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FNB Varsity Cup

Current season, competition or edition: 2011 Varsity Cup
File:VarsityCupLogo.jpgThe current FNB Varsity Cup logo
Sport	Rugby union
Founded	2008
First season	2008
No. of teams	8
Country	South Africa
Most recent champion(s)	Ikeys
TV partner(s)	Supersport
Official website

The FNB Varsity Cup presented by Steinhoff International is an annual South African Rugby Union tournament that involves the top 8 rugby playing universities in the country.

The tournament was founded in 2008, with the inaugural competition being won by Stellenbosch University. As the name suggests, the tournament is sponsored by First National Bank, one of South Africa's Big Four Banks. The Varsity Cup is unique in that it implements strict rules which help to insure that only students of the relevant universities' compete, and also that all games take place on the universities' campuses.

In 2011, a second tier was added to the tournament, called the Varsity Shield. Five universities took part in the inaugural competition.

Current Teams

The 8 teams competing teams in the Varsity Cup are:

The 5 teams competing teams in the Varsity Shield are:

Format

The tournament begins with a round robin stage, in which all teams play each other once. The league scoring system follows that of the Super 14 in which 4 points are awarded for a win, and 2 points for a draw. Teams may also be awarded bonus points for either scoring 4 tries in a game, or for losing within 7 points of their opponents. At the end of the round robin stage, the top 4 teams go to the knockout stage with the top 2 teams being awarded home semi-finals.

2008 season

The first ever FNB Varsity Cup took place in 2008. After a fierce round robin stage, UCT topped the table, with Maties coming in a close second.

The final league standings were:

• 1 UCT
• 2 Maties
• 3 Tuks
• 4 Pukke
• 5 UJ
• 6 Shimlas
• 7 TUT
• 8 NMMU

UCT won the first semi-final against Pukke, with Maties winning the second semi-final against Tuks.

The final was competed on the 31st of March, 2008 between UCT and Maties at the Danie Craven Stadium in Stellenbosch, where Maties emerged as the victors by 16 - 10.

• 2008 Top Try Scorer - Matthew Turner (UCT) 9
• 2008 Top Points Scorer - Ryno Luus (UJ) 94

2009 season

The 2009 round robin stage ended as follows:

• 1 Maties
• 2 UCT
• 3 Pukke
• 4 Tuks
• 5 UJ
• 6 Shimlas
• 7 NMMU
• 8 TUT

Maties ended top of the log with 28 points, with UCT claiming second place with 25 points.

The semi-finals were competed on the 23rd of March, 2009, with Maties hosting Tuks at the Danie Craven Stadium in Stellenbosch, and UCT hosting Pukke at Groote Schuur in Cape Town. Surprisingly, these two semi-finals were both repeats of the 2008 semi-finals. Maties beat Tuks at home by 34 - 15, and Pukke beat UCT away by 17 - 19

The final was played in Stellenbosch on the 30th of March, 2009 with Maties beating Pukke by 11 - 6 to claim their second championship

• 2009 Top Try Scorer - Therlow Pietersen (UCT) 6
• 2009 Top Points Scorer - Donald Stevens (Maties) 105
• 2009 Player That Rocks - Donald Stevens
• 2009 Back That Rocks - Therlow Pietersen
• 2009 Forward That Rocks - Willem van der Wal

2010 season

Once again, the two teams from the Cape dominated the round robin stage with Maties topping the table and UCT claiming second place. Shimlas recorded a good victory over UJ to book their place in their first ever semi-final, with Pukke taking 4th spot.

The 2010 round robin stage ended as follows:

• 1 Maties
• 2 UCT
• 3 Shimlas
• 4 Pukke
• 5 UJ
• 6 Tuks
• 7 TUT
• 8 NMMU

UCT beat Shimlas 27 - 21 in the first semi-final, and Maties beat Pukke by 47 -11 in the second semi-final setting up a repeat of the 2008 final.

The final was played in Stellenbosch on the 29th of March 2010, with Maties beating Ikeys by 17 - 14

• 2010 Top Try Scorer - Johannes Prinsloo (Shimlas) and Lolo Waka (UJ) 7
• 2010 Top Points Scorer - Theuns Kotze (Pukke) 77
• 2010 Player That Rocks - Johannes Prinsloo (Shimlas)
• 2010 Backline Player That Rocks - Andries Mahoney (Pukke)
• 2010 Forward That Rocks - Lourens Adriaanse (Maties)

2011 season

The 2011 round robin stage finished with UJ finishing top and qualifying for their first ever semi-final. Ikeys claimed second place to record their 4th semi-final appearance. Shimlas and Tuks finished in third and fourth place respectively. This year was the first year that saw Maties fail to make the semi-finals. Due to inadequate lighting at Uct's sport grounds the final was played at Tuks's home ground in Pretoria on the 11th of April. UCT won their first Varsity Cup trophy by 26 - 16

• 2011 Top Try Scorer - Therlow Pietersen (Ikeys) 7
• 2011 Top Points Scorer - Demitri Catrakillis (Ikeys) 136
• 2011 Player That Rocks - Callie Visagie (Maties)
• 2011 Backline Player That Rocks - Enrico Acker (Shimlas)
• 2011 Forward That Rocks - Hugo Kloppers (Maties)

Coaches

The 2010 team coaches are:

• UCT - John Dobson
• Maties - Chean Roux
• Pukke - Rudy Joubert
• Shimlas - Jaco Swanepoel
• UJ - Hugo van As
• NMMU - Kolie Brandt
• Tuks - Freddie Grobler
• TUT - Alex de Kock

Past winners

Total wins

Notable Players and Coaches

• Jake White - former UCT Assistant Coach. Former Springbok National Coach
• Bobby Skinstad - former UCT Assistant Coach. Former Springbok Loose Forward
• Robbie Fleck - former UCT Assistant Coach. Former Springbok Center
• Juan de Jongh - former Maties center. First ever Varsity Cup player to play for the Springboks
• Joe Pietersen - 2008 Maties Fullback. Now fullback for the Super 14 side the Stormers
• JJ Gagiano - UCT Captain. Member of the USA National Team the US Eagles
• Mathew Turner - 2008 UCT wing. Now a member of the Bristol team in the Guinness Premiership as well as the England Sevens team
• Kyle Brown - 2008 UCT player. Now a member of the Springbok Sevens team
• Paul Bosch - 2008 Pukke Center. Now in the Western Province squad
• Robert Ebersohn - 2008 Shimlas Center. Currently a member of the Springbok Sevens team
• Shane van der Merwe - 2008 Tuks centre. Now playing for Bath in the UK
• Gerhard van den Heever - Tuks Wing. Now playing for the Bulls in the Super 14
• Earl Lewis - 2009 UJ player. Now playing for the Golden Lions in the Currie Cup
• Rudy Joubert - Pukke Head Coach. Springbok Technical Advisor in 1995 Rugby World Cup

Sponsors

The tournament is sponsored by

• First National Bank
• Steinhoff International
• Carling Black Label
• Spur

External links

• http://www.varsitycup.co.za
• http://www.sport24.co.za/Content/Rugby/VarsityCup

• South African rugby union competitions