Kicking off the Varsity Cup

Franco Marais

It is that time of the year again when rugby fans and socialite students pour into the stadium to indulge in the incredible atmosphere of the Varsity Cup.

Tuks had a lackluster start after losing their first three games 26-25, 40-19 and 41-39 to Shimlas, Ikeys and CUT respectively This means the tournament is well underway and UP has had nothing but heartbreaking defeats. That’s why UP has no choice but to look to the rest of the season and what can be expected from future sporting events.

As the first kick-off took place on 20 February, UP students came out in droves even with the sky drizzling away. The grey clouds appeared to have been an ill omen as in the first quarter of the game, Tuks saw themselves three tries down. That is when they dug deep and battled for every meter in a thrilling test of strength. This all boiled down to one final kick to decide the outcome of the game. Then, something rather rare for rugby happened and the conversion kick was called off due to the kicker taking too long. This led to the final score resulting in a 25-26 loss for the defending champion.

Afterwards PDBY spoke to Tuks skipper, Lincoln Daniels, to get his thoughts on the game and the season going forward, “Rugby is just like life. You win some and you lose some but I’m very proud of the boys. I’m proud of the fight for the whole eighty minutes. We started off slow but saw what we did wrong and fixed it”. Unfortunately, UP then went on to suffer a horrible defeat to Ikeys in the second game week and a narrow defeat to CUT. These strings of losses have leaves UP at the bottom of the table. Leaving a massive mountain to climb, for the rest of the season as they try to secure a spot in the playoffs.

Looking forward to the upcoming season, it is jam packed with salivating fixtures. A massive home game against NWU Eagles on