Today sees the start of the Varsity Cup Competition, with exciting rugby awaiting us from all the Premier Universities and Tertiary Institutions.

This year Wits replace TUT, TUT having been relegated to the Varsity Shield Competition.

Four matches are played late afternoon and this evening, 1 at 17:00 and 3 at 19:00, of course, only 2 matches are televised live, here are the details:

• Maties v UJ – 17:00, Danie Craven Stadium, Stellenbosch (LIVE ON TV)
• Pukke v Tuks – 19:00, Fanie du Toit Sports Grounds, Potchefstroom (LIVE ON TV)
• UCT v NMMU – 19:00, Groote Schuur Rugby Field, Cape Town
• Wits v Shimlas – 19:00, Wits Rugby Stadium, Johannesburg

FNB Maties vs  FNB UJ LIVE on Monday 16:30 – 18:45 SS1

Chris Rossouw will face his first real test as FNB Maties coach. The new Maties coach has kept faith with the tight five that started in the 26-17 victory against the South African Under-20 team, but the squad has been dealt a big blow as powerhouse prop Os Hamman has injured his ankle and will be out for six weeks.

Luckily Brendan Pitzer is a more than able replacement, and caught the eye with his powerful scrumming against the Baby Boks.

The experienced duo of Alistair Vermaak and Neethling Gericke complete the front row, and Maties will look to assert themselves in the scrums.

The second row of Wilhelm van der Sluys and Reniel Hugo have both represented Western Province at senior level. Hugo played in the Vodacom Cup in 2012 and Van der Sluys had been part of both the triumphant Vodacom Cup and Currie Cup campaigns, and featured off the bench in both finals.

They combine very well in open play and will pose a big challenge to the UJ team come lineout-time. The back row of tough captain Helmut Lehman, firebrand flanker Jurg Streicher and exhilarating No.8 Reuben Johannes are sure to try and impose themselves physically on the match.

Lehman played in the Currie Cup for Western Province last year, and Johannes has experience with the Blitzbokke. Streicher is another Maties success story, as he went from playing koshuis-rugby for Elsenburg to the Maties first team, and now stands on the cusp of playing in the Varsity Cup.

James Alexander has remained in the No.9 jumper, and will look to continue his budding partnership with flyhalf JH Potgieter.

Potgieter grabbed his chance against the Baby Boks, and Rossouw has rewarded him with a chance to keep the role of playmaker.

The centres Louis Jordaan and Mark Hodgskiss also impressed in the warm-up games, and Hodgskiss especially is thriving under the coaching of Rossouw, having been on the fringes of selection in previous seasons.

Winger JP Lewis is back after spending time in the Baby Boks camp, and with Clearance Khumalo on the other wing, Maties have some serious pace out wide and they will look to spread the ball to the speedsters. Fullback Ryan Nell is one of the most exciting counter-attacking players in this side, and is also solid under the high ball.

The bench is characterised by its youthful look, and hopefully this will translate into an injection of pace and exuberance later in the game.

The reserve front row of hooker Charl de Villiers and props Niel Oelofse and Boeta Kleinhans will look to impress the coaching staff, and push for a starting opportunity during the season. Reserve lock Jan de Klerk and Lungelo Chonco, who can play both lock and on the flank, are also included after featuring in the preseason games.

Jean Nel, who played for WP in the U19 Currie Cup last year, is the reserve scrumhalf, and will look to expose a tiring UJ defence with a few sniping runs later in the game.

Dean Grant is probably the most unlucky member of the reserves, and will hope to remind Rossouw that he started the first warm-up game of the season as flyhalf. Craig Barry, who is predominantly a fullback but has the pace to play on the wing, rounds out the squad of 23.

Maties beat UJ in the first three seasons of the Varsity Cup, and went on to collect the trophy at the end of the competition in those years.

In 2011 Maties were comprehensively beaten by UJ by a score of 39-19, and this led to Maties not qualifying for the knock-out rounds of the competition for the first and only time. In last season’s competition, the teams played out to a 10-10 draw in Johannesburg, but Maties won 23-0 in their second meeting in the semifinals, played in Stellenbosch.

Maties have played 16 regular season home games during the first five seasons of the Varsity Cup, and have won 13 of them, with 2 losses and a draw giving them an impressive winning percentage of 81%.

Maties and UJ have met twice at the Danie Craven Stadium, with Maties winning 29-14 in 2009 and the aforementioned loss in 2011.

Maties will look to defend their proud home record, and UJ will undoubtedly look to draw from their previous visit to Stellenbosch.

UJ made the semifinals of the Varsity Cup in 2011 and 2012, and they will look to go one better in 2013. This, combined with the fact that Maties themselves would be looking to win the competition for the first time since 2010, adds extra impetus to the season opening clash. Rossouw stated that he hopes that his side can build some valuable momentum in this game, and that he hopes the Maties faithful come out in their numbers to support their team.

The game kicks off at 16.45, with Afrikaans singer Bobby van Jaarsveld entertaining the crowd from 16.15. Be sure to catch this exciting match, either at the stadium or on Supersport.

