2011 Players Dinner rocks Kelvin Grove

The 2011 UCTRFC dinner was once again held at Kelvin Grove, and, being the world cup with SA still in the hunt the theme was formal with a touch of bokke. The event also doubled as the League Winning Victory celebration as it was held on the day of the final match.

Unlike last year’s event there were a few more hiccups the next day, thanks to the wise words of encouragement from one of the guest speakers on the night-Dobbo. Apart from numerous breakages, using the wrong bars and a waiter nearly losing his life, there were no serious ramifications and our name may still be in-tact at Kelvin Grove. Altogether, about 190 people attended the dinner – players, partners, coaches, managers, physio’s and of course the Ikeys Vibe Masters.

 

The players and partners looked incredible on the evening, but the best dressed award definitely went to Ronnie Olivier and his partner Jules (aka, Marcel Braches number one fan). With the MC being the incredible Anton Taylor, and the hall being full of mostly ‘rugga buggas’, the evening was bound be a success. Some very sophisticated jokes and stories were told by Anton and he certainly helped make the evening be very entertaining.

Our two guest speakers were John ‘Dobbo’ Dobson and Robert ‘Flekkie’ Fleck. Their well prepared and thought out speeches played out to the crowd very well, a great message came across and the players seemed to have a good appreciation of what was said.

 

The Player and Team awards were announced by Dayne ‘Danger’ Jans and were handed out by Dugald ’Pavarotti’ Macdonald. There were many smiling faces from the recipients, as well as some special tears. One or two customary down downs to some rowdy members of the audience made for some light humour. The afterparty was hosted by the hunting ground of the players, Tiger Tiger.

 

The evening capped off a very special season for the club, seeing us win the varsity cup, do the double over Maties and of course, win the league for the first time since 1974. It was a special honour to have some members of the 1974 Grand Challenge winning team attend our dinner.

Dinner Gallery by Peter van As

The following players received the 2011 awards – congrats to all of you!