Off the Mark – Early Engage

Cape Town: Hello Readers and welcome to the very first edition of “Off The Mark”! This is the first in what is to become a weekly column on the dirt and inside information surrounding the 2010 Ikey Tigers Varsity Cup team, from our personal team-voted Man of the Match, to all the amazingly personal chirps belted out during a deep encounter with the opposition.

What this column hopes to bring you is a sense of knowing each of the players and what makes them the steamy UCT men that they are! The first interview that “Off The Mark” will have is with none other than our very own infamous Wesley Chetty. A man who once moved his bed into his kitchen and who, in his words, said, “It was convenient, I could play XBOX, open the fridge and the balcony door without getting out of bed.”

We will delve deep into the depths of his eating habits as well as the fact that he once bench pressed 200kgs. On whether he is in fact an old Rondebosch Boy or an Old Bishops boy and why on earth he insists on doing the bleep test in his underpants. We all know he is a beaut and it’s time he answered some serious questions about his lifestyle and habits!

With the pre season pretty much coming to an end with a heart breaking 2 point loss to Boland on the 25th of January, UCT, in general, is looking like a formidable team, with a strong leadership core with the likes of Stu Commins, Nick Fenton-Wells, Matt Rosslee and the man who credits all his talents to experience, JJ Gagiano. Then there are some serious young guns from all kinds of rugby academies around the Western Cape!

Marcel “Breyton” “Ashwell” Brache joins the team in what is a miracle story! The only gaps this man found before the pre-season were those in the Tiger queue. Ask him to lunge and he puts on his kit and heads off to Tantra, looking for a piece of vleis, rather than find his way to the Sports Science Institute. “Off the Mark” and UCT will be looking forward to some real fireworks from this multi talented individual; look out for him! Marcel is also the only African American in the UCT squad!

The quality within the UCT team and the “team” environment is something that I can’t explain and what I hope to achieve through this column is to bring to you what it feels like to be in, what is undoubtedly the most versatile, talented and funny group of serious rugby players which I believe you will come across. The loyalty and support of the many UCT supporters out there is what, in my view, keeps the quality players grinding it out every week! “Off the Mark” hopes to let you into the team environment and help you understand what we see, feel and hear and how we celebrate!

As I am a front ranking forward I thought I would leave you with two quotes having a dig at the infamous pussy-footing, purple booted 75kg backline! I hope you enjoyed the first edition of “Off the Mark” and we will chat again after the Shimlas game!

Once an IKEY ALWAYS A TIGER!

“Rugby backs can be identified because they generally have clean jerseys and identifiable partings in their hair….. come the revolution the backs will be the first to be lined up against the wall and shot for living parasitically off the work of others.”
(Peter Fizsimmons)

Simon Geoghegan:  “The winger resembles Mother Brown, running with a high knee-lift and sometimes not progressing far from the spot where he started.”
(Mark Reason Total Sport:1996)