No one would have seen this coming at the start of the competition – the mighty Tuks, Tukkies or University of Pretoria (call it what you will) were relegated from the ‘first division’ of the Varsity Cup rugby competition.
Well, for those who haven’t heard the news – Tuks will not be playing Varsity Cup rugby next year; they will take part in the Varsity Shield ‘second division’ competition.
This is because they finished last of the eight teams in this year’s Cup competition, with a game to spare.
Read more: The Varsity Cup came as a surprise as defending champions Tuks were relegated
Tuks have lost six out of six and have five points, and even if they beat the University of Johannesburg in the final game next Friday they will not pass the seventh-placed UJ, which has 13 points. Tuks are automatically demoted to a lower level.
The University of the Western Cape (30) or Nelson Mandela University (27 points) will go to next year’s Varsity Cup.
Tuks fall from grace is massive.
Five log points
While they are undefeated by huge margins during this year’s Cup competition – 21-33 to Wits, 35-46 to Maties, 22-26 to Pukke, 39-41 to Ixias, 19-42 to Ikeys and 25-26 to Shimlas. – taking only five log points is amazing.
This is by the university that has won the Varsity Cup five times, in 2012, 2013, 2017 and back-to-back in 2021 and 2022.
In recent times Tuks have produced Springbok players such as Manie Libbok, Marco van Staden, Embrose Papier, Jason Jenkins, Warrick Gelant, Franco Mostert, Bongi Mbonambi, Arno Botha and Vincent Koch.
Scottish winger Duhan van der Merwe also made his name at Tuks.
2024 season
But the famous university team from Pretoria must now be ready to act in the Shield in 2024 when they take on the likes of Rhodes, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Walter Sisulu University and University of Fort Hare in, among other places, Grahamstown, Alice and Mthatha.
The Tuks vs Rhodes matchup could be interesting – in the Shield this season, Rhodes went 6/6, just like Tuks, but had a -245 point differential.
The Pretoria team will almost certainly return to the Cup competition immediately after next year’s competition, but what awaits the men from Pretoria in 2024.