UCT to 'rock' the Varsity Cup...

UCT RFC is this year involved with a new national rugby competition called the 'Varsity Cup'. FNB, Canterbury, SAB and Steinhof have pooled the investment potential of every mielie and potatoe farmer in the country to creating a new breeding ground for tight forwards at Club level, in an attempt to usurp the power from the woeful Vodacom Cup. It promises to be an exciting competition.


As with many other things here at Rockstar we couldn't be bothered to do our own research and write our own article so we published someone elses. Forgive us. I think it is from rugby365.com.

"The all-new FNB Varsity Cup - which will see the top eight universities in South Africa compete for the ultimate bragging rights - is set to take South African rugby by storm, and the University of Cape Town (UCT) will not be far behind.

UCT are one of the eight teams competing in the inaugural competition, which will be played mostly on Monday nights, with some matches to be televised (see below). All teams will play each other once, with the top four teams going into the semi-finals, after an exciting league finale in George over the Easter Weekend.



The tournament's mantra is 'Rugby that Rocks' and UCT intend on doing just that, despite being up against some pretty formidable opposition in the shape of Pukke (the best rugby university in SA last year) and Stellenbosch, the Ikeys' traditional rivals over the years.

Springbok centre Robbie Fleck, himself a former Ikeys star, has now turned his hand to coaching and will be looking after the UCT backline, with head coach John Dobson - also a former student and player at the club - coaching the forwards.

"I have never seen a Varsity team so focused, which makes it easy for us coaches," said Fleck, who played 31 Tests for the Boks between 1999 and 2002, "I mean, have you ever heard of UCT students training during January - on their own??


"The set-up at UCT is also very professional, we have a strong support staff and no stone is being left unturned ahead of this exciting tournament. However, we are aware of the battle that we face, especially against teams like Maties, Pukke and Tukkies - all of whom have budgets considerably bigger than us.

"One thing is for sure though, expect to see a lot of heart from this UCT side and we will continue to play the exciting brand of 15-man rugby that has always been synonymous with Ikey rugby."UCT's first match is a home fixture against Pukke on Monday, February 18 (kick-off 6.45pm) and they are working hard behind the scenes to get their past players to come and support, along with their past and present students, some of whom have returned to lectures already.

Look out for big names like Bob Skinstad and Dion O'Cuinneagain on the sidelines come the 18th, whilst the many proud UCT students in attendance will no doubt have a word or two for the opposition!

UCT's Varsity Cup fixtures:

Monday, February 18:
UCT v NWU-Pukke
Monday, February 25:
UCT v Tuks
Monday, March 3:
UJ v UCT
Monday, March 10:
TUT v UCT (televised)

The Easter Weekend Festival (each Varsity Cup team will play its final three league matches over the Easter Weekend):

Thursday, March 20:
UCT v Maties (televised)
Saturday, March 22:
NMMU v UCT
Monday, March 24:
UCT v Kovies (televised)
Monday, March 31:
Semi-finals (televised)
Monday, April 7:
Final (televised)



I think that about says it all. The Monday Night games have been dubbed Monday Night Lights but thanks so Eskom's nasty habit of unscheduled load shedding the kick off times have been brought forward to 17h30. Funny that. Hopefully it will still yield the odd Lyla Garrity.