The rugby match of the century. This is how the Varsity Cup rugby match between arch rivals Stellenbosch University (SU) and the University of Cape Town (UCT) in the Danie Craven Stadium at Coetzenburg in Stellenbosch on Monday night (5 March 2018), can be described.
At 19:00 the two universities will square off for their 106th intervarsity game in the year SU marks its centenary. The proud tradition of the two “arch enemies" – Maties and Ikeys – is still going strong, but no love will be lost when they tackle each other head-on on Monday.
Some 18 000 spectators are expected at the game to be televised on Supersport, while the super popular Maties mascot, Pokkel, will be cheering on the Maties players and fans.
“Maties" and “Ikeys"
According to the SU centenary publication, Stellenbosch University 100: 1918-2018, (see article) the history of the origin of the names “Maties" and “Ikeys" dates back to 1905 when the word “Maties" was already used in journals. It referred to new students as “maats" of the campus – later becoming Maties. Later UCT made fun of the word by changing it to “Tamaties" and also an association with the maroon colour of SU's rugby jerseys.
Stellenbosch students gave their opponents the name Ikeys around 1919. Some say the word Ikeys can be connected to a Jewish name “Isaac" (or Ike), while another explanation is that it is derived from the Afrikaans word “outjies" as used in Intervarsity songs like “Die Kaapse outjies het van ons al menig' pak gekry".
A century of rivalry
Maties and Ikeys have already played 105 games over the past 107 years. Of these matches Maties won 70, Ikeys 19 and 16 games were drawn. The total points scored by Maties over the century is 1 603 and 370 for Ikeys. The teams first played in 1911, albeit as the South African College and the Victoria College, seven years before both universities were officially established on the same day – 2 April 1918. In the first game in 1911, Ikeys won 9-0. The match in 1918 was a tie with no team being able to put points on the board.
Prof Wim de Villiers, SU Rector and Vice-Chancellor, and his UCT counterpart, Dr Max Price, Vice-Chancellor, will be among the distinguished guests at the match on Monday. “The two heads will together cut a birthday cake at halftime – symbolising the fact that both SU and UCT (as a degree awarding institution) were officially established in 1918 on the same day (link to UCT history).
Springboks attending
Prior to the match, SU's Development and Alumni Relations Division will be hosting a special event at Die Stal at Coetzenburg. More than 30 former Matie Springbok players will be the guests of honour. These include Schalk Burger, Jan Boland Coetzee, Morné du Plessis, Dawie de Villiers, Carel du Plessis, Mannetjies Roux, Dawie Snyman, Rob Louw, Tiaan Strauss, Divan Serfontein, Pieter Rossouw, Breyton Paulse, Corné Krige, Chester Williams and Avril Malan.
- Liaise with Marvin Koopman at tel 021 808 9265, e-mail marvin@sun.ac.za for more information on the alumni event.
After the event, they will be part of a parade on the rugby field before the main event starts.
Adding lustre to the event are more than 100 flags to be erected around the stadium – each with a unique date on.
Curtain raisers to the main event are the Maties Young Guns vs their UCT counterparts (14:00), while Maties' Huis Marais takes on the CUT Lions from Bloemfontein.
- Tickets for the match are available at webtickets.
