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

The build-up to the opening matches of the country’s knockout championship for non-university clubs gets underway on Saturday morning already, with the second stop of the Pick n Pay Gold Cup Trophy Tour taking place at Pick n Pay Kariega, in the Eastern Cape.

From 08h00 to 12h00 on Saturday, fans are invited to visit the store at the Penford Shopping Centre in Graaff Reinet Road, Kariega, for Pick n Pay Gold Cup match-day specials and to take their picture with the iconic Gold Cup trophy.

The trophy tour forms part of Pick n Pay’s partnership with the Gold Cup, as part of a four-year agreement that includes becoming Tier-1 sponsors of the four-time world champion Springboks.

The Gold Cup trophy will also be on display later on Saturday afternoon at the iconic Central Ground in Kariega, where Eastern Province’s two best clubs, Gardens and Kruisfontein United of Humansdorp, will clash in front of a capacity crowd.

The Battle of Kariega is just one of eight Round of 16 matches taking place across the length and breadth of the country, as the remaining clubs look to take one step closer to securing their place in what will be a first-ever North v South Grand Final on 25 October.

With the field now halved, and with six current or former champions still in the hunt, this coming weekend promises even more drama, with the knockout draw producing a number of mouthwatering derbies to look forward to.

The 2025 Pick n Pay Gold Cup is also celebrating the 150th anniversary of the birth of club rugby in South Africa, and all eyes will be on Brookside in Claremont, Cape Town on Saturday, when the country’s two oldest clubs continue their age-old rivalry.

Hamilton, the 2009 national club champions and the club that produced the first-ever Springbok, will travel to Villager, which is one of the oldest derbies in world rugby.

Villager, SA’s second-oldest non-university club who celebrate their 150th anniversary in 2026, beat Hammies just two weeks ago to lift the Western Province Grand Challenge Cup for the first time in 25 years.

Supporters pose with the Gold Cup at the local Pick n Pay in Robertson last weekend.

The southern suburbs side are the favourites going into the match, having beaten their Sea Point arch-rivals three times already this year, with the winner of this match playing the winner of the Gardens v Kruisfontein match in the quarter-finals.

In the other two Round of 16 matches in the southern half of the draw, KZN champions College Rovers host their neighbours from across the Umgeni River, Northwood Crusaders, in a Durban derby set to kick off ahead of the Springboks’ Castle Lager Rugby Championship decider against Argentina in London.

For Rovers fans, both matches are equally significant: Springbok scrumhalf Grant Williams played for the club in 2017 before being signed by the Hollywoodbets Sharks – a reminder for all club players that the Pick n Pay Gold Cup can be a pivotal platform for unheralded players to showcase their talents.

“Grant is a great example of how club rugby can still play a role in ensuring there is another chance for anyone who might have slipped through the net,” said SA Rugby CEO, Rian Oberholzer. “If it weren’t for club rugby, who knows if he would even be running out against the Pumas on Saturday?

“We are well and truly entering another golden age of club rugby, where the standard at the performance end of the community game has never been better. Thanks to the support of Pick n Pay and Northam Platinum, we are confident that club rugby will play an even greater role in the years to come.”

The winners of the Rovers-Crusaders match will book a quarter-final tie against the winners of the big Cape Winelands derby between Robertson, the reigning Boland champions, and Villagers Worcester.

The Van Zyl Sports Grounds will once again be packed to the rafters as ‘Villa’, as they are affectionately known, and their thousands of supporters travel the 50km down the R60 for one of the biggest club derbies in South African rugby.

In the North section, two-time defending champions Naka Bulls and 2024 runners-up Northam Rhinos will take one step closer to resuming their on-field rivalry of recent years, when they host Louis Trichardt and Centurion respectively for places in the last eight.

The champions will run out as favourites against the team from Limpopo and should they win at home in Pretoria, they will play the winners of the match between Northam Wolves and Raiders, while the winner of Rhinos and Centurion will await the outcome of the final Round 16 match of the day, between Pretoria Harlequins and Vereeniging, to see who they will face in the quarter-finals.

Pick n Pay Gold Cup Round of 16 Fixtures – Saturday 4 October:

North section:
13h00: Naka Bulls v Louis Trichardt (Naka Bulls Rugby Club, Pretoria)
15h30: Northam Wolves v Raiders (Millstream River Estate, Hartbeespoort)
16h00: Northam Rhinos v Centurion (Setaria Recreation Club, Setaria)
17h00: Pretoria Harlequins v Vereeniging (Harlequins Rugby Club, Pretoria)

South section:
13h00: College Rovers v Northwood Crusaders (KP2, Hollywoodbets Kings Park, Durban)
13h00: Villager v Hamilton (Brookside, Cape Town)
15h00: Gardens v Kruisfontein (Central Ground, Kariega)
16h00: Robertson v Villagers Worcester (Van Zyl Street Sports Grounds, Robertson)