
- 2012: DHL Western Province beat GWK Griquas 20-18
- 2013: Golden Lions beat Steval Pumas 42-28