7 February 2025 – Cape Town – Stormers Captain Salmaan Moerat and Stormers Coach Dawie Snyman during a press conference ahead of Saturday's United Rugby Championship clash at the DHL Stadium in Cape Town. Picture Henk Kruger / Independent Media
South African sports fans are in for a treat on ‘Super Saturday’, with three major events happening around the country.
The action kicks off at the Cape Town Stadium, where fierce rivals the Stormers and Bulls clash in the United Rugby Championship (2pm start).
The Bulls are hot favourites for this clash, sitting in a lofty third place compared to the Stormers’ 12th position, but pre-match form has traditionally counted for nothing on derby day.
Equally, the Bulls have only beaten the Stormers once in the URC in Pretoria last year, and have yet to taste sweet victory in Cape Town, with the home side famously beating their rivals from up north in the final of the inaugural competition back in 2022.
Adding to the competitive nature of the derby is the frosty relationship Stormers coach John Dobson and his Bulls counterpart Jake White share.
“They won the last game, and there is rivalry,” said Dobson.
“It looks like it will be a sell-out. For an ordinary league game and there’s hype — North-South, Dobbo-Jake — it’s a lekker occasion.
“The rivalry is great for sport. I’m not sure (if) we’ll have a beer,” he said when asked about any post-match pleasantries with White.
The action then switches over to the highveld later, where the SA20 reaches a frenetic climax, with the grand final set to be hosted at the Wanderers (5.30pm start).
The SA20 tournament has zig-zagged around the country, and captured the imagination of both ardent cricket fans and new supporters, with its high-tempo activities on and off the field.
MI Cape Town have put two seasons of disappointment behind them to qualify for a first-ever SA20 final.
They beat Western Cape neighbours Paarl Royals on Tuesday evening in Gqeberha to book their final spot.
They will face the winner of last night’s Qualifier 2 between the Royals and double-defending champions Sunrisers Eastern Cape, who are seeking to win an unprecedented hat-trick of titles.
The action remains up in the north tomorrow afternoon, where a mouth-watering top-of-the table Premier Soccer League clash between Mamelodi Sundowns and Orlando Pirates gets under way at Loftus Versfeld at 3.30pm.
Perennial champions Sundowns host an in-form Pirates, who are fresh off a confidence-boosting Soweto Derby victory over Kaizer Chiefs and a midweek win over Sekhukhune United.
Six points separate the two sides at the summit of the PSL log, but Pirates have played one game less, and have a major opportunity to close the gap on Sundowns.
“We’ve come to understand and be aware that this fixture between Pirates and Sundowns is slowly becoming the most looked forward to fixture in the calendar year,” said former Buccaneer Teko Modise.
“In as much as the Soweto Derby is big historically, but football-wise, this is the best fixture of the year.
“This is the only fixture that you can compare pound-for-pound, and you can go right-back for right-back, left-back for left-back and still feel like whatever team you are supporting, they still have a chance of winning – that shows what this fixture has become.”
If all of that does not fulfil your sporting appetite, there is more action taking place in the early hours of Sunday morning, when South Africa’s UFC middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis goes head-to-head against American Sean Strickland in Sydney.
Du Plessis took the championship belt of Strickland when he beat him in Toronto last year.
Cape Times