Varsity Cup gear up for 2015
The Universities competing for the Varsity Cup 2015 are UJ, Tuks, Pukke, Madibaz, Maties, Ikyes, Shimals and newbies from the Central University of Technology from Bloemfontein.
“THE Varsity Cup is set to step up another level this year,” said Duitser Bosman, CEO of Varsity Sports.
Varsity Rugby is geared up for another year and promise to unveil more exciting features in 2015 for the spectators and the players of the respective universities.
The competition will be a fierce one in 2015 and will kick off on Monday February 9 at the various universities. The first match will start at 16:45 and will be between runners-up NWU-Pukke and NMMU Madibaz at the Fanie du Toits Sport grounds.
2015 Varsity Cup holders, UCT Ikyes will take on near neighbours Maties at their home grounds. Then it will be UFS Shuimlas and Up-Tuks at Shimla Park, while local university UJ will have a face-down away against CUT at their home grounds.
“It is impossible this year to even predict who will be in the running for the Varsity Cup 2015,” said Bosman, “This will be fierce competition as there are a lot at stake for each of the competing eight universities,”
“We are going to do a lot more for the students if they are attending these matches. We will also set up a fan park when their teams are playing away,” said Bosman.
“The Varsity Cup is one of the most contested cups in South Africa. That is why we can boast about the fact that many Springboks have started their rugby career recently at the Varsity Cup.“
Varsity Rugby season will see the reintroduction of the white card rule, where the coach can ask for a refer decision for review during the matches. The competition will stay put with the using of two referees, following the success of it. The Young Guns and Koshuis competitions will see eight teams split into two pools with four teams each. The Varsity Shield will also be contested by the various teams.
The Universities competing for the Varsity Cup 2015 are UJ, Tuks, Pukke, Madibaz, Maties, Ikyes, Shimals and newbies from the Central University of Technology from Bloemfontein. The eight teams play a single round, followed by a semi-final and a final that will determine the winner.
Varsity Sports will also see the new innovation of cricket being added to the list of sporting codes, including hockey, netball, sevens rugby, beach volleyball, soccer and athletics. “We will have the cricket at NWU and we need to pull spectators to the games, if not we will have to look at another venue, but we are quite confident that for now it will take place at Potchefstroom,” said Bosman.
