Young Guns take aim in 2012
The first-ever Varsity Young Guns tournament is set to take the country by storm, as it joins its 'older', more established brands in competition this year.
This students-only Varsity Cup Under-20 tournament, as with the Varsity Shield (which began last year) and the Steinhoff Koshuisrugby Championships, will run parallel with the 2012 Varsity Cup.
Like the Varsity Cup proper it will involve the same eight universities, with the teams seeded according to their senior teams' performances in the four-year history of the FNB Varsity Cup presented by Steinhoff International.
These eight teams have been divided into two pools of four each (according to their seedings - see below), with the universities all playing three league matches followed by the semifinals and the final; with the latter set to be played as a curtain-raiser to the 2012 Varsity Shield Final.
As an added bonus, all Varsity Cup U20 matches will be played as curtain-raisers to Varsity Cup fixtures, as the country's best schoolboy players get the opportunity to step straight into the Varsity Cup in their first year out of school - encouraging more aspiring rugby players to combine professional careers with an education.
"Given the student quota that we have in the Varsity Cup, a students-only Under-20 tournament - where all players must be full-time students at their respective universities - will help the universities identify their bona fide students for promotion to the Varsity Cup proper," explained Varsity Cup Managing Director Duitser Bosman.
"We need to help our member universities of the Varsity Cup to be internally strong from the 'juniors' through to the 'big boys'."
Bosman continued: "At the same time, it will also allow the South African Under-20 coaches to cast their net a bit wider when it comes to SA U20 selection - especially with the IRB World Junior Championships set to be held on our own turf later this year. I know, for instance, that SA U20 coach Dawie Theron is over the moon that he has another selection avenue through the Young Guns tournament!
"As we saw with the Varsity Shield this year, there is tremendous depth at universities level and this gives another 16 coaches, eight managers and plus/minus 240 (more) players the opportunity to experience being a part of the Varsity Cup."
2012 Varsity Young Guns pools:
Steinhoff Pool:
FNB UCT
FNB Shimlas
FNB Tuks
FNB TUT
FNB Pool:
Steinhoff Maties
FNB NWU-Pukke
FNB UJ
FNB NMMU
Varsity Young Guns fixtures:
Monday, February 6:
15.00: UCT v Shimlas, UCT Rugby Fields
17.00: NMMU v NWU-Pukke, Xerox NMMU Stadium
Monday, February 13:
15.20: TUT v Tuks, TUT Stadium
17.00: NWU-Pukke v Maties, Fanie du Toit Sports Grounds
Monday, February 20:
15.20: UJ v NMMU, UJ Stadium
17.00: TUT v UCT, TUT Stadium
Monday, March 5:
15.20: Tuks v Shimlas, Tuks Rugby Stadium
Monday, March 12:
15.20: Shimlas v TUT, Xerox Shimla Park
17.00: Maties v NMMU, Danie Craven Stadium
17.00: NWU-Pukke v UJ, Fanie du Toit Sports Grounds
Monday, March 19:
15.00: UCT v Tuks, UCT Rugby Fields
17.00: UJ v Maties, UJ Stadium
Monday, March 26:
Semifinal One: FNB 1 v Steinhoff 2
Semifinal Two: Steinhoff 1 v FNB 2
Monday, April 2:
Final: Semifinal One winner v Semifinal Two winner (TV)
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