Warriors vs Vryheid in curtain raiser.

The Junior Murray Cup final will be a titanic clash between north and south at The Absa Stadium Durban.

THE Criss Cross Warriors, winners of the Southern section of the first division will have an opportunity to redeem themselves when they contest the Junior Murray final with Vryheid at the ABSA stadium this Saturday.

The Warriors managed to edge out qualifiers, Drakensberg 12-8 in their semi-final clash at the Douglas Mitchell sports grounds on Tuesday this week. Both teams were forced to play their fixture on Tuesday this week after Drakensberg couldn’t honour the fixture last Saturday due to veld fires in Winterton. A meeting between the relevant parties settled the matter on Monday this week, where it was agreed that the fixture needed to be played. "The matter was settled amicably,"said Albert Hannekom, spokesman for KZN club rugby.

The junior Murray Cup will provide an opportunity for the Warriors to redeem themselves after losing their first division title to Vryheid two weeks ago. Vryheid, who qualified for the final as a result of a bye last Saturday, won their deciding league fixture against Pietermaritzberg Collegians 43-7. The latter failed to honour their semi-final fixture against the same opponents at the weekend.

The second team will also contest their final match against Vryheid after defeating Drakensberg 17-12 at the Douglas Mitchell Sports Grounds, also on Tuesday. This Saturday’s final will be a curtain-raiser for the much anticipated encounter between the Cheetahs and the Sharks at the ABSA Stadium in Durban. Kick-off will be at 1.30pm.

The second team game will also be played at the ABSA stadium, kick off is at 11.30am

- Siyabonga Mchunu