The Season thus far

At the half-way mark of a busy season, the club has experienced a mixed bag of results. We have nine sides playing in the various leagues of the Western Province Competition, and it is fantastic to see the club so vibrant. Exams and a very long Varsity vacation means that the hectic schedule will only resume at the end of July.

It is a great challenge to keep the players fit and active over
this period, as they tend to scatter themselves far and wide, and enjoy
time off from academic pressures! The league in which the 1st XV plays
is getting tougher and tougher, with many clubs ignoring their
so-called amateur status and paying their players, some even more than
they would earn on provincial contracts! This puts enormous pressure on
clubs like ours. Looking at the results of all the clubs in the Super
League A, it is fair to say that any club can beat any other on the
day.

The 1st XV beat Victorians, Tygerberg, Durb-Bell, Collegians, NNK and
SK Walmers, and lost to Maties, Hamiltons and Villagers.The 2nd XV has
struggled this half, unusual for a side which is used to winning its
league. Many of last year’s stalwarts have retired or moved on, and it
is a young and inexperienced side.  The same could be said of the 3rd XV, while the Moss and Marais XVs
are as strong as ever.The Under 20A must be the team of this half: they
are unbeaten, including convincing victories over both the Maties sides
entered in this league. The Babrow XV tops its section and is unbeaten,
although it drew with the Tigers, the other UCT team in this section,
in a typically robust inter-club derby! The Tigers are mid-table and
the Cubs are top of their section, thanks to some really hard work from
their coaches.

Craven week this year is at Paul Roos in Stellenbosch and we will be
hiring our own facility at the field to help with recruitment and
enquiries from those wanting to come to UCT. Please feel free to pop in
if you are at any of the matches.� I would like to take this
opportunity to thank all of our 200 Club members who have contributed
thus far to our bursary fund.

Spencer King
Director