Preview VC final: Ikey Tigers vs Maties

The universities of Cape Town (Ikeys) and Stellenbosch
(Maties) will resume their intense rivalry, which has been going for
almost a century, when they meet in the FNB Varsity Cup Final at the
Danie Craven Stadium in Stellenbosch on Monday (KO 18.45 – live on Supersport1). 

The final outcome will determine not only the first winners of the
inaugural Varsity Cup, but also the bragging rights in the Western
Province, where the two southern universities are based.

The rivalry is as intense as ever since the first intervarsity
between the traditional arch-rivals was played in 1911, when teams were
cheered on by thousands of singing students who were egged on by
gesturing cheerleaders wearing tailcoats.

The Ikeys have surprised friend and foe alike in reaching the Final,
more so after they staged spirited fightbacks to secure victory on
three occasions.

At the outset, the Ikeys were seeded seventh.

The most recent of their noteworthy fightbacks was in the
semifinal round and will no doubt still be fresh in the mind of the Maties, when they plot their strategy for the Final.

The Ikeys literally came back from the dead after they trailed 0-17
and later 10-31 against the Pukke (Potchefstroom University) to score
22 unanswered points in the final 14 minutes to emerge 32-31 semifinal
victors last Monday.

And if that’s not enough to alert the Maties of the Ikeys’
magnificent fightback capability, the records will show that they lost
to the Ikeys (38-32) in the league phase of the competition, after they
enjoyed a 20-14 halftime lead over the recent Easter weekend.

On their way to the Final, the Ikeys have chalked up some remarkable
victories and it remains to seen whether these achievements may have
drained their powers of recovery ahead of Monday’s clash.

The morale in the Maties’ camp would have been significantly boosted by
the fact that they will effectively enjoy home ground advantage – even
though Ikeys came through topping the log (read: "VC final to be played in Stellenbosch")

UCT coaches John Dobson and Robbie Fleck have announced the following team:

Ikeys:
1. Herbert Mayosi, 2. JP Koster, 3 Dylan Rodgers, 4. Mike Ledwidge, 5
Martin Muller, 6 Enoch Panya, 7.Mzoi Simani, 8 JJ Gagiano (c), 9 Danie
van der Merwe, 10 Matthew Rosslee, 11 Matthew Turner, 12 Pieter
Engelbrecht (vc), 13 James Martin, 14 Marcello Sampson, 15 Robert
Hopwood

Reserves:

16 Mark Goosen, 17 Wesley Chetty, 18 Dane Galley, 19 Kyle Brown, 20 Kyle Wickens, 21 Tim Whitehead, 22 Peter Haw

Maties Squad:
Therlow Pietersen, Heno Stoffberg, Jean
Stemmet, Sarel Potgieter, Lewellyn Winckler, Richardo Croy, Wilhelm
Koch, Bennie Booysen, Zandre Jordaan, Wesley Wilkens, Jaco Nepgen,
Erich Laubscher, Jacobi Adriaanse, Matthew Dobson, Johan Roets, Lisle
Clark, Andrew Crausaz, JC Kritzinger, Albert Fullard, De Kock
Steenkamp, Lucian Cloete and Morné Jooste.