Craven Week “semis” schedule might require some thinking outside the box

Every year the Craven Week Day 1 and Day 2 fixtures are finalised well in advance and the match-ups generally provide an indication of who stands the better chance of advancing the unofficial final. However the fixtures decision-makers should feel a huge sense of responsibility to ensure they reward the two better teams in both halves of the 20 team split with places in the semis, given the amount of emphasis that is placed on the televised final.

In 2015, they can’t go wrong by allocating a Day 1 group semi-final berth to the winner of WP versus the Blue Bulls. However a bit more thought needs to go into deciding whether the Free State, a traditionally strong team deserves the other place ahead of the Pumas-Border winners. The Pumas has produced a stream of good teams in recent seasons and this year appears to be a strong one for Border, meaning that should combine to produce a high standard match. Although Free State is expected to come away with a relatively easy win against the Griffons, one can never take something like that for granted.

The initial feeling is that the Day 2 group looks less complicated, with the KZN-Lions and the EP-SWD games looking very much like quarterfinals. It is going to be extremely difficult to deny the winners of these two games the opportunity to meet on the Thursday and play for a place in the final. The complication is presented by the Valke who showed their ability with a 46-0 victory over the Leopards this week, suggesting they might actually be the team to beat in this group. Unfortunately for the Valke it doesn’t look as if EPCD will offer them too much resistance or therefore won’t shed any light on how strong they really are in 2015.

Craven Week 52 takes place at Paul Roos Gymnasium in Stellenbosch this year.