Testing time for three EC teams

THE Varsity Shield hits the midway point tonight as all three Eastern Cape sides play their third of six games in the pool stage of the competition.

The Walter Sisulu University (WSU) All Blacks, Fort Hare Blues and Rhodes will all be playing away from home in a daunting round of games.

The log leading All Blacks are the surprise package of this year’s Shield so far and will be testing their mettle against the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) Vikings in Pretoria.

Having shocked two Varsity Shield regulars in their massive rivals, Fort Hare and the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) Impi in their first two matches, will be travelling to the capital with confidence.

“We are trying to rest up and make sure we are 100% ready for the game,” said WSU captain Mihlali Qoma.

“It is an away game so it will be difficult, but we want to try and take this momentum we have picked up and hopefully win the match.”

The Vikings have only played one game so far this season, beating Rhodes 16-12 at home in the first week and head into the WSU game off a bye. They will be aiming to get another win, but face a tough task in the high flying All Blacks.

The Blues will be taking on UKZN in Pietermaritzburg.

Fort Hare, with one win and one loss so far and the Impi having lost their opening match, will both know that another loss could be very damaging to their play-off prospects and will thus be eager to get a good win.

The Blues, however, have the momentum after beating last years runners-up, the University of the Western Cape in an extremely tight match and will head into the game with confidence.

The Impi will want to bounce back well from their stunning loss to the All Blacks. They will hope the home faithful can help roar them to victory.

“We have to take it game by game,” said Fort Hare Director of Rugby Elliot Fana.

“You don’t win one game then all of a sudden the problems that you had before just fall away. So we are just going to be focused on the UKZN game. The guys are excited for it and they want to win.”

Rhodes will face the difficult challenge of taking on UWC in Cape Town.

The Grahamstown side have endured two heartbreaking losses, by four points away from home against TUT and then by three points at home most recently against Cape Peninsula University of Technology, so they will be hungry for some success.

UWC will, however, be a massive challenge and they will want to make a statement after losing to the Blues and will be looking to do that against Rhodes.

“Udubs (UWC) away from home is going to be a daunting task, but the guys are really looking forward to the game,” said Rhodes coach Qondakele Sompondo.

“Although we are playing Varsity Shield for the first time, the guys are slowly getting used to it and improving game by game.”

All three matches will kick off at 6.30pm tonight.