This is legendary
It’s more Varsity Cup talk for rugby365s Robbie Fleck this week, after UCT’s loss to Maties, whilst he’s also been busy preparing for the Cape Town Tens.
Better late than never my editor always says… He must be getting tired of me. Sorry guys, but it’s been a very busy week for me, starting with Monday night’s Varsity Cup game against Maties and then ending this weekend with the first-ever Cape Town Tens.
We had a little function last night in Noordhoek as an unofficial welcome for some of the legends competing in the tournament and it was great to catch up with my old Bath teammate Zak Feaunati, who will be playing in my team at the Tens. Also present were – in no particular order! – Bob Skinstad, Eddie Evans, Matt Phillips and, of course the Noordhoek Vikings, who are fancying themselves as serious contenders in the beer league.
I will give you a full report back next week about the Tens, but I am seriously excited about this tournament. I have had a lot of fun playing some Tens abroad and I honestly believe we can host a better tournament over here and make this an annual event. It would be great to see some of you out at Hamilton’s this weekend, so make sure you pop around and share a beer with all of us.
The Tens aside, many of you might have caught UCT’s Varsity Cup opener against the Maties at the ‘Green Mile’ (up at Groote Schuur).
What a turn-out. The supporters were in fine form dressed in blue and white and urging their guys on. Unfortunately, we went down 10-12, but it was a typical first game and I think we played more rugby on the day than the Maties.
The build-up to the second Varsity Cup has been a lot bigger than last year, which is understandable considering the success of the 2008 event, but I have no doubt that UCT will be there and there abouts come the business-end of this tournament. We have some new faces in the side and new combinations take time to gel… Watch this space though and don’t be surprised to see a new Kyle Brown or Mat Turner emerge in blue and white this year…
We also started slowly last year, losing our first game to Pukke, and by the time our last league comes – ironically against Pukke – I have no doubt we will be in contention for a semifinal place.
This Monday we are travelling to Pretoria for a game against TUT, who last year had a big pack of forwards and will be tough to beat at home. We’ve made a few adjustments at training this week, looking at what worked for us and what didn’t against the Maties, and hopefully we can notch up that first win of the season come Monday.
I know I promised you a Super 14 preview this week, but I must’ve had my wires crossed when writing last week’s column. The Super 14, as we know, starts next weekend only, so I will have a look at that in more detail next weekend.
I have written before that the Stormers would be a team to watch in 2009, but they’re up against the Sharks on the opening weekend, so that should be a game to watch. More of that next week though and don’t forget to pop down to Hamilton’s for the Cape Town Tens this weekend and to catch some Varsity Cup action on the box on Monday night.
Catch you next week,
Fleckie
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