Zimbabwe will host at least two matches in the inaugural edition of South Africa’s premier club rugby tournament the Gold Cup later this year.

With the competition draw having been conducted yesterday, Zimbabwe rugby clubs now know what to expect if they are to take part in the inaugural edition of the Gold Cup – a tournament that replaces the Cell C Community Cup.

Gold Cup project manager Duane Heath on Thursday told Sportszone  that the Zimbabwe Rugby Union requested to host the two matches later in the season but they are yet to know which teams will travel to Zimbabwe as they are still working on the fixtures.

“We will be busy with the fixtures in the coming weeks and will release them on March 10 – precisely 6 months before the first match kicks off. At this stage I don’t know which teams will be coming to Zimbabwe.

“The pool stages are from September 10 to October 8 and I do know the ZRU has asked that their club’s 2 home games are held as late as possible during that window, so there is a chance that the Zimbabwe club’s two home games will be between Saturday September 24 and Saturday October 8, possibly October 1 and 8 but that is just speculation at present. Best regards,” said Heath.

Zimbabwe’s representatives are yet to be known because the winner of the local competition will only be decided in June, Zimbabwe has been drawn in Pool C of the Gold Cup – where local rugby will mark a return to the neighbours’ structures.

It is the winner of the national club rugby play offs between top clubs from the northern region and the southern region that will make it to South Africa, in a tournament where all expenses are covered for them.

Pool C comprises of False Bay a non-university rugby team that finished top in Western Province last year, Durban Collegians who are the current KwaZulu Natal champions, Mpumalanga champions White River and a team from Zimbabwe – whose champions will be crowned on June 11.

South Africa Rugby confirmed the draw on Thursday.

For the second year in a row, Zimbabwe has not had a national league and Zimbabwe Rugby Union director Brighton Chivandire earlier said that: “We will have to come up with a way of getting a national champion even if it means that teams will be playing in their respective regions because SARU (South Africa Rugby Union) have indicated to us that this is an on-going event, it’s not just for next year”.

The Gold Cup will kick off on Saturday, September 10 with 20 clubs once again competing in a Rugby World Cup-style format, with five weeks of pool stages and the top two from each group progressing to the knockout stages. The tournament will feature 47 matches in all.

In a departure from the Easter weekend play-off format which was a hallmark of the Community Cup era, the quarter-finals, semi-finals and the Cup final itself will be hosted by participating clubs.

The Gold Cup is a rebranded version of the Cell C Community Cup and Zimbabwe’s involvement in the South African structures follows the visit by Heath who was impressed by the quality of rugby he witnessed in the Northern Rugby League final between winners Harare Sport Club and Old Georgians last October.

The remaining two qualifier slots will be decided by 2016’s provincial leagues, with those teams who finish as the best open clubs in their leagues this year, having not done so in 2015, playing off for the last two Gold Cup slots on 20 and 27 August.

These two qualifiers will become the fifth and final teams in Pools A and D respectively.

2016 Gold Cup Pools:

Pool A: Durbanville-Bellville (defending champion, Western Province), Villagers Worcester (2015 Boland champion), Old Selbornians (2015 Border champion), Welkom Rovers (2015 Griffons champion).

Pool B: Rustenburg Impala (top Leopards non-university club in 2015), Pirates (top Golden Lions non-university club in 2015), Evergreens (2015 SWD champion), Northam Rhinos (2015 Limpopo Blue Bulls champion), Windhoek Wanderers (top Namibian non-university club in 2015)

Pool C: False Bay (top WP non-university club in 2015), Durban Collegians (2015 KZN champion), White River (2015 Mpumalanga champion). Valke (team to be confirmed), Zimbabwe (team to be decided on 11 June).

Pool D: Port Elizabeth Police (nominated by Eastern Province), Pretoria Police (top Blue Bulls non-university club in 2015), Bloemfontein Police (top Free State non-university club in 2015), Sishen (2015 Griquas champion).