SA colleges aim sights on Fort Cox battlefield

FORT Cox Agriculture and Forestry Training Institute is set to be a hive of activity over the next week as they host the 2017 PANNAR Rugby Week for South African Agricultural Institutes from tomorrow until next week Saturday.

This prestigious annual tournament will see some of the best Agricultural Colleges from around the country battling it out for top honours over the week.

“This is a big deal to host this annual rugby week. It is finally our turn to host and we are really looking forward to it,” said Fort Cox Agriculture and Forestry Training Institute sport officer Sivuyile Quvile.

“Teams are arriving tomorrow (today) and then games will be starting on Saturday.”

Along with Fort Cox seven other teams will be taking part in the tournament, including defending champions Elsenburg, Glen, Taung, Tsolo, Cedara, Grootfontein and Potchefstroom.

“It is going to be a very competitive week of rugby,” said Quvile.

“Elsenburg from Stellenbosch are the defending champs and are very strong. I think they will be the team to beat, but the other teams will also be extremely competitive, so we should see some exciting rugby.”

There will be four matchdays when games will be played, with the action starting tomorrow and then again on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and fixtures will only be finalised a day before each matchday.

“We have a day’s break between each matchday so that the guys can relax and recover, because it is already going to be very heavy playing four games over a week,” said Quvile.

In last year’s competition Fort Cox had an up-and-down tournament, eventually finishing in mid-table and they will be aiming to be one of the top sides in this year’s tourney.

“We took part last year in Stellenbosch and we finished fourth,” said Quvile.

“We are hoping for a better finish this year. I think we can even possibly take the title, so we are looking forward to it.”

Elsenburg are the beast everyone else is looking to tame, as they are the competition’s most dominant and successful side, with a whopping 37 triumphs over the years, including one shared with Saasveld.

Other past winners of the tournament include Potchefstroom and Grootfontein with three titles each, and Glen and Kovsies Landbou with one each.

At the end of the week, a South African Agricultural Training Institutes team will be chosen to play against a Border Invitational side at the Buffalo City Stadium on Monday, July 10 at 10am in the morning, and this will be an eagerly anticipated fixture.

“This is adding a lot of excitement to the tournament and many of the players will be playing to make this tournament team so that they can test themselves against the Bulldogs Invitational team,” said Quvile.

Another big part of this rugby week is the development side, with many of these players looking to impress over the week. “This tournament is a part of development for rugby in the region,” said Quvile.

“We have produced a number of really good players from Fort Cox that have played in this tournament and gone on to play for the Bulldogs, including their current flyhalf Oliver Zono and prop Luzuko Nyabaza.”

The action gets under way tomorrow morning and will conclude by next week Saturday.