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Maties Rugby’s historic gift to SU
Author: Maties Sport
Published: 19/04/2018

​A historic double in the Varsity Cup competition was the best gift possible from Maties Rugby to Stellenbosch University it its Centenary year.

Maties Rugby won the Varsity Cup on Monday (16 April 2018) for the first time since 2010. Last week the Young Guns won the Varsity Cup's u20 tournament for the very first time.

It was Maties' fourth Varsity Cup victory. The team also played in the 2016 and 2017 finals.

In this historic match, Maties beat the Pukke by 40-7 - the biggest winning margin ever in a final of this tournament.

Loose-forward Johann van Niekerk was named Player that Rocks for the final. Maties winger Duncan Saal was named the tournament's Back that Rocks while Marno Redelinghuys was awarded as Forward that Rocks.

 

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This Varsity Cup double had the Maties Sport Chief Director Ilhaam Groenewald smiling from ear to ear.  “What a year it has been for Maties Rugby, and indeed a year of passion, commitment and definitely hard work, that most certainly paid off.  The evidence to proof this is our double title, first our Young Guns (as a historic win) and now, eight years later, we clinched the FNB Varsity Cup title again."

She added: “Since I joined Stellenbosch University in 2014 there has been much talk about Maties Rugby not winning the Varsity Cup title, and indeed it is not because we didn't work towards achieving this goal, it just didn't happen. The focus of a high performance programme refers to the point at which a sport commences the organised identification of talent; the implementation of systematic programmes to develop talent and maximise potential.

“Just like any other team in a high performance environment, we remained focus and our vision has always been to win; to appoint and retain the right staff and coaches; elect strong leadership (club executive) and to ensure alignment and have a shared-vision with Maties Sport and ultimately Stellenbosch University. I am confident that our Rugby Club is a true example of our value proposition in that we represent an excellent value-add investment for students (to ensure both academic and sport success), staff, sponsors, communities, government and stakeholders with the aim to contribute and help sustain the SU competitiveness."