Ikeys take on Camps Bay 7s

This weekend, UCT will take part in the annual Varsity Sports 7’s tournament, which this year will be held in conjunction with the Varsity Sports Beach Volleyball tournament in Camps Bay.

UCTrfc.co.za had a chance to speak to coach Christiaan Esterhuisen about the preparation his side have been undergoing for the tournament.

Both the recent UCT exams and the preseason Varsity Cup training have acted as disruptions to the team’s prep. However, Esterhuisen states, despite all this “the team is fit, injury free and ready to go.”

Esterhuisen explains that UCT’s recent warm-up games against the Blitzebokke, UWC and Maties allowed them to identify areas of weakness in need of improvement. Particularly, he says, the team will look to “improve on [our] breakdown and on [our] attack during phase play.”

A total of 10 teams will take part in the tournament, which spans from the 29th December: UCT, Maties, NWU Pukke, NMMU, Tuks, UFS, UWC, Limpopo, TUT and UJ. While some of these teams are familiar rivals for UCT, the fresh faces on-board are bound to keep things interesting. In terms of predicting the outcome, Esterhuisen comments, “sevens is a funny game, so anything can happen! It’s the top 10 university so it’s really difficult to make any predictions.”

For the first time the tournament takes place in Camps Bay, the location of which is significant for the Western Cape-based sides. The coach notes “it is always nice to play close to home and get some support. I think it will be a great vibe at Camps Bay and all the teams will certainly enjoy the tournament.

In terms of expectations for the tournament, he goes on “from a coaching perspective, we just want the players to apply themselves and play to their abilities. If they do that, I think we will give ourselves a chance in the matches and get the expected results.”

UCT’s first match takes place on the 29th to the 1st  of  at 12h00 against TUT so come on down and back your boytjies.

List of UCT Matches