PE, Pretoria to kick-off 2010 season
Two double-headers – in Port Elizabeth and Pretoria – will help launch the 2010 FNB Varsity Cup presented by Steinhoff International, as the third edition of this exciting student rugby tournament gets underway on Monday, February 1.
Under a new mantra of ‘Back your Boytjies’, the 2010 Varsity Cup promises to thrill yet again as the other seven universities get ready to challenge the defending champion Maties for the title of the best student rugby team in the country.
The Maties will get their title defence underway against the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) on February 1 at 4.30pm, with UCT and Shimlas playing the game before them (at 2.30pm) and UWC and Fort Hare, who will be vying for Varsity Cup places in 2011, once again playing a pre-Varsity Cup curtain-raiser beforehand – as they did last year when the double headers took place in Cape Town and Potchefstroom.
Tuks’ LC de Villiers Stadium will play host to the other two Varsity Cup fixtures on the opening day – TUT v UJ and Tuks v Pukke; that after the Men from Pretoria upgraded their floodlights sufficiently in time for the start of the 2010 season.
The Men from Pretoria, of course, lost the right to host their home televised matches in 2009 after failing to upgrade their lights accordingly – despite assuring tournament organisers that they would address the issue. They did, however, make the necessary moves to ensure that their new and improved floodlights met tournament regulations before February.
All four opening matches will once again be televised live on SuperSport – along with 15 other matches (two per week – 19 in total) in the 2010 Varsity Cup; including both semifinals and the final at the end of March.
“Once again, I think the new Varsity Cup fixtures have thrown up some fantastic and mouth-watering match-ups,” said Varsity Cup Board Member Francois Pienaar on varsitycup.co.za.
“That first Monday is shaping up as an exciting day’s rugby (yet again), but there should once again be plenty to play for right up until the final weekend – as there was in 2008 and 2009,” he added.
“Monday night rugby is back… and I, for one, cannot wait until the start of the 2010 Varsity Cup.”
2010 FNB Varsity Cup presented by Steinhoff International fixtures:
(Home teams first, TV games in brackets.)
Monday, February 1 – Round One:
14.30: Shimlas v UCT, Xerox NMMU Stadium, PE (TV)
16.30: NMMU v Maties, Xerox NMMU Stadium (TV)
16.30: TUT v UJ, Tuks Rugby Stadium, Pretoria (TV)
18.30: Tuks v Pukke, Tuks Rugby Stadium (TV)
Monday, February 8 – Round Two:
16.30: UCT v Pukke, Groote Schuur, Cape Town (TV)
18.30: Shimlas v NMMU, Shimla Park, Bloemfontein (TV)
18.30: Tuks v UJ, Tuks Rugby Stadium
19.30: Maties v TUT, Danie Craven Stadium, Stellenbosch
Monday, February 15 – Round Three:
16.30: TUT v Tuks, TUT Stadium (TV)
18.30: UJ v Maties, UJ Stadium, Johannesburg
18.30: Pukke v Shimlas, Fanie du Toit Stadium, Potchefstroom (TV)
18.30: NMMU v UCT, NMMU Stadium
Monday, February 22 – Round Four:
16.30: UCT v TUT, Groote Schuur (TV)
18.30: Pukke v UJ, Fanie du Toit Stadium
18.30: Tuks v NMMU, Tuks Rugby Stadium (TV)
19.30: Maties v Shimlas, Danie Craven Stadium
Monday, March 1 – Round Five:
16.30: Maties v Tuks, Danie Craven Stadium (TV)
18.30: UJ v UCT, UJ Stadium (TV)
18.30: NMMU v Pukke, Xerox NMMU Stadium
18.30: Shimlas v TUT, Shimla Park
Monday, March 8 – Round Six:
16.30: UJ v NMMU, UJ Stadium (TV)
18.30: Tuks v Shimlas, Tuks Rugby Stadium
18.30: Pukke v TUT, Fanie du Toit Stadium
18.30: Maties v UCT, Danie Craven Stadium (TV)
Monday, March 15 – Round Seven:
16.30: Pukke v Maties, Fanie du Toit Stadium (TV)
18.30: UCT v Tuks, Groote Schuur
18.30: Shimlas v UJ, Shimla Park (TV)
18.30: TUT v NMMU, TUT Stadium
Monday, March 22 – Semifinals:
16.15: Semifinal One – Log position 2 v Log position 3, venue TBC (TV)
18.30: Semifinal Two – Log position 1 v Log position 4, venue TBC (TV)
Monday, March 29 – Final:
18.30: Final – Winner 1 v 4 v Winner 2 v 3, venue TBC (TV)
