The 2023 National Club Championship Grand Finals (NCC) will contested between Duhaney Park Red Sharks and Washington Boulevard Bulls after both registered wins over Liguanea Dragons and West Kingston Hyenas, respectively, in semi-final action on Saturday at the UWI Mona Bowl.

The showdown set for Sunday, September 31 at the University of the West Indies' Mona Bowl, will be a repeat of the 2022 Finals.

The Red Sharks will be making their seventh consecutive finals appearance and 15^th overall in 17 seasons of the Jamaica Rugby League. This will be the Bulls’ second appearance in the finals.

In the first semi-final on Saturday, the Oshane-Eddie-coached Bulls battled their way to hard-fought 43-32 a win over West Kingston Hyenas.  Bulls came out firing on all cylinders, racing to a 26-6 lead at half time. However, the Hyenas came roaring back in the final 40 minutes and almost pulled off the upset with the Bulls forced to hold on for the final five minutes.

“I’m really pleased with the effort of the players and staff make it to our second Grand Finals, and I must commend the Hyenas for a well-played game, they finished really strong,” Eddie said following the bruising encounter.

Bulls scorers: Tries: Howayne Mattis (2), Ronaldeni Fraser (2), Oshane Edie, Hakeem Richards, Shaneal Brown, Chevaun Smith. Goals: Shamoy Stewart (4), Edie. Drop Goal: Edie

Hyenas: Andrew Hylton (2), Neville Lynch, Raul Thomas, Omar Jones, Kamarine Williams. Goals: Damar McKoy, Hylton (2)

In the second semi-final, Duhaney Park overwhelmed Dragons 56-4.

The defending champions seemingly scored at will while consistently snuffing out scoring opportunities for their opponents, especially in the first 20 minutes. By half-time, the defending champs were in full ascendancy having built a 26-6 lead.

Red Sharks center Ryan Grant led all scorers with 22 points.

“I must praise the team's defensive resolve,” said Head Coach Roy Calvert following the lopsided affair. “The Dragons threw a lot at us early, especially around the ruck area. We were on the ropes for a bit in the early exchanges, but the boys hung in there and kept turning up for each other. To be able to limit them to one try is awesome and I am proud.”

Red Sharks scorers: Tries: Ryan Grant (2), Kenneth Walker (2), Akeem Murray, Javion Bryan, Tahjai Maitland, Chevaugn Bailey. Goals: Grant (7), Bryan

Dragons: Tries: Adrian Hall. Goal: Michael Pearson

The Red Sharks beat the Bulls twice in the round-robin stages of the competition and are firm favourites to win yet another title.

South Africa winger Sbu Nkosi says he has been "curled up in a ball" amid his disappearance, after the World Cup winner was found "safe and sound".

The Bulls, Nkosi's domestic team, confirmed the 26-year-old had been found after discovering his whereabouts on Monday, with the club having had no contact with the player since mid-November.

Nkosi, a member of the Springboks team that claimed victory at the 2019 Rugby World Cup, was not revealed to be missing publicly until his team confirmed they had filed a report over the weekend.

But now he has revealed he has been staying with family, disclosing he has taken time away to deal with mental health struggles.

"I'm a lot better," he told News24. "There's obviously a lot to speak about that I can't say out loud, but my condition is improving.

"It's just been a whole lot of mental pressure. It's been building up for a couple of years now. 

"There's too much to go into: the expectations, the fact that by choosing to take care of myself right now, there are people I'm letting down, and that also hurts me.

"There's a lot, but I'm at a point where I need to prioritise the person before the rugby player right now. I just needed time. I've basically been curled up in a ball with my dad, and he's been managing my mental state daily."

Bulls CEO Edgar Rathbone revealed he met with Nkosi on Monday, and said the club would provide their full support to the winger over the coming period.

"We were thrilled to find Sbu and incredibly relieved to see that he was alive," he said in a statement. "Equally, we were saddened to see him in the state that he was in.

"I am however confident that we are in a good position to provide Sbu with the support he needs and that we should acknowledge his incredible courage to even say to us, that he is not okay.