Only a handful of FNB UJ’s regulars from last season have been retained for their Varsity Cup opener against FNB Maties in Stellenbosch on Monday.

Only captain Justin Wheeler, flyhalf Guy Cronjé, inside centre Divan van Zyl and winger Chrysander Botha started in UJ’s semifinal defeat to Maties last year, with Shane Kirkwood, RJ Liebenberg and Jacques Pretorius on the bench.

It means that in the backline UJ will field former College Rovers fullback Kobus de Kock, along with new winger Tommie Damba and former Blue Bull centre Bradley Moolman.

The new faces in the forward pack are flank Kobus Porter, lock David Antonites and a brand new front row in Ewald van der Westhuizen, AJ le Roux and Wiseman Kamanga.

Only seven players in the starting line-up have Varsity Cup experience, with another three on the bench.

FNB Maties: 15 Ryan Nell, 14 Clearance Khumalo, 13 Mark Hodgskiss, 12 Louis Jordaan, 11 JP Lewis, 10 JH Potgieter, 9 James Alexander, 8 Reuben Johannes, 7 Jurg Streicher, 6 Helmut Lehmann (captain), 5 Reniel Hugo, 4 Wilhelm van der Sluys, 3 Brendan Pitzer, 2 Neethling Gericke, 1 Alistair Vermaak.
Replacements: 16 Charl de Villiers, 17 Niel Oelofse, 18 Jan de Klerk, 19 Lungelo Chonco, 20 Jean Nel, 21 Dean Grant, 22 Craig Barry, 23 Boeta Kleinhans.

FNB UJ: 15 Kobus De Kock, 14 Tommy Damba, 13 Bradley Moolman, 12 Divan Van Zyl, 11 Chrysander Botha, 10 Guy Cronje, 9 Jacques Pretorius, 8 RJ Liebenberg, 7 Justin Wheeler (captain), 6 Steph De Witt, 5 David Antonites, 4 Shane Kirkwood, 3 Njabulo Mkize, 2 AJ Le Roux, 1 Wessel Du Rand.
Replacements: 16 Jan-Ras Van Der Linde, 17 Ewald Van Der Westhuizen, 18 Fabian Booysen, 19 Kobus Porter, 20 Lukas Van Zyl, 21 Luan Steenkamp, 22 Lincoln Koopman, 23 Wiseman Kamanga.

FNB NWU-Pukke vs FNB UP-Tuks , LIVE  on Monday 19:00-21:00 SS1

Pukke were knocked out of the Varsity Cup by the Pretoria side in their semifinal last year, so they will be intent on getting some revenge for that result at the Fanie du Toit Sportsground.

Coach Hannes Esterhuizen has named a team with a good blend of youth and experience for the encounter, and they will have to be on song from the first whistle if they are to put the powerful UP-Tuks side away.

With the experienced halfback pairing of Tiaan Dorfling and Gerhard Nortier pulling the strings the home side will be hopeful of getting on the front foot, in order to unleash their dangerous outside backs.

However the hard work will have to be done up front against a physical UP-Tuks side, and it is here that captain “Victor Kruger is expected to set the tone.

Junior world champions William Small-Smith, Shaun Adendorff and Marvin Orie will all be in action at the Fanie du Toit Sportsground, whilst the team will be ably led by skipper Jono Ross who recently returned from a spell with English Premiership side Saracens.

Whilst the former Baby Bok stars will inject some youthful enthusiasm into UP-Tuks’ game, they also boast a fair number of experienced players such as scrumhalf Danie Faasen and the speedy duo of Vainon Willis and Courtnall Skosan out wide.

FNB NWU-Pukke: 15 Hoffman Maritz, 14 Rowayne Beukman, 13 Hennie Skorbinski, 12 Johan Deysel, 11 Luther Obi, 10 Gerhard Nortier, 9 Tiaan Dorfling, 8 SJ Niemand, 7 Ernie Strydom, 6 Robey Labuschagne, 5 Victor Kruger (captain), 4 Luvuyiso Lusaseni, 3 Martin Dreyer, 2 JC Oberholzer, 1 Henri Scharneck
Replacements: 16 Marius Fourie, 17 Herman Basson, 18 Solly Sotsaka, 19 Molotsi Bouwer, 20 Jaco Grobler, 21 Sylvian Mahuza, 22 Wynand Olivier, 23 Arno Ebersohn

FNB UP-Tuks: 15 Riaan Britz, 14 Vainon Willis, 13 William Small-Smith, 12 Burger Odendaal, 11 Courtnall Skosan, 10 Willie Du Plessis, 9 Danie Faasen, 8 Jono Ross (captain), 7 Mike Williams, 6 Shaun Adendorff, 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Juan-Pierre Mostert, 3 Hencus Van Wyk, 2 Jaco Visagie, 1 Sabelo Nhlapo.
Replacements: 16 Sidney Tobias, 17 Christoph Gouws, 18 Schalk Van Heerden, 19 Nardus Van der Walt, 20 Emile Temperman, 21 Tian Schoeman, 22 Christopher Bosch, 23 Andrew Beerwinkel.