The Varsity Cup kicks off tomorrow, Monday 1 February 2010, with 4 games to be played, 2 of them at Port Elizabeth (Xerox NMMU Stadium) and 2 of them at Pretoria  (Tuks Rugby Stadium). All 4 matches will be broadcast on TV in South Africa, starting at 14:30 Local Time.

Oh, and remember to join our Varsity Cup SuperBru Pool and make your first picks in time before kick-off!!

The defending champion Maties are the obvious side to keep an eye on – once again! – and they will take on NMMU in PE on Monday, with UCT and Shimlas providing the other entertainment at the Xerox NMMU Stadium.

The back-to-back champs have announced a side jam-packed with provincial players and that despite losing a host of players – including last year’s captain Wesley Wilkins – to other unions across the country.

Loose forward Cameron Peverett has been announced as the new Maties skipper, but he will not playing on Monday because of a rib injury; with tighthead prop Lourens Adriaanse leading the Men in Maroon into battle.

“The past two seasons have shown that in order to win the Varsity Cup you need to beat the Maties – we know it and it spurs us on,” Adriaanse told varsitycup.co.za this week.

“There is no doubt that NMMU will be up for this game… it’s a match they’ve been training for since the 2010 Varsity Cup schedule was first announced.”

UCT, meanwhile, will be relying upon a core of senior players against Shimlas as they look to win their first-ever opening match – having been on the losing side in Week One in 2008 and 2009.

“We have always done quite well, despite losing both of our opening matches. So we are pretty relaxed about it,” Ikeys coach John Dobson told varsitycup.co.za.

“That said, we know that Shimlas have their best team in their Varsity Cup history – we know we are in for a tough Monday.”

Elsewhere in the country, the two matches originally scheduled to take place at Tukkies’ LC de Villiers Stadium have been moved to the adjacent Tukkies Athletics Stadium because of problems with the playing surface.

According to TuksSport director Kobus van der Walt, Argentina will be based at the University of Pretoria’s High Performance Centre during the FIFA World Cup in June/July and in order to comply with Argentina’s requirements, the rugby stadium’s playing surface had to be stripped entirely.

The matches, however, will go on and hosts Tukkies will host Pukke – last year’s losing finalists – in the undoubted ‘Game of the Week’, whilst TUT will take on UJ in the other encounter in Pretoria.

Tuks head coach Freddie Grobler has chosen 12 new ‘caps’ for his team’s Varsity Cup opener and he said: “We have prepared well. However, the proof of the pudding remains in the eating.”

TUT, who of course are now known as the ‘TUT Vikings’, went winless last season and will be looking to start their campaign on a high against UJ – a team that has promised so much, yet failed to deliver in the previous two seasons.

UJ head coach Hugo van As remains optimistic, however, and on Friday he included Lions Currie Cup star Earl Lewis on his bench – a huge boost for a team that is yet to qualify for the semifinals.

Lewis, an attacking player who could find himself playing Super 14 rugby later this year, has been one of the success stories of the Varsity Cup thus far and his explosiveness from the bench could be a huge bonus for UJ against a fired-up TUT team.

But wining and losing aside, the major part of the Varsity Cup is the exciting rugby that is played and in the process the discovery of new and exciting stars almost on a weekly basis.

New faces to watch out for this year are Wayne Stevens (Shimlas), Paul Cohen (UCT), Jurgen Visser (Maties) and Danie Dames (Pukke) – but why don’t you decide for yourself and Back your Boytjies in the 2010 FNB Varsity Cup presented by Steinhoff International.

The fixtures and team line-ups for Monday, February 1, 2010:

FNB Shimlas v FNB UCT, Xerox NMMU Stadium
Kick-off: 2.30pm
Referee: Ben Crouse (Blue Bulls)

The teams:

Shimlas:
15 George Whitehead, 14 Divandré Strydom, 13 Earl Snyman, 12 Wayne Stevens (kaptein), 11 Rashied Isaacs, 10 Reinhardt Erwee, 9 Jaco Colyn, 8 Boom Prinsloo, 7 Willie Britz, 6 Hanno Pieterse, 5 Henjo van Niekerk, 4 Joubert Horn, 3 Vaatjie Koorsen, 2 PW van Vuuren, 1 Charles Marais.

Replacements:
16 Gert Erasmus, 17 Ian Potgieter, 18 Lebo Zietsman, 19 Pieter Labuschagné, 20 Marlin Ruiters, 21 Beast Ndwandwa, 22 Johan van Schalkwyk, 23 James Hellawell.

 
UCT:
15 Therlow Pietersen, 14 Marcello Sampson, 13 Marcel Brache, 12 Tim Whitehead, 11 Paul Cohen, 10 Matt Rosslee, 9 Stu Commins (vice-captain), 8 JJ Gagiano, 7 Michael Morris, 6 Nick Fenton-Wells (captain), 5 Martin Muller, 4 Don Armand, 3 Grant Kemp, 2 Dayne Jans, 1 Ash Wells.