"We are lucky today but tomorrow, our intervention may be too late and that is not something we want to see become a reality."

South Africa winger Sbu Nkosi has been found "safe and sound" after being reported as missing last week.

Nkosi's club the Bulls revealed on Sunday there was "grave worry" for the 2019 World Cup winner after he had been absent without leave for three weeks.

The Pretoria-based club opened a missing person case with the police, but on Monday revealed good news on the 26-year-old.

A Bulls statement said: "The Blue Bulls Company and the Bulls family are happy to confirm that contracted player, Sbu Nkosi, has been found safe and sound.

"After lengthy and extensive efforts from the Vodacom Bulls, in collaboration with SSG – who have gone beyond their commercial responsibility – at 14:02pm on Monday 05 December 2022, Nkosi was located.

"Once it was established that Nkosi was safe, unharmed and in a position to speak, chief executive Edgar Rathbone went into Nkosi's home (with the permission of the player), spending alone time with him, to understand how best the company can provide him with the support he needs and what that support is.

"As the Bulls family, we are thrilled that Nkosi is safe.

"We wish to extend a vote of thanks to all the members of the public who shared information that contributed to our search. We wish to also express a word of thanks to the international community who also joined the call and efforts in searching for Nkosi.

"At this present moment, we cannot give further comments on the matter."

There is "grave worry" for Sbu Nkosi after the World Cup-winning winger was reported missing by his club the Bulls.

The 26-year-old flyer, who was in the South Africa squad that lifted the World Cup in Japan three years ago, has been absent without leave from the Pretoria-based club for three weeks.

Nkosi has been capped 16 times but missed the tour of Europe last month due to a rib injury.

A statement from his club said: "The Blue Bulls Company can confirm that Bulls contracted player Sbu Nkosi has been absent without leave for the past three weeks. Nkosi's last known contact with any executive, management or playing squad member is Friday 11 November 2022.

"After numerous failed attempts, which include but are not limited to phone calls, texts messages, calls to relatives, partner and close friends as well as four house visits to his known place of residence, the company took the decision to open a missing person case with the Brooklyn Police Station (which was subsequently transferred to Sunnyside Police Station), in Pretoria on Thursday 17 November 2022.

"This resulted from the grave worry and concern of everyone at Loftus as well as the need for the expert assistance of the South African Police Services.

"We appreciate both the public and media interest in the matter, as we all share the same concerns about the player's safety. However, we ask that you understand that we cannot make any further comments on the matter as it now sits with the South African Police Services."

South Africa have recorded a further 10 COVID-19 cases, including head coach Jacques Nienaber, while the British and Irish Lions' match with the Bulls has been postponed.

A Lions statement on Tuesday confirmed they were exploring a rescheduling of the match or finding different opponents after five positive tests meant it was "impossible" for the Bulls to field a team.

The Lions' meeting with the Sharks in Johannesburg next Wednesday is set to go ahead as scheduled.

However, the Springboks' match with Georgia next week is also in doubt after Nienaber, five management figures and four players - Marvin Orie, Frans Steyn, Handre Pollard and Frans Malherbe - all returned positive tests.

There were also four cases of the virus within the Georgia team. Jurie Roux, CEO of South Africa Rugby, said the news underlined the problems posed by the Delta variant of the virus, which was first identified in India but has since spread to numerous countries.

"These positive results are a setback and have underlined the danger of transmissibility of the Delta variant," he said.

"The Springboks' second Test against Georgia is now in serious doubt, but we will wait for the MAG to consider the data and we will make the final decision tomorrow [Wednesday].

"The priority is to maintain the integrity of the Test series and we will continue to focus on that."

On Monday, South Africa suspended training and placed their squad in isolation after lock Lood de Jager tested positive for coronavirus.

There had been three further confirmed cases of the virus within the squad on June 27, although they were still able to go ahead with their first warm-up match against Georgia, which ended in a 40-9 victory for the Boks.

It was their first match since winning the World Cup in November 2019.

The first Test with the Lions is due to take place on July 24 in Cape Town, before moving to Johannesburg for the second and third matches.