Let’s not forget that UCT are the only really amateur team in the competition. None of the players get paid, all the support staff and coached volunteer their time for free. With regards to the actual students in the team, none of them get any special treatment from the university – they have to meet UCT entry criteria, which is much higher than other universities, like Stellenbosch.
Compare that to Tukkies who pay their players and offer them scholarships, and are reported to have a budget upwards of R5 million.

Up till that point, stellenbosch were unbeaten. So selected joe above the player at the time (and I don’t who that is) who probably started every game and worked very hard to get stellebosch to where they were, was a big f you to the team and that player.

Anyway I thought UCT had a bit more class than that. It seems that Lobberts is a result of a weak system in place which coachs have capitalised on, and unless it is snuffed out – they will continue you to.

Not cool Kevin Foote.

can anyone confirm that the players at varsity get paid zilch?

http://www.varsitycup.co.za has the rules there but if you want to save yourself time, google Tank Lannings blog on news24 where the answers are short and sweet.

Ikeys did not break any ‘rules’

Oh well, as a guy supporting Ikeys I will probably go ‘Hell Yeah’ tomorrow!

Until then, ciao for now.

couldn’t agree more.

hate the manipulation of intervarsities to ensure wins and bragging rights.

ever since the 70′s when danie craven did everything to ensure a win against ikeys (boland coetzee etc playing).

very disappointed uct have sunk to the same level.

If memory serves Joe was hardly a known entity at that stage, and he, as Juan de Jongh 2 years ago, at least saw the inside of a university at some stage…

Ikeys turned the Varsity Cup into a national club competition with this one move…

Some might say that is not a bad thing either, but in my opinion, the Varsity Cup lost its soul because you can bet your ***, other ‘Varsities’ administrators will now also look for the best way to manipulate the ‘rules’.

And when competitions gets decided in the boardroom and not between those 4 white lines, then its lost (in what was the Varsity Cup’s biggest appeal) its soul.

Varsity Cup has now become nothing more than the Vodacom Cup where union’s administrators have managed to put their long fingers into to corrupt it.

I am really disappointed in Ikeys fielding Hilton Lobberts tonight.

Now before anybody gets up my nose about the rules of the competition let me save you the trouble.

I know the Ikeys did not break any competition rules, but consider the following for just a second.

Lobberts is not allowed to play next week because he did not play in 2 round robin games (tonight was his first game and unless there is serious injury within the Ikeys team they cannot select him for semi’s or finals in which you needed to play 2 games).

The Ikeys coaches claim they helped WP rugby out.

Again, fine… they did not break any competition rules.

But I tell you what, tonight the Ikeys broke the spirit of this competition and what it is all about and what made it so attractive. Winning is everything, but the cost that comes at some times means you actually lose.

I expect similar funny tricks by other administrators next year unless Francois and the boys from the Varsity Cup addresses these loopholes.