Intriguing final day of Varsity Sevens awaits

The Varsity Sevens competition will have a new champion on Monday after the defending champions, Maties, missed out on a spot in the semi-finals after two days of tough rugby at Villagers in Claremont.

It will be Kovsies, UJ, Tuks and Pukke who will battle it out for a spot in the final after Kovsies ran away with the tournament on day two, claiming top spot after going unbeaten in all their matches on the day.

Kovsies beat WSU, Pukke, UCT and UFH to secure a semi-final against NWU-Pukke students – who snuck into fourth place in the final match of the day. With their Varsity Cup team already claiming glory this year, the pressure will be on the Bloemfontein team to keep the success going.

Pukke fought back with three victories from their remaining matches to knock defending champions Maties out of the competition, after losing their opening match on day two.

UJ secured second spot which will pit them against Gauteng rivals UP-Tuks in the other semi-final. UJ started the day like a house on fire and were on top of the log for most of it, but losses to Maties and Pukke saw them drop down to second on the log.

Tuks were handed a loss in their opening match at the hands of NMMU but showed their fighting spirit to record three wins which helped them to third place on the log.

Kovsies will play Pukke at 2.40pm followed by UJ against Tuks at 3pm to decide the finalists and all matches will be broadcast live on SuperSport 201.

In the Plate Section, defending champions Maties will be up against Cape rivals UCT-Ikeys while fellow Cape side UWC will have a tough task of overcoming NMMU in the other playoff.

WSU will face off against UFH for ninth/tenth and UFH will be hoping to turn their fortunes around after failing to win a single game thus far.

About Varsity Sports 7s Rugby

Varsity 7s Rugby is now in its third season.

The inaugural tournament in 2012, which stretched over two legs, which was held in Plettenberg Bay and Margate with the University of Stellenbosch (Maties) reigning supreme winning in Plett and finishing as runners-up in Margate.

The tournament then moved to Camps Bay in 2013 where Maties, once again, came out top. After taking a break in 2013, the 7s tournament returns and this year holds extra incentive for the players as 7s Rugby is due to debut at the Rio Olympics in 2016.

The tournament, which will run from April 25 to 27, will be hosted at Villagers in Claremont, Cape Town with matches being broadcast live on SuperSport. Ten universities from across the country will compete at this year’s tournament.

They are University of the Free State (Kovsies), University of Stellenbosch (Maties), NMMU, Pukke, Tuks, UCT, University of Fort Hare, University of Johannesburg, University of the Western Cape and Walter Sisulu University.