Intervarsity History Series: It’s been a long time, but the wait is over!
Written by Gavin Fernie | Ikey Old Boy
Dutch Beuchar crashes over for a UCT try in the 1976 Intervarsity Grand Challenge.
Fifteen years after a famous Intervarsity win over Stellenbosch at Fortress Coetzenburg conjured up in brilliant fashion by Basil Bey’s great 1961 UCT First XV, Chris Pope’s outstanding team carved out another memorable victory in the annals of Ikey rugby timber.
The memory of that long awaited victory is etched in my old mind as if it happened last week. I was driving back to Johannesburg with my family from a sojourn on a farm in the Karoo, and was listening anxiously to the radio commentary. When the final whistle blew, and we had secured the victory, I shouted out my joy and excitement. The outburst startled my wife and two daughters who were sleeping, while the weird Ikey rugby nut was glued to the radio, and the steering wheel. My wife testily enquired, ‘What on earth made you shout and wake us all up?’ Beaming, I replied, ‘Varsity won!’ Wife and daughters looked at me strangely, and promptly went back to sleep. I carried on whistling, singing ‘Gaudeamus igitur’ and ‘Die SACS kom terug’ at the top of my voice all the way back to Johannesburg. That is what Ikey rugby does to one. That is what Ikey rugby is all about!.
