THE curtain comes down on the Lion Lager National RugbyLeague this Saturday after months of action.
Old Hararians and Old Georgians will feature in this year’s final at Old Hararians Sports Club after the defending champions Harare Sports Club, failed to qualify.
It means HSC failed to defend the title they won last year after beating Matabeleland Warriors 22-19 in a nail-biting final at Harare Sports Club.
The derby final came after Old Hararians defeated Matabeleland Warriors 47-7 while the 2011 LLNRL champions Old Georgians beat city rugby rivals HSC 33-22.
Mat Warriors failed to upstage OH as the last year’s finalists suffered a humiliating defeat by a 40- point margin. The two semi-final matches were one-sided affairs that made even the rugby administrators unhappy.
As the 2012 league finalists, rugby enthusiasts expected a strong resistance from the Bulawayo side but they proved a soft target.
Harare Sports Club play in a repeat of last year’s final when they play Mat Warriors in a third place play-off match that will curtain raise for the Harare derby on Saturday.
OH and OG met on April 20 at OG in the first leg encounter of the LLNRL and the former champions dominated and won 30-21. It was a tightly fought battle that saw OG stamping their dominance over OH.
In the reverse fixture Oh reversed the April defeat when they beat their arch rivals 28-23 in another closely fought derby.
Tomorrow’s final is anyone’s game as this season’s head-to-head statistics do not favour either of the teams.
Fireworks are expected at this year’s final as the two Harare sides square-off in a final. In 2011, OG and HSC met in the final that was won by OG.
The Dragons as OG are affectionately known in rugby circles, boast stalwarts like Fortune Chipendo and Jacques Leitao.
Tangai Nemadire and Gardner Nechironga are the core for OH and are expected to lead their teams in search of the coveted LLNRL Cup.
League president Noddy Kanyangarara said they expect Saturday to be a big rugby day packed with action. The programme starts at 11am with two invitational matches between Mutare Sports Club and ZRP.
HSC women will clash with OH in another match before the third place play-off.
“We expect Saturday to be a big day for rugby. We expect the matches to be competitive especially the final between OG and OH,” said Kanyangarara.
After the match, there will be entertainment provided by Winky D, Templeman and Freeman among others.