Replacements:
16 Mark Goosen, 17 Chris Heidberg, 18 Yaya Hartzenberg, 19 Levi Odendaal, 20 Nic Groom, 21 Sean van Tonder, 22 Doug Mallett, 23 Wes Chetty.

FNB NMMU v FNB Maties, Xerox NMMU Stadium
Kick-off: 4.30pm
Referee: Mlungiseli Mdashe (Valke)

The teams:

NMMU:
15 Aluzant Munnik, 14 Oscar Mazaka, 13 Williams Heydenrych, 12 Wade Roos, 11 Darryl Turner, 10 Willem Laubscher, 9 Lusu Booi (captain), 8 Sameul Borsaah, 7 Ferdie Gerber, 6 Thomaso Farbes, 5 Jannie Fourie, 4 Mathew Lutge, 3 Pierre Hammond, 2 Hugo Lampbrechts, 1 Tyron Williams.

Replacements:
16 Werner Kapp, 17 Chariel van Jaarsveld, 18 De Wet De Lange, 19 Kemsley Wesso, 20 JP Kellerman, 21 Hugo van Heerden, 22 Phiwe Lallendle, 23 Ivon Cowley.

Maties:
15 Jurgen Visser, 14 Danie Poolman, 13 Stokkies Hanekom, 12 Dabeon Draghoender, 11 Thythan Adams, 10 Hayden Groepes, 9 Conrad Hoffman, 8 Tertius Daniller, 7 JP Mostert, 6 Boetie Britz, 5 Hugo Kloppers, 4 Rynardt Elsteadt, 3 Lourens Adriaanse (captain), 2 Matthew Dobson, 1 Mike De Neuilly-Rice.

Replacements:
16 Callie Visagie, 17 Johan Roets, 18 Andrew Prior, 19 Josh Strauss, 20 Johan Laker, 21 Stephan van der Merwe, 22 Jonathan Francke, 23 Buhle Mxunuywa.

FNB TUT v FNB UJ, Tuks Athletics Stadium
Kick-off: 4.30pm
Referee: Tiaan Jonker (Lions)

The teams:

TUT:
15 Hansie Graaff, 14 Johan Swartz, 13 Henk de Ridder, 12 Lutho Nyeka, 11 Thabo Motau, 10 Jacques Venter, 9 Manny Raposo, 8 Wikus Botes, 7 Emile Verster (captain), 6 Athi Mtya, 5 Werner Lourens, 4 Johan Steenkamp, 3 Braam van der Merwe, 2 Johan Pieterse, 1 Juan Pike.

Replacements:
16 Alfred Khoza, 17 Jacques van Rooyen, 18 Dewald van Deventer, 19 Ryno Lopes, 20 Nico van Zyl, 21 Felix Godlo, 22 Johan Oosthuizen, 23 Johann Visser.

 
UJ:
15 Aubrey MacDonald, 14 Edrich van Tonder, 13 Clinton de Klerk (captain), 12 Luhan Steenkamp, 11 Lola Waqa, 10 André Smith, 9 Danny Botha, 8 Quinten Minnaar, 7 Wendell Wehr, 6 Justin Wheeler, 5 Marnus van Huyssteen, 4 Martyn Lombard, 3 Wayne Swart, 2 Edgar Marutlulle, 1 KP du Plessis.

Replacements:
16 Brett Claassens, 17 JP Olivier, 18 David Bulbring, 19 JP Janse van Rensburg, 20 Jacques Pretorius, 21 Ryno Luus, 22 Earl Lewis, 23 Jaco Claassen.

FNB Tukkies v FNB Pukke, Tuks Athletics Stadium
Kick-off: 6.30pm
Referee: Archie Sehlako (KZN)

The teams:

Tukkies:
15 Gert Smith, 14 Dirk Dippenaar, 13 Ernie Kruger, 12 Franco Booysen, 11 Aaron Denenga, 10 Shaun Davids (captain), 9 Ignick Windvogel, 8 Marius Weber, 7 Marius Oosthuizen, 6 Warwick Tecklenburg, 5 Francois van Wyk, 4 Tiaan Nel, 3 Hein Viljoen , 2 Chris Crous, 1 Ettienne Breytenbach.

Replacements:
16 Robbie Coetzee/AJ le Roux, 17 Musa Tukela, 18 Joe Walters, 19 Oswin Mentoor, 20 Wesley Marais, 21 Donovan Marais, 22 Fanie Booysen, 23 Danie Oosthuizen.

 
Pukke:
15 Theuns Kotzé, 14 Dane Johnson, 13 Ruan Jacobs, 12 Wouter Watermeyer, 11 Danie Dames, 10 Niell Jacobs, 9 Andries Mahoney, 8 Thabo Molete, 7 Siya Mdaka, 6 Savvas Nel, 5 Markus Fourie, 4 Dirco Rautenbach (captain), 3 Stephanus Bezuidenhout, 2 Stoffel Duvenhage, 1 Dewald Coetzee.

Replacements:
16 BW van Dyk, 17 BG Uys, 18 Francois Robbertse, 19 Jaco Lötter, 20 Cecil Dumond, 22 Wensley Scott, 22 Andrew van Wyk, 23 Johan Coetzee