It is all systems go for the University of Johannesburg as they gear up for the 2018 edition of Varsity Sports 7s at the Pirates Club in Greenside, Johannesburg on 5 and 6 October where the men in orange are determined to defend their title.
The defending champions have enjoyed a good run since claiming their maiden Varsity 7s title in December last year with UJ losing out to the University of the Western Cape in the USSA 2018 Cup final. They also gained valuable experience in overseas sevens tournaments where they won the Plate final at the Centrale 7s in France and the Cup final at the Beindorm 7s in Spain.
The sevens programme at the University of Johannesburg has seen a definite boost in the attraction of new players and head coach Patrick Ross-Allen believes that their recent success has played a major role in the attraction of sevens with university sevens now seen as a viable option to fast-track their progress to the BlitzBoks.
“We have had quite a few new players join our ranks since we won last year’s tournament. Winning brings a lot of positive spinoffs which includes the attraction of new players which invariably strengthens our player pool,” said Ross-Allen.
“Our sevens programme has already started producing results with Ronald Brown, who had a stellar turnout at last year’s instalment of South Africa’s premier university sevens tournament, joining the BlitzBoks on a three-year contract. Student rugby players are starting to notice that they can make it to the top while still at university,” he added.
This year welcomes a new format as the 12 best universities have been divided into three groups of four that will mimic professional sevens tournaments around the world in the hopes that it will better prepare the next generation of South African sevens players while providing a better product for spectators.
“We are not too phased with the new format as it is similar to what we experienced abroad. We are weary of the fact that we have little space to slip up as we will go up against the best in the country. We have to be focused from the first match,” said Ross-Allen.
UJ will have their work cut out for them in Pool B as they will face the University of Pretoria, the University of the Witwatersrand and the University of Cape Town in the group stages but spectators can be rest assured that UJ will bring their A game when the tournament starts this Friday.
Get all the fixtures here: http://www.old.varsitysportssa.com/fixtures/varsity-7s-2018-fixtures-results/
By Dan Lombard
