Patrice Motsepe at it again as he bankrolls revival of popular Gold Cup in 'coup' for SA Rugby

Mere months after bailing out SAFA in underwriting a financial truce that saw Bayana Banyana fulfil their obligations at the FIFA Women's World Cup through his foundation, Patrice Motsepe has now helped boost club rugby at national level.

SA Rugby on Saturday confirmed that the captain of industry's investment-holding firm, African Rainbow Capital (ARC), will sponsor the revival of the Gold Cup, the popular open-club tournament that ceased back in 2019 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

In its new incarnation, the tournament will follow England's FA Cup format, where 32 teams will be whittled down to two in a straight knock-out over five weeks, starting next weekend.

Unsurprisingly, it was Blue Bulls president Willem Strauss - whose tenure at the union has been illuminated by his leading role in turning the region's club rugby scene into arguably the strongest in South Africa - who spearheaded the Gold Cup's return and leveraged the Loftus-based union's association with Motsepe, who owns a 37.5% share in its professional arm, to gain sponsorship.

"Not only are they incredible investors in professional sport in South Africa, but this also shows their commitment to sport at a grassroots level, in this case in rugby, which is incredibly important to almost 1 200 rugby clubs in South Africa, this is incredibly important," he said.

And by all accounts ARC, heavily involved in the lower divisions of South African soccer, were keen to extend their footprint in the amateur sphere of local rugby.

"We are very excited to get involved at club rugby level in South Africa, as we see this as an opportunity to make a contribution to the development and transformation of grassroots rugby in South African communities," said Dr Johan van Zyl, the