Varsity Cup - 'Rugby that Rocks!'

University rugby in South Africa is set to take on a whole new dimension with the advent of the FNB Varsity Cup which kicks-off, nationwide, on Monday, February 18.

Together with fellow tournament sponsors Steinhoff International, SAB and Canterbury, the inaugural Varsity Cup will showcase the best rugby talent that South African Universities have to offer.

The Monday night idea was borrowed from the USA, where Monday night college football has been a huge success over a long period of time.

It was the idea of 1995 World Cup-winning captain Francois Pienaar, the incoming Head of Sponsorship at FNB, to marry Monday nights with varsity rugby in SA. The eight competing universities - all of whom qualified for this tournament - were consulted on the matter, and thanks to FNB and the South African Rugby Union (SARU), the Varsity Cup looks set to take South African rugby by storm.

"The dynamics of universities have changed," Pienaar told <i>rugby365.com</i> at the University of Cape Town's media launch on Monday afternoon. "Students are not on campus over the weekends anymore, whereas on Mondays everyone is back in their residences.

"This creates a massive opportunity for us to attract the students to the games," Pienaar added. "Imagine seeing 20,000 students packed into the Danie Craven stadium on Monday nights?"

Judging by the excitement from players and sponsors alike, the Varsity Cup - which goes by the slogan, 'Rugby that Rocks!' - is set to be a roaring success.

The official launch took place last Thursday in Johannesburg, which was presented by co-sponsors Steinhoff International, whilst UCT's well-attended launch at the Baxter Theatre on Monday showed just how seriously the universities are taking this tournament.

A log system similar to that of the Super 14 will be used, with bonus points being awarded for scoring four tries or more. At the end of the round-robin phase, the top four teams will play in the semi-finals for a place in the final. The bottom-placed team will have to play a relegation match against a prior selected university in order to secure a spot in the 2009 competition.

Pienaar was keen to emphasise the importance that this tournament would play in bridging the gap between schoolboy and Provincial rugby.

"Too many players are lost in the system when they leave school. The Varsity Cup will give players the opportunity to showcase their talents to a wider audience," he explained.

Another initiative of the Varsity Cup is that one game will be televised live on SuperSport on Monday nights.

Pienaar - who reminisced over his playing days as a varsity student, likening those encounters against rival varsities to a Test match - believes that rugby at this level could shape a student's life forever.

The former Springbok captain was particularly excited about the national 'koshuis' league (residence league), which is an important component of the Varsity Cup.

The 'koshuis' competition will pit the respective residence champions from the eight universities against one another, resulting in the first national 'koshuis' champion and bragging rights for the year! This will be held over the Easter weekend, in a bumper rugby festival in George, with all eight Varsity Cup teams also playing three league fixtures over a period of five days at the same time.

Pienaar said that he hoped that the tournament would spark interest amongst the various Old Boys' networks, saying that he hoped the Varsity Cup would "get the old boys to come watch their alma maters on a Monday night".

<b>The eight competing universities:</b> 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 (UJ).
<i>This competition is for players 25 years or younger and the timing of the tournament enables teams to take part in their local leagues and other SARU fixtures.</i>

<b>Varsity Cup fixtures:</b>

<b>Monday, February 18:</b>
1. Maties v Tuks (televised)
2. UJ v TUT
3. UCT v NWU-Pukke

<b>Saturday, February 23:</b>
4. NWU-Pukke v TUT
5. NMMU v Maties

<b>Monday, February 25:</b>
6. UJ v Kovies (televised)
7. UCT v Tuks

<b>Saturday, March 1:</b>
8. Tuks v Kovies

<b>Monday, March 3:</b>
9.  NWU-Pukke v Maties (televised)
10. TUT v NMMU
11. UJ v UCT

<b>Saturday, March 8:</b>
12. Tuks v UJ
13. Maties v Kovies

<b>Monday, March 10:</b>
14. TUT v UCT (televised)
15. NMMU v NWU-Pukke

<b>Saturday, March 15:</b>
16. Kovies v NMMU

<b>The Easter Weekend Festival:</b>
<i>To be played in George where all eight teams will play three league fixtures over a period of five days.</i>

<b>Thursday, March 20:</b>
17. NMMU v UJ (televised)
18. NWU-Pukke v Tuks (televised)
19. UCT v Maties (televised)
20. TUT v Kovies (televised)

<b>Saturday, March 22:</b>
21. Maties v UJ
22. NWU-Pukke v Kovies
23. Tuks v TUT
24. NMMU v UCT

<b>Monday, March 24:</b>
25. UCT v Kovies (televised)
26. TUT v Maties (televised)
27. NWU-Pukke v UJ (televised)
28. NMMU v Tuks (televised)

<b>Monday, March 31:</b>
29. Semi-finals (televised)

<b>Monday, April 7:</b>
31. Final (televised)