Eish!!

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

"We're taking Mondays back!" - Varsity Cup Fixtures Announced

Ladies, it's time to get that second TV! Super 14 is around the corner, Currie Cup not far behind, the English Football Leagues are getting into the business end, the Aussies are soon to arrive for part 2 of the test and one-day cricket series ... and now last years successful Varsity Cup is back and will take over the small screens every Monday for the next two months. Varsity Cup Champion, Francois Pienaar announced " We're taking Mondays Back!" at the announcement of the fixtures for the tournament.

The Varsity cup, with the help of buy-in from sponsors and the massive publicity it received last year (it's first), seems to have surpassed the club competitions in stature and is fast looking like it may eclipse the Currie Cup as the fans' local rugby tournament of choice. At the very least, its providing the provincial selectors with a much more realistic base for evaluating potential recruits. ... And by all accounts it's a great evening out!

The eight universities :
  • University of Stellenbosch (Maties)
  • University of Pretoria (Tuks)
  • University of Cape Town (UCT)
  • Tshwane University of Technology (TUT)
  • Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU)
  • North West University (NWU-PUKKE)
  • University of Free State (Shimlas)
  • University of Johannesburg
Links
The fixtures :
Monday, February 2:

Shimlas v NMMU, Groote Schuur Rugby Field - 2.45pm (TV)

UCT v Maties, Groote Schuur Rugby Field - 4.45pm (TV)

UJ v TUT, Fanie du Toit Sports Grounds - 4.45pm (TV)

Pukke v Tuks, Fanie du Toit Sports Grounds - 6.45pm (TV)

Monday, February 9:
TUT v UCT, TUT Stadium - 4.45pm (TV)

NMMU v Tuks, Xerox NMMU Stadium, South Campus - 6.45pm

Shimlas v Pukke, Shimla Park - 6.45pm (TV)

Maties v UJ, Danie Craven Stadium - 7.30pm
Monday, February 16:

UCT v UJ, Groote Schuur Rugby Field - 4.45pm (TV)

Tuks v TUT, LC de Villiers Stadium - 6.45pm (TV)

Shimlas v Maties, Shimla Park - 6.45pm

Pukke v NMMU, Fanie du Toit Sports Grounds - 6.45pm

Monday, February 23:
UJ v Shimlas, UJ Stadium - 4.45pm (TV)

Tuks v UCT, LC de Villiers Stadium - 6.45pm

NMMU v TUT, Xerox NMMU Stadium, South Campus - 6.45pm

Maties v Pukke, Danie Craven Stadium - 6.45pm (TV)

Monday, March 2:

Shimlas v Tuks, Shimla Park - 4.45pm (TV)

TUT v Maties, TUT Stadium - 6.45pm

UJ v Pukke, UJ Stadium - 6.45pm

NMMU v UCT, Xerox NMMU Stadium, South Campus - 6.45pm (TV)

Monday, March 9:

Maties v NMMU, Danie Craven Stadium - 4.45pm (TV)

TUT v Pukke, TUT Stadium - 6.45pm

UCT v Shimlas, Groote Schuur Rugby Field - 6.45pm

UJ v Tuks, UJ Stadium - 6.45pm (TV)
Monday, March 16:

Pukke v UCT, Fanie du Toit Sports Grounds - 4.45pm (TV)

NMMU v UJ, Xerox NMMU Stadium, South Campus - 6.45pm

TUT v Shimlas, TUT Stadium - 6.45pm

Tuks v Maties, LC de Villiers Stadium - 6.45pm (TV)

Monday, March 23:

Semi-finals: TBC

Monday, March 30:

Final: TBC

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Monday, April 7, 2008

Varsity Cup - A stroke of brilliance

The success story of the South African rugby season so far, has to be the Varsity Cup. It has captured the imagination of rugby follows, young and old, and has become a regular topic of conversation around the braai, water coolers and bar counters.
Styled around Monday Night Football in the states, the competing universities have enjoyed substantial television coverage, and this combined with fanatical student support has probably seen it surpass the Vodacom Cup, as the the preeminent local rugby competition while the Super 14 is being contested.

Tonight is the final between two bitter rivals from the Western Cape(Let's hope the Province Union can keep these players) the Ikeys(University of the Western Cape) and the Maties (Stellenbosch University) . Kick off is at 18:45 at the Danie Craven Stadium in Stellenbosch.















As an interesting footnote, although the competition has brought in the crowds and must have exceeded the expectations of the organisers and sponsors, not one of the companies that have put money into the competition have any mention of the competition or final on their websites.

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