The fifth Varsity Netball final, and the third one in Pretoria, will be contested on Monday when UP-Tuks and NWU do battle. Here’s everything you need to know in numbers.
0
No team has gone through a competition unbeaten. NWU, the only team not to have lost a match this year, will be looking to break that trend.
1
Should NWU win, Chanté Bester could become the first player to receive the Varsity Netball trophy twice as captain.
1
Should Tuks triumph, Jenny van Dyk will become the first coach to win the Brutal Fruit Netball Premier League (BFNPL), National Championship and Varsity Netball in the same year.
2
Two players, Many Hermanus and Zandré Erasmus, both of NWU will be competing in their fourth final which is more than any other player.
2
Both teams will have a player with Protea experience. They are Shadine van der Merwe (Tuks, Protea in 2015) and Sigi Burger (NWU, 2016).
3
NWU will be playing in their third consecutive final.
4
It will be the fourth Varsity Netball final for NWU and third for Tuks. NWU won two of their previous three finals and Tuks lost both in 2014 and 2016 at home.
4
With NWU reaching yet another final, four of their players – Zandré Erasmus, Mandy Hermanus, Chanté Bester and Sigi Burger – could become the only ones to win the Varsity Netball title three times.
5
Five players of Tuks; Tshina Mdau, Marlize de Bruin, Lungile Mthembu, Shadine van der Merwe and Jasmine Ziegelmeier could join six former Kovsies to have won all four major competitions in South African netball – the BFNPL, the National Champ, Varsity Netball and the University Sport South Africa (Ussa) tournament. The players who have won all of them are Lauren-Lee Christians, Adéle Niemand, Ané Botha, Karla Mostert, Isélma Parkin and Maryka Holtzhausen.
13
The biggest winning margin in a final was when NWU defeated Maties by 50-37 in 2015.
88
The least goals scored in a final in 2013, when Kovsies came on top against NWU by 44-40.
111
The highest number of goals scored in a final was last year when NWU won 56-55 against Tuks.
