Varsity Cup extended its break by another week due to players testing positive for Covid-19.
The positive cases has forced the organisers to resume the tournament on 17 May with the final taking place on 31 May. The Varsity Cup board made the decision over the weekend in consultation with the member universities, after three University of Pretoria players tested positive for Covid-19 ahead of their match against University of Cape Town last Friday.
Luckily, the organisers had planned for the unexpected as Varsity Cup tournament director Xhanti-Lomzi Nesi explained, “It was always our intention to complete the tournament by the end of May because of university examinations in June, as such, we built in a buffer week to deal with any unknowns that would require us to re-shuffle dates.
“During discussions with the member universities after the second [bio-medical] bubble, we agreed that an additional week’s break before the third bubble would serve the entire competition well.”
The extended break will give teams extra time to assess how their tournament had gone so far after six rounds. The Johannesburg sides, University of Johannesburg and Wits University, will open up the next round in the battle for the city. Both teams will go into the 17 May duel hoping to bounce back from their unfavourable string of results. Out of six games each, UJ has only won two while Wits’ only win was a massive 77–7 victory over Nelson Mandela University. Both teams will be eager to make a good start in the final leg of the tournament.
Nesi said the extended break would allow for more Covid-19 testing to take place and give injured players more time to recover ahead of the business end of the tournament. “As always, our main priority is ensuring the health and safety of all our student athletes and management staff.”
