Macassar rugby club did an Arsenal this year in the Western Province Super League C, winning the title without losing a single match.
Just as the Gunners in the English Premier League season of 2003/4, Macassar had no equal as they booked their place in next season’s Super League B campaign.
Having won 13 out of their 14 matches during the round-robin phase of the competition, with a draw against Goodwood being the only stain on a perfect season, Macassar captain Burnodick Julius had one more job to do when they played at Newlands in the grand finale against a determined Busy Bees side.
Coaches Christopher Langeveldt and Warren Wilters equipped their players well enough to perform at the home of Cape rugby to beat Busy Bees 35-28 in an entertaining final at Newlands.
Busy Bees, though, have no reason to hang their heads in shame as they could have easily walked away with the trophy as well.
Instead, they will also be buzzing in next year’s Super League B tournament and have proven under the coaching of Hilton Petinger that they are a force to be reckoned with.
While Macassar ran away with their league this year, Paarl were crowned kings of the Super League B after they beat Primrose in their Newlands final.
With tough competition in this league this year, former Blitzbok Danwell Demas and his Paarl teammates will now be playing against the cream of the crop in Cape club rugby next season.
Primrose entered the final against Paarl on an 11-match unbeaten run and ultimately went down 26-17.
But the Roses will be glad that they are back in the WP top flight next season.
There is still one more Super League A place up for grabs this weekend when Parow NTK and Bellville lock horns at City Park.
The latter had to fight hard to get into the promotion/relegation clash after beating Helderberg, who will now face neighbours Macassar in SLB, 25-18 in the race for the playoffs.
The big winners on the day, though, were Maties, who beat Durbell 51-27 to successfully defend their SLA title.
But while the scoreline suggests a hammering of Durbell in the final match of the day at Newlands, the men from Durbanville can hold their heads high after putting in a decent performance against the Maroon Machine before the champs opened the floodgates.
Durbell will take heart from the fact that they will be representing Cape Town in next year’s Gold Cup - a tournament they won back in 2015.
So while the final promotion/relegation matches will be played this weekend, the Western Province club rugby season is now almost done and dusted.
Congrats to the champs of the top three leagues - Maties, Paarl and Macassar.