WSU are looking for redemption
Playoff loss spurs All Blacks’ desire to dictate Varsity Shield this season
FNB WSU were unlucky not to gain promotion to the FNB Varsity Cup in 2018, and will look to stamp their authority on 2019’s edition of the Varsity Shield competition.
Steam rose off the Stellenbosch-sun baked Danie Craven Stadium before All Black skipper Phumlani Blaauw led his charges onto the pitch in last year’s do-or-die clash.
The men from East London were to play the promotion/relegation match with Central University of Technology (CUT) as a curtain-raiser before the Varsity Cup final.
WSU had finished second behind UWC in the Varsity Shield competition, while CUT had finished second last ahead of the NMU Madibaz in the Varsity Cup, forcing them to play the rambunctious All Blacks.
Blaauw led his men onto the field in song, their folk ballads echoing through the tunnel, before charging out.
Despite the heat and playing against a CUT side with many years of experience in the Varsity Cup, the men from East London had the Free Staters on the ropes.
CUT threw desperate passes as they attempted to evade WSU’s constrictive defence, personified by the ever-industrious Mihlali Mosi.
WSU looked well placed with only five minutes left on the clock.
But in the last moment, CUT launched a seemingly dubious move down the right side of the field, unpunished by the ref.
The try saved CUT from relegation and consigned WSU to another two years in the Varsity Shield.
WSU players fell to the ground, banging the treacherous pitch with their fists as tears streamed down their faces.
Their fearless leader Blaauw stood in the middle of them, with his head in his hands, unable to answer the postmatch interviewer after his team had given everything they had in a stirring bid for promotion to the top-tier varsity rugby competition.
It was a wicked day for WSU, but despite the disappointment of last season, the All Blacks are confident they can replicate their in-tournament form of 2018. They finished second in the competition, only losing to the unbeaten UWC.
They begin their campaign with a titanic clash against old rivals University of Fort Hare at the BCM Stadium for the Varsity Shield Double-Derby, which is where they can stamp their authority for the rest of the season.
Blaauw and his teammates didn't realise the gravity of their opportunity as a small Eastern Cape University to make it into the Varsity Cup.
“I feel if we had put in 100% right at the beginning, we would have won it and we could have qualified because the game was close. Even the Varsity Cup president told us after the game that we gave it our all and that it was a hell of a game.”
Next year, the front-ranker explained WSU want to qualify for the Varsity Cup automatically. “Come this year we want to win the title, and next year we want to qualify without having to play in the playoffs.
“After the CUT game we looked at each other and promised ourselves that we’ll never feel the way we feel right now until we play in the Varsity Cup.”
WSU and UFH are traditional rivals with the universities separated by the rolling hills of the Amatolas.
Last season WSU were able to defeat UFH 20-16 as both teams struggled through an East London deluge.
“Playing Fort Hare is probably going to be the most physical and tough game we’re going to play throughout the year. Whatever the case is, when it comes to UFH versus WSU it’s a different game, everything changes and everything comes to a standstill.
“WSU versus UFH is literally the biggest derby and it’s got to remain that way throughout the years,” said Blaauw.
WSU play UFH at the Davidson Stadium at 6.30pm on Monday.
Playing Fort Hare is the toughest game we’ll play during this season