In the wake of the round six and seven matches that were postponed last week due to the emergence of a new variant of COVID-19, it was decided to move two local derbies forward.

As a result, the Cell C Sharks will now host the Vodacom Bulls in Durban on Friday evening (19h00 kick-off at Jonsson Kings Park), while the DHL Stormers will face the Emirates Lions in Cape Town on Saturday afternoon (17h00 kick-off at DHL Stadium). Limited spectators will be allowed at these matches as was gazetted by government in October.

“Our four teams have been hard at work and in conjunction with the tournament organisers, we’ve decided to bring forward two of the derbies originally scheduled for early in the new year,” said Jurie Roux, CEO of SA Rugby.

“Apart from providing our teams with much-needed game time, we are also trying to open up space in the calendar for a possible rescheduling of the matches that had been postponed this weekend.”