By David van der Merwe
The 2012 FNB Varsity Cup kicks off on 6 February 2012 and it promises to be yet another season of great young talent being displayed on the rugby fields of South Africa's top universities. But what is it that makes this competition so special?
The FNB Varsity Cup started in 2008 and has been so successful that the sponsors and organisers added a second tier in 2011 called the FNB Varsity Shield and 2012 will see the addition of an U/20 competition. All these competitions are based on a points system similar to that of Super Rugby. Four points for a win, two for a draw, one bonus point for four tries or more and one bonus point for losing by seven points or less.
Each team will play the other teams in their tier once in a round-robin style setup and the top four teams play in the semi-finals with first playing fourth and second playing third. From there it is not rocket science. The winners of the semi-finals play in the final. The results in previous finals have been as follows:
FNB Varsity Cup
2008 Maties 16-10 Ikeys
2009 Maties 11-6 NWU-Pukke
2010 Maties 17-14 Ikeys
2011 Ikeys 26-16 Tuks
FNB Varsity Shield
2011 CUT 25-18 Wits
In 2012, the competition will contain contests between the following teams:
FNB Varsity Cup
Ikeys - University of Cape Town, UCT Rugby Fields
Maties - Stellenbosch University, Craven Stadium
NMMU - Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Xerox NMMU Stadium
NWU-Pukke - North-West University, Fanie du Toit Stadium
Shimlas - University of the Free State, Xerox Shimla Park
Tuks - University of Pretoria, Tuks Rugby Stadium
TUT - Tshwane University of Technology, TUT Stadium
UJ - University of Johannesburg,UJ Stadium
FNB Varisty Shield
CUT - Central University of Technology, CUT Stadium
UFH - University of Fort Hare, Davidson Rugby Field
UKZN - University of KwaZulu-Natal, Peter Booysen Sports Park
UWC - University of the Western Cape, UWC Sport Stadium
Wits - University of the Witwatersrand, Wits Rugby Stadium
Most of these universities compete in the SA Club Championships towards the end of the season, they also make use of players that are not full time students or students at all but in the FNB Varsity Cup they are regulated strictly. Only students of the different universities may play. This allows young talent to shine and show the South African rugby fans what they are made of. The competition gets televised live on Super Sport making it even bigger for these young boys and their coaches.
The Sponsors and organisers have come up with innovative ideas to draw support and viewers to the competition. During games there will be a certain time limit for a team to score points. If they do, supporters of that team will get discounts on there bills if they are wearing team colours. Another great thing is that the "Man of the Match" gets a pink pair of shorts to wear in his next game. This allows fans to identify game makers.
No longer will a team be able to win a game by just kicking a couple of penalties if the other team has scored a try or two. Is this fair? I hear you ask. In my eyes it should be done in all rugby. Tries are so much harder to come by and converted tries should be worth more than just a penalty or two. But for now we will have to wait and see what this system holds for us in the Varsity Cup.
But this is not what it is all about. It is about giving these youngsters the chance to shine under pressure of big games. And show their skills to more than just a handful of spectators at the game itself. And it has worked. Here are just some of the players and coaches that have come from this tournament and been successful:
- Jake White - former UCT Assistant Coach. Former Springbok National Coach. Brumbies Super Rugby coach.
- Bobby Skinstad - former UCT Assistant Coach. Former Springbok Loose Forward.
- Robbie Fleck - former UCT Assistant Coach. Former Springbok Centre. Assistant Coach at the Stormers and WP.
- Juan de Jongh - former Maties center. First ever Varsity Cup player to play for the Springboks. Stormers and WP centre.
- Joe Pietersen - 2008 Maties Fullback. Now fullback for the Super Rugby side the Stormers. WP Currie Cup player.
- 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 Aviva Premiership as well as the England Sevens team.
- Kyle Brown - 2008 UCT player. Now a member of the Springbok Sevens team. IRB Sevens Player of the year 2010.
- Paul Bosch - 2008 Pukke Center. Now in the Western Province squad.
- Robert Ebersohn - 2008 Shimlas Center. Currently a member of the Springbok Sevens team. Free State Cheetahs Currie Cup and Super Rugby player.
- Shane van der Merwe - 2008 Tuks centre. Now playing for Bath in the UK
- Gerhard van den Heever - Tuks Wing. Now playing for the Stormers in the Super Rugby and WP Currie Cup teams.
- Earl Lewis - 2009 UJ player. Now playing for the Golden Lions in the Currie Cup.
- Demetri Catrakilis - 2011 UCT flyhalf. Now playing for Western Province in the Currie Cup and Stormers 2012 Super Rugby squad.
- Rudy Joubert - Pukke Head Coach. Springbok Technical Advisor in 1995 Rugby World Cup.
- Johannes "Boom" Prinsloo - Freestate Cheetahs flanker. Member of the Springboks Sevens team
- These are but to name a few and there credentials. Others included Callie Visagie (MTN Lions) and Tim Whitehead (Sharks).
Ultimately the FNB Varsity Cup is about the pride of playing for your team, winning for your fellow students and showcasing your talents. Whether you go on to play internationally or just at provincial level it is the stepping stone these youngsters need.
I dare you to watch this and see how many talented young players and coaches we really have. You never know, you might just see some of these guys lifting the 2015 World Cup for South Africa. What I can tell you is you will see some hard hitting, bone crushing action... and maybe some beautiful cheerleaders to boot!
The 2012 FNB Varsity Cup promises to bring great entertainment to your living room. Whoever thinks universities are for geeks hasn't seen these boys playing rugby!
Follow Dave on Twitter @djvanman
