Ten Small Dogs with a Big Bite made it into Round 3 of BDCE Campus Cup

It getting tougher each week in the BDCE Campus Cup as we move closer to the pinnacle of South Africa’s first virtual schools’ rugby championship. There are only 64 schools left in the competition as we move into the fourth week and Round 3 of the tournament. 

The second round of the competition saw an unbelievable 221 786 votes being cast in the 64 virtual match-ups that took place. A grand total of 1 256 072 people viewed the 64 matches. That means that an amazing 488 945 votes have been cast over the first three weeks om the competition with a total of just over 3.2 million people that viewed these “matches”. 

The match that attracted the most interest was the one between Northern Natal “minnows” – Pionier of Vryheid and Ferrum of Newcastle. The match was even featured in the Newcastle Advertiser. A total of 39 904 people flooded through the gates (saw the poll/match) with more than 6 000 casting their votes. 

Pionier took it by gathering 51% of the votes behind them, but it was a close encounter until the final whistle went. 

Another big clash was the one between Hoërskool Punt of Mossel Bay and Hoërskool Diamantveld of Kimberley. The former edging out Diamonds by 51/49 percent. A total of 36 415 people watched this match with 5 600 casting their votes.

A total of ten of the smaller school (according to our rankings) – the bottom 128 of our draw made it to Round 3 of the competition. The ten schools Hoërskool Punt, President Steyn, Uitenhage High School, Piet Potgieter, Hoërskool Oudtshoorn, De Aar, Hoërskool Linden, Wolmaransstad, Fochville, and Pretoria-Noord are beside the big prize also still in the running for that R 5000 for progressing the furthest in the competition. 

If two or more of the smaller schools get knocked out at the same stage their performances (votes, reach) of the previous rounds will count towards who walks away with the cash prize. 

Fochville probably caused the biggest upset in Round 2 by defeating Kempton Park. President Steyn from Bainsvlei just outside Bloemfontein surprised King Edward VII as the trend continues of the traditional English schools not caring to vote. Nico Malan of Humansdorp had another nailbiter and it won’t get easier for them as they will face Monument of Krugersdorp in Round 3. 

Monnas is one of the big dogs left in the competition. Most of the big traditional rugby schools have idled into the third round thus far. It is expected that these schools will have to start calling on the backing of their old-boys if they are to be title contenders. Grey College, Paarl Gimnasium, Waterkloof, Affies, Helpmekaar, Menlopark, Garsfontein, Maritzburg College, and Paul Roos Gimnasium are still in the running. 

The first champion of the BDCE Campus Cup will receive a lucrative prize in R15 000 in cash and also a USN hamper worth R8 000. The losing finalists will also receive a cash prize of R10 000, while there is also something in it for the smaller schools that take part in the competition.

Our title sponsor, BDCE (Business Development Centre of Excellence), provides SETA Accredited Learnerships, Accredited Training, Skills Development, Non-Accredited Training, and Short Courses for businesses. Please have a look at what they offer by clicking on their banner or highlighted name in the paragraph. 

The competition is a knock-out tournament like the FA Cup (in English soccer) or the former Lion Cup (SA Rugby competition). The winner of each match/tie is determined by who gets the most votes in the match-up.

Show support to your school or community by voting them to the next round. The competition will take nine-week in total and your school will need your support for eight of the week if they are going to be crowned the first virtual champions of South Africa. 

DigiCampus is also one of our sponsors that made this unique competition possible. They provide online video lessons of the CAPS curriculum from Grade R to 12 for all subjects. If you have a child in school during these uncertain times – they provide an excellent free service in helping schoolchildren with an extra resource to better their grades. 

For more information about the competition visit our website www.schoolofrugby.co.za or download the School of Rugby app on the Google Playstore. If you are an iPhone user you could also download the app by going to app.schoolofrugby.co.za and clicking on the home button in the right bottom corner and select install application on the device. 

All the Results from Round 2: 

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Hannes Nienaber

Hannes Nienaber covered schools' rugby in South Africa for Volksblad, Beeld, and Rapport for 11 years. He also created the biggest school rugby website in South Africa - School of Rugby - back in 2007. It eventually morphed into Supersport Schools Plus. He still occasionally milks cows.

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