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Varsity Cup to boost SA rugby
31/01/2008 15:59 - (SA)
Johannesburg - University rugby in South Africa will never be the same again.
That was the message on Thursday at the launch of the FNB Varsity Cup, presented by Steinhoff International, which will kick off on February 18.
The top eight universities in the country take part in the inaugural year, with one of the matches televised live on a Monday night.
The concept was derived from the very successful Monday Night Football in the United States and will become a reality with the help of First National Bank and the SA Rugby Union.
The 8 teams play in a single round against each other, followed by two semi-finals and a final.
A FNB Varsity Cup Festival will be held in George over the Easter weekend. There the eight teams will play three league fixtures each, based on the successful model of the old national club championships in Durban.
The participating teams are NWU-Puk Rugby Institute (NWU-Pukke), the University of Johannesburg (UJ), the University of Pretoria (Tukkies), the University of Stellenbosch (Maties), the University of the Free State (Shimlas), the University of Cape Town (Ikeys), the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) and the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT).
Francois Pienaar, former Springbok captain and chair of the Varsity Cup board of directors, said it was a true privilege to add value to rugby in a country that was crowned World Champions in 2007.
"This competition should keep the next echelon of rugby players who are not entirely ready for the big scene yet, in the country, and help them develop their skills locally," Pienaar said.
Fixtures for the competition:
Monday 18 February 2008 Maties v Tuks (T) UJ v TUT UCT v NWU-Pukke
Saturday 23 February 2008 NWU-Pukke v TUT NMMU vs Maties Monday 25 February 2008 UJ v Shimlas (T) UCT vs. Tuks Saturday 1 March 2008 Tuks v Shimlas
Monday 3 March 2008 NWU-Pukke v. Maties (T) TUT v NMMU UJ v UCT
Saturday 8 March 2008 Tuks v UJ Maties v Shimlas
Monday 10 March 2008 TUT v UCT (T) NMMU v NWU-Pukke
Saturday 15 March 2008 Shimlas v NMMU A FNB Easter weekend tournament will be played in George, where the teams from all eight universities will play three league matches each in a period of five days.
The George fixtures:
Thursday 20 March 2008 NMMU v UJ (T) NWU-Pukke v Tuks (T) UCT v Maties (T) TUT v Shimlas (T)
Saturday 22 March 2008 Maties v UJ NWU-Pukke v Shimlas Tuks vs. TUT NMMU vs. UCT Monday 24 March 2008 UCT vs. Shimlas (T) TUT v Maties (T) NWU-Pukke v UJ (T) NMMU vs. Tuks (T)
Monday 31 March 2008 Semi-finals x 2 (T)
Monday 7 April 2008 Final (T).
- SAPA
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