THE best of South African hockey will be on show next week as the country’s top eight sides gather for the annual men’s hockey interprovincial. The tournament, which runs at the Univerity of Port Elizabeth-Tech astroturf from next Tuesday to Saturday, is sure to be highly competitive as the provinces vie for one of the most sought after titles in South African hockey. And with just four teams in each pool, the pressure to make next Friday’s top four cross-pool playoffs will be intense from the outset. Southern Gauteng will be eager to add to the national hockey league title they won earlier this year, but Natal, WP and EP will have a lot to say about that. But EP, with national players Kevin Chree, Clyde Abrahams, Chris Hibbert and Jody Paul forming a nucleus of a solid outfit, have been drawn in what could aptly be described as the “pool of death”, which also includes Southern Gauteng and WP. EP’s first match is against WP at 1.30pm on Tuesday. The pools are: Pool A: S Gauteng, WP, EP, Border; pool B: Natal Midlands, Natal, Northerns, Free State.