The Border Bulldogs go into their last SA Cup match hoping to salvage some pride when they welcome the Valke at Police Park in KuGompo City on Saturday (3.30pm).
With nothing to play for other than pride, the Bulldogs will conclude their woeful season, which has seen them losing all their matches, some by cricket scores, drawing criticism from local rugby circles.
The SA Cup launched in 2024 has been a jinxed competition for the Border side, as it has never won a game, always finishing at the bottom of the log.
The Bulldogs are smarting from the 87-5 drubbing by the Toyota Cheetahs at the Sisa Dukashe Stadium in Mdantsane, which marked their second-biggest home loss after the 94-5 mauling by the Airlink Pumas at the same venue.
The loss followed the 71-14 rout by provincial neighbours EP Elephants, which sparked calls for a change in the technical team, with the Border Rugby president Zuko Badli promising to take action behind the scenes.
This led to speculation that the union had parted ways with head coach Dumisani Mhani, fuelled by his absence at the Cheetahs match, though it was attributed to a bout of flu.
Badli insisted that Mhani was still the head Bulldogs coach.
“It is the first time I am hearing about these rumours because there was never any plan to part ways with him,” he said.
“Mhani is still our coach, and we will negotiate all these challenges with him.”
With their home venue yet to be resolved, the Bulldogs will be forced to take the game from Sisa Dukashe to Police Park, marking the third venue they will use after also hosting the SWD Eagles at the Hudson Park High School ground.
Badli said the match had to be moved to Police Park due to a municipal strike which affected the Sisa Dukashe Stadium.
“These are some of the challenges we need to contend with as we are homeless,” he said.
Border Rugby is in talks with Chippa Holdings and the Buffalo City municipality to return to the Buffalo City Stadium for office space as well as a home venue for its teams.
While the memorandum of understanding is yet to be signed, the Bulldogs have to deal with the constant change of home venue, though moving the match to Police Park bodes well for them as they use the venue for training.
All hopes of ending their losing streak have long vanished, with naysayers again expecting a big loss against the Valke even though the visitors have been blighted by inconsistency in the competition.
The Johannesburg side squeaked past the struggling Leopards 31-27 last weekend in a performance that was in stark contrast to their stunning 43-36 win over the Cheetahs a fortnight ago.
A week before, the Valke were also in a rampant mood when they beat the Griffons 68-36 to emerge as one of the favourites to secure a top-four berth.
Mhani has been juggling his team in an effort to stop the rot, though making wholesale changes will be considered too late to break the jinx by Saturday.
Daily Dispatch
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