This year’s tournament, which signals a bold new era for community rugby on the back of significant post-pandemic and RWC 2023-inspired growth in the club game, is also supported by Northam Platinum, whose commitment to community aligns with the grassroots spirit of the Pick n Pay Gold Cup.

Pick n Pay’s title partnership with the national knockout championship for non-university clubs, meanwhile, is part of a four-year agreement that includes becoming Tier-1 sponsors of the four-time Rugby World Cup and back-to-back Castle Lager Rugby Championship-winning Springboks.

In the southern half of the draw, the historic Brookside ground in Claremont, Cape Town – with the back of Table Mountain providing a spectacular backdrop – will play host to the first semi-final, between Western Province champions Villager and KZN champions College Rovers, the most dominant club in Sharks country for the past decade. The match, which is scheduled to kick off at 14h30, will be televised live on SuperSport channel 199.

The Bushveld mining town of Setaria, outside Thabazimbi in Limpopo – a world away from the Mother City – will play host to the North Section semi-final between Northam Rhinos and two-time defending champions Naka Bulls of Pretoria, in what is a repeat of the 2024 Grand Final. The match will also be televised live on SuperSport channel 199, from 17h00.

The story of the last four is an intriguing mix of history, glory, heartbreak and long waits.

Villager, the country’s second-oldest non-university club which celebrates its 150th anniversary in 2026, will be looking to end a 45-year drought at national level under head coach Andy Coetzee.

The last man to lift the old national club championship trophy wearing the famous white jersey was legendary Springbok captain and 1995 Rugby World Cup-winning team manager, Morné du Plessis, back in 1980.

Rovers, too, go into the match looking to end a long spell as the nearly-men of South African community rugby.

The Durban-based club, established in 1899, won the national crown in 2010 and 2012 but despite winning their domestic Moor Cup league and Murray Cup knockout competition countless times in the intervening years, have never translated domestic success into the act of lifting the priceless golden winners’ trophy introduced in 2013.

Rovers, with former Springbok scrumhalf and Sharks coach Robert du Preez in charge, suffered the heartbreak of losing the 2013 final at Outeniqua Park in George against Despatch, coached by Springboks Adri Geldenhuys and the legendary Danie Gerber, thanks to a long-range penalty goal after the hooter by Monty Dumond.

Four years later, in 2017, Rovers, coached by former Capetonian Derek Heiberg – who will be in charge again on Saturday – had to settle for the silver medal when they were beating by an all-conquering False Bay outfit in Constantia, Cape Town.

Rovers made it three losses in three finals when they played second fiddle to Naka Bulls in the 2023 final – the first tournament to be held after a three-year pandemic-induced hiatus.

Naka Bulls and Northam Rhinos will meet in a repeat of last year's final.

The North Section script contains just as many twists and turns as the Gold Cup’s southern sub-plot.

Naka Bulls have been the dominant club side in South African rugby since 2023 and under long-time coach Marinus van der Watt will be looking for what would be an historic ‘three-peat’ of national titles should they overcome Rhinos on Saturday and win next week’s Grand Final, to be hosted by the team with the highest winning points differential in the semi-finals.

Northam Rhinos, meanwhile, are relative newcomers to the top table of South African club rugby, having competed in the Gold Cup since 2017. The platinum miners lost the 2019 semi-final to eventual winners, Rustenburg Impala, then stumbled again at the penultimate hurdle in 2023 against Rovers in Durban.

Rhinos’ heartbreaking 22-19 final loss to Naka Bulls in Pretoria last year will only add to their determination to finally lift the Cup in 2025. Managed by long-time coach Flip de Kock, Rhinos are also driven by a deep desire to honour their fallen coach, former Springbok Bevin Fortuin, who passed away just before the tournament.

“We started out with 32 teams in the Pick n Pay Gold Cup and on Saturday evening we will be left with our final two,” said SA Rugby CEO, Rian Oberholzer. “If the drama of the past three weeks and 28 matches are anything to go by, it wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest if the rugby gods have saved the best for the final fortnight of what has been a watershed season for community rugby.

“The pandemic hit club rugby in 2020 just as it was surfing the crest of a wave. The momentum has been quietly building since its resumption in 2023 but there is no doubt that 2025 will be remembered as the year that the Gold Cup – in large part thanks to the new partnerships forged with Pick n Pay and Northam Platinum – caught fire.

“The Pick n Pay Gold Cup has also captivated a new generation of fans wherever it has taken place. Our three Pick n Pay Gold Cup Trophy Tours – in Robertson, Kariega and Thabazimbi – have been roaring successes and have brought fans closer than ever before to the golden trophy, both literally and figuratively.

“Last week, a large group of Gardens fans travelled all the way from Kariega in the Eastern Cape to Cape Town to support their team, even though the match was televised – that’s a round-trip of almost 1,600 kilometres. If this doesn’t tell you what club rugby means to communities across the length and breadth of South Africa, nothing will,” Oberholzer added.

Pick n Pay Gold Cup – Semi-Final fixtures (both matches live on SuperSport 199)

Saturday 18 October:

South section:
14h30: Villager FC v College Rovers (Brookside, Claremont, Cape Town)

North section:
17h00: Northam Rhinos v Naka Bulls (Bushveld Park, Setaria, Limpopo)