"This promises to be the party of the year," says PJ Gronum, of Sports Management and Event Productions, which was recently appointed by the Knysna Municipality to drive big events at Loerie Park.
The Oyster Trophy is a rugby match that will be staged in Knysna every year between two high-calibre rugby sides, and this year the inaugural event will see the competition between the DHL Western Province and the Simola Eagle VX on Saturday evening.
The curtain raiser will include Knysna United club sides as well as the SWD Eagles under 19 side, which recently won promotion to the ABSA Premier Division of under 19 rugby in South Africa.
The visiting DHL Western Province team promises to be filled with stars and talent. The final squad list of the DHL Western Province for Oyster Trophy 2011 will be announced later, but famous players expected to be included are Conrad Jantjies, Tim Whitehead, Curt Coleman, Bola Conradie, Anton van Zyl, Adriaan Fondse and JD Moller. Coleman is a special contribution to the occasion as he is a true local, born and bred in Knysna.
The Simola Eagles XV will consist primarily of players from the SWD Eagles squad and will include invited players from around the country. Invited players include Anthonie Gronum, Chumani Booi from the Border Bulldogs, Ross Geldenhuys from the Lions and Davon Raubenheimer from the Cheetahs. Both Raubenhiemer and Gronum were born in Knysna and their families and close friend still live in the town.
The format that the people of Knysna opted for is that a new team be invited to Knysna every year to challenge the trophy holders.
The Bulls team has already indicated that it would like to travel to Knysna to enjoy the hospitality on offer for teams of the Oyster Trophy match, as well as benefit from valuable game time ahead of the 2012 Super Rugby Tournament.
It has been confirmed that the Oyster Trophy match 2012 will be held in January. "The stadium will also grow accordingly. The Dubai Sevens is held in a stadium constructed with scaffolding and accommodates 20 000 fans and that is exactly what Knysna is working towards," reads a Knysna Municipal press release.
DHL Western Province will be hosted by the world famous Pezula Resort Hotel and Spa, where the French team stayed during FIFA 2010, and the Simola Eagles XV will naturally be hosted at the prestigious Simola Golf & Country Estate, where Denmark’s team stayed during its FIFA 2010 campaign. SuperSport will record the event and it will be aired on SuperSport One during June 2011. The winner of this inaugural event will play the Bulls in January 2012.
The Loerie Park stadium will get an additional 4 000 seats by means of scaffolding pavilions, seating will be further increased to to accommodate a total capacity of 7 500 fans.
Tickets, available from the Knysna Tourism Centre, vary from R25 to R125, or contact PJ Gronum on 083 565 7443.
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The Simola Eagles when the team played against the Griekwas at Loerie Park earlier this year.
