The two 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 2014 competition.
Between these two sides, who will clash at 19h10 at GWK Park, they have won the Vodacom Cup nine 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’ second visit to Kimberley this year. They lost their round five-encounter at GWK Park by 33-18.
This will also be the third time these two 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 two 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).
Four 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 two 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 seven teams have won the Vodacom Cup – the Golden Lions (five times) GWK Griquas (four), the Vodacom Blue Bulls (three), DHL Western Province, Toyota Free State XV, Valke and Pampas XV (once each).
The teams are:
GWK Griquas: Gouws Prinsloo, Ederies Arendse, Jonathan Francke, Wayne Stevens (captain), Rocco Jansen, Francois Brummer, Tian Meyer, Burger Schoeman, Jaco Nepgen, Marnus Schoeman, Hilton Lobberts, Jonathan Adendorf, Ewald van der Westhuizen, Martin Bezuidenhout, Steph Roberts. Replacements: Simon Westraadt, Janro Van Niekerk, Stephan Greeff, RJ Liebenberg, Dustin Jinka, Howard Mnisi, Danie Dames.
Golden Lions: Vainon Willis, JR Esterhuizen, Stokkies Hanekom, Harold Vorster, Selom Gavor, Willie du Plessis, Ricky Schroeder (captain), Ruaan Lerm, Cyle Brink, Stephan de Witt, Hugo Kloppers, Thabo Mamojele, Charles Marais, Malcolm Marx, Dylan Smith. Replacements: Mark Pretorius, Nico du Plessis, Lourens Erasmus, Thabo Mabuza, Michael Bondesio, Marais Schmidt, Caswell Khoza.
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