The Maties have won three titles in a row and even though some find winning boring – those who lose tend to find it boring, it seems! – there is no doubting the overall excellence of the Men in Maroon since 2008.

Having beaten the Ikeys in last season’s final (as well as in 2008), and the NWU-Pukke in the 2009 finale, many will be asking ‘Where to next?’ for the all-conquering Maties – but coach Chean Roux remained as non-plussed as ever ahead of his fourth year in charge.

“It’s always tough to predict what will happen ahead of a tournament like the Varsity Cup – especially ahead of the opening game,” he admitted this week. “Ask me ahead of Round Two, when we all would’ve had a chance to see everyone in action… then we can talk.”

The Maties will be hosting FNB NWU-Pukke in Coetzenburg on Monday evening, with FNB NMMU entertaining FNB Tuks, FNB TUT hosting FNB UJ (all at 19:00) and, earlier in the day, the FNB Shimlas will welcome FNB UCT to Shimla Park for the first time in the history of the Varsity Cup. (They have played on neutral turf twice, and in Cape Town twice – including last year’s semi-final.)

The Shimlas-UCT clash (the first match of the new season) will be televised live – on SuperSport One – at 17:00, with the Maties-Pukke match the other televised game of Week One.

The build-up to this year’s tournament has been – without a shadow of doubt – the biggest since the start of the Varsity Cup in 2008.

With basement teams TUT and NMMU enlisting Jake White’s help in the build-up to the tournament, Tuks have been under the guidance of Bulls boss Heyneke Meyer since the start of their pre-season training – the Men from Pretoria having also done some off-season shopping (in Stellenbosch and Durban) to bolster their playing resources.

In Bloemfontein, Shimlas have been leaning on the expertise of Derick Coetzee, the former Springbok conditioning coach, whilst there are new head coaches at NMMU (Brent Janse van Rensburg), Tuks (Nollis Marais) and UCT (Kevin Foote).

Roux and Shimlas coach Jaco Swanepoel are heading into their fourth campaigns, with Hugo van As (UJ), Alex de Kock (TUT) and experienced Pukke boss Rudy Joubert – who boasts experience at the highest level of coaching – all returning for more.

But it is not just the coaches who are catching all the headlines. Pukke captain Ligtoring Landman (Leopards) is a regular provincial player, as is UJ’s Justin Wheeler (Lions), Maties’ Callie Visagie (WP) and Shimlas’ Willie Britz (Griffons).

“You always hear those so-called ‘horror stories’,” said Roux, “(it’s) all the stories from the other universities – how hard they’ve been training, how many new players they have…

“Ultimately, however, it all comes down to what you produce on the field and that’s what we – at Maties – have been lucky enough to do over the past three years.”

Roux will go into the 2011 Varsity Cup with something of a new-look team.

Having lost the core of his victorious squad of last season – including Player of the Tournament, prop Lourens Adriaanse – they are blooding some new faces; including precocious flyhalf Jody Rose (the younger brother of Springbok Earl) and one of SA’s brightest schoolboy talents, Tshotsho Mbovane, who is just 18 years old.

The wily Maties boss commented on varsitycup.co.za: “I’m happy with what I’ve got.”

Whether that will be enough for the Maties to make it four in a row remains to be seen… but one thing is for sure, the other seven teams will not be lying down in 2011.

Meanwhile, the third round of Varsity Shield fixtures will also be taking place on Monday, February 7.

FNB UWC will host FNB CUT in Bellville, whilst the winless FNB UKZN will host the unbeaten FNB Wits – who are now two from two – in Pietermaritzburg.

Both of Monday’s Shield fixtures get underway at 19:00.

Varsity Cup fixtures and team line-ups for Monday, February 7:

FNB Shimlas v FNB UCT
Xerox Shimla Park (Bloemfontein)
Kick-off: 17:00
Referee: Tiaan Jonker
TMO: Shaun Veldsman

Teams:

FNB Shimlas:
15 George Whitehead, 14 Jamba Ulengo, 13 Earl Snyman, 12 Charl Weideman, 11 Cameron Jacobs, 10 Francois du Toit, 9 Jaco Colyn, 8 Willie Britz (captain), 7 Pieter Labuschagnè, 6 Hanno Pieterse, 5 Joubert Horn, 4 Wilken Heyns, 3 Henry van Niekerk, 2 JC van Wyk, 1 Charles Marais

Replacements: 16 Hercu Liebenberg, 17 John-Henry Harris, 18 Teboho Mohoje, 19 Etienne Terblanche, 20 Enrico Acker, 21 Zandre de Bruin, 22 Shaun Davids, 23 Ian Potgieter

FNB UCT:
15 Therlow Pietersen, 14 Pete Haw, 13 Marcel Brache, 12 Adrian Kritzinger, 11 Paul Cohen, 10 Demetri Catrakilis, 9 Nic Groom, 8 Greg Mallett, 7 Nick Fenton-Wells (captain), 6 Don Armand, 5 Levi Odendaal, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Shane Meier, 2 Matt Page,1 Wes Chetty

Replacements: 16 Dayne Jans, 17 Francois van Wyk, 18 Nizaam Carr, 19 Michael Morris, 20 Nicholas Farrar, 21 Tiger Bax, 22 Sabelo Siyakatshana, 23 Niel Naude

FNB NMMU v FNB Tuks
Xerox NMMU Stadium (Port Elizabeth)
Kick-off: 19:00
Referee: Quinton Immelman

