Champs Progress host Fort Beaufort United at home in Super 14 quarterfinals

It will be a repeat of the thrilling 2025 EC Super 14 club rugby final when Progress host Fort Beaufort United in an eagerly awaited quarterfinal showdown in Kariega on Saturday.

This was confirmed when organisers released the combined top four logs for EP and Border, which saw Progress top the EP group with 14 points and EL Police ending top of the Border group with 15 points.

The combined logs between the two groups of four teams in each province (all sides played three matches) are:

EP conference:

Progress 14
Brumbies 10
Trying Stars 10
Star of Hope 8

Border conference:

EL Police 15
Young Leopards 14
Swallows 11
FB United 7

The formula used to decide the quarterfinal pairings is:

Border 1 vs EP 4
Border 2 vs EP 3
EP 1 vs Border 4
EP 2 vs Border 3

The quarterfinal programme (home teams first) is:

EL Police vs Star of Hope
Young Leopards vs Trying Stars
Progress vs FB United
Brumbies vs Swallows

If the rematch between Progress and FB United lives up to previous meetings between the sides, a capacity crowd at the Central Field can expect a feast of running rugby (kickoff 3pm).

Unbeaten Progress, who beat Fort Beaufort United 40-29 in an exciting 2025 final, were the best-performing EP team in the pool stages of the competition.

Progress powered its way into the playoffs with a runaway 54-13 win over Hankey Villagers at Londt Park on Saturday.

Saturday’s victory left Progress unbeaten after three rounds, after earlier wins over Trying Stars and Park in the pool stage.

Progress were favoured to emerge as EP’s top team after Gardens, Harlequins and Kruisfontein United opted to withdraw from the tournament.

“It was important for us to get a good result against Hankey Villagers to be in a strong position to secure a home quarterfinal,” Progress coach Shaun “Trok” Oliver said.

“We are taking it match by match and not getting ahead of ourselves.”

If an EP team reaches the final against a Border side, it has been decided that Border will host the game because the 2025 final was played in Gqeberha.

EP and Border club rugby teams were given a big shot in the arm when organisers announced the overall prize money up for grabs in the 2026 EC Super 14 tournament had been increased to a whopping R468,000 (excluding transport).

The tournament winners will be going home with an extra R10,000 in their pockets after it was decided the champions would earn R60,000.

The runners-up will cash in to the tune of R40,000, and there are lucrative incentives for ending up third (R20,000) and fourth (R20,000).