Varsity Cup returns on 3 February
JOBURG – Get some #RugbyThatRocks for those blue Monday evenings.
The 2020 FNB Varsity Cup campaign and Stellenbosch University’s title defence after winning the tournament last year will begin on 3 February.
South Africa’s favourite university rugby showcase will feature the country’s top rugby teams. These include last year’s winners and runners-up Stellenbosch University and the University of Pretoria (UP) respectively. The tournament will be opened by UP as they host North-West University (NWU) on 3 February at 7pm. Both teams have announced new head coaches going into the season, with former Springbok fly-half and 2007 Rugby World Cup winner André Pretorius taking over the reins at NWU, while Nico Luus will step up as head coach of UP.
Johannesburg’s universities will also be well represented by University of Johannesburg (UJ) and Wits University. UJ will open their campaign against the University of Cape Town at home while Wits will be travelling to the Cape to take on the University of the Western Cape. The highlight for Johannesburg will come on 10 February as Wits will host UJ in their backyard. The last time the sides faced one another, UJ walked away with the win and the bragging rights as they won the game 39–16.
This year’s Varsity Cup is also a promotion/relegation year, which will mean that the team that finishes on top of the FNB Varsity Shield log, over the combined log of 2019 and 2020, will automatically be promoted to the 2021 season of the Varsity Cup. Meanwhile, the ninth-placed team of the Varsity Cup log, over the combined log of 2019 and 2020, will automatically be relegated to the Varsity Shield in 2021.
The team that finishes eighth on the Varsity Cup and the team ending in the second position of the Varsity Shield over the combined log of 2019 and 2020, will play in the promotion/relegation match on 21 April this year. The winner of this match will play Varsity Cup in 2021.
With revenge to be attained, respect to be earned and rugby fans to be entertained with some of the best university rugby for the next two months, universities will most certainly become the place we all need to be at on Monday nights.
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