Teams:

FNB NMMU:
15 Vuyolethu Mazaka, 14 Mayibuye Ndwandwa, 13 Wade Roos, 12 Bradley Kretzmann, 11 Juan du Preez, 10 Marius Muller, 9 Shannon Rick, 8 Jaco Swanepoel, 7 Theunis Derksen, 6 Ferdinand Gerber, 5 Mzwande Zito, 4 Schalk Oelofse, 3 Ross David-Anderson, 2 Ulrich Pretorius, 1 Musa Tukela

Replacements: 16 Lumka Mbane, 17 Gareth Hartley, 18 Louis Fourie, 19 Maurice Rudman, 20 Martin Ruiters, 21 Jeffrey Taljard, 22 Hlangoluhle Nodongwe, 23 Andile Mrwebi.

FNB Tuks:
15 Jurgen Visser, 14 Gerhardus Kotzee, 13 Jean du Plessis, 12 Arno van Zyl, 11 Hayden Groepes, 10 Wesley Dunlop (captain), 9 Neil de Bruin, 8 Jono Ross, 7 Nqubeko Zulu, 6 Warwick Tecklenburg, 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Luvuyiso Lusaseni, 3 Grant Kemp, 2 Chris Crous, 1 Vincent Koch

Replacements: 16 Robbie Coetzee, 17 Corné Fourie, 18 Sthembiso Mlongo, 19 Wesley Kotze, 20 Clayton Stewart, 21 Marnitz Boshoff, 22 Andries Coetzee, 23 Jean Rossouw.

FNB TUT v FNB UJ
TUT Stadium (Tshwane)
Kick-off: 19:00
Referee: Archie Sehlako

Teams:

FNB TUT:
15 Justin van Staden, 14 Andisa Gqobo, 13 Hansie Graaff, 12 Lutho Nyeka, 11 Thom Seabela, 10 Ruan Boshoff, 9 Ettienne Greeff, 8 Wikus Botes (captain), 7 Emile Verster, 6 Vince Gwavu, 5 JJ Breet, 4 Dries Ferreira, 3 Juan-Phillip Pike, 2 Johan Pieterse, 1 Jacques van Rooyen

Replacements: 16 Eugene Cunha, 17 Anton Krynauw, 18 Julian Erasmus, 19 Wessel Cronjé, 20 Manny Raposso, 21 Simphiwe Mtimkulu, 22 Ruan van Loo, 23 Jan Scheepers

FNB UJ:
15 Aubrey McDonald, 14 Wigan Pekeur, 13 Harry Collins, 12 Luan Steenkamp, 11 Lolo Waka, 10 Theuns Kotze, 9 Daniel Botha, 8 Quintin Minnaar, 7 Justin Wheeler (captain), 6 Johan van Deventer, 5 Marnus van Huyssteen, 4 Jacobus Swanepoel, 3 Jaco Vermeulen, 2 Francois du Toit, 1 Caylib Oosthuizen

Replacements: 16 George Ries, 17 H Terblanche, 18 Philippus Cordier, 19 Wendal Wehr, 20 Divan van Zyl, 21 André Smith, 22 Earl Lewis, 23 Anthony Gallacher

FNB Maties v FNB Pukke
Danie Craven Stadium (Stellenbosch)
Kick-off: 19:00
Referee: Rasta Rashivenga
TMO: JC Fortuin

Teams:

FNB Maties:
15 Ruan Combrinck, 14 Ryan Nell, 13 Stokkies Hanekom, 12 Louis Jordaan, 11 Tythan Adams, 10 Jody Rose, 9 Donald Stevens, 8 Tertius Daniller, 7 Meyer Swanepoel, 6 Helmut Lehman, 5 Reniel Hugo, 4 Hugo Kloppers, 3 Buhle Mxunyelwa, 2 Callie Visagie (captain), 1 Johan Roets

Replacements: 16 Gareth Light, 17 Os Hamman, 18 Andrew Prior, 19 Sam Mabombo, 20 James Alexander, 21 André Kemp, 22 Tshotsho Mbovane, 23 Suan Havenga

FNB Pukke:
15 Willem Barnard, 14 Andrew van Wyk, 13 Ruan Jacobs, 12 George Tossel, 11 Johannes Seerane, 10 Niell Jacobs, 9 Johan Laker, 8 Johannes Pretorius, 7 Thabo Mamojele, 6 Johannes Rose, 5 Victor Kruger, 4 Ligtoring Landman (captain), 3 Marthinus Dreyer, 2 Christiaan Schoonraad, 1 Henri Scharneck

Replacements: 16 Johan Oberholzer, 17 Dewald Coetzee, 18 Stephanus Bezuidenhout,19 Solomzi Sotsaka, 20 Cornell du Preez, 21 Tiaan Dorfling, 22 John Welthagen, 23 Tershwin Raubenheimer

2011 Varsity Shield results:

Monday, January 31 – Round One:
17.00: University of Fort Hare (UFH) 14-23 University of the Witwatersrand (Wits), Davidson Rugby Field
17.00: University of the Western Cape (UWC) 33-9 University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), UWC Sport Stadium

Thursday, February 3 – Round Two:
19.00: Wits 22-19 UWC, Wits Rugby Stadium – MATCH REPORT
19.00: Central University of Technology (CUT) 31-12 UFH, CUT Stadium – MATCH REPORT