Unam to play in South Africa Varsity Cup

UNAM will make their second consecutive appearance at the annual University Sports South Africa Rugby Week.

The tournament starts today and will see 32 teams in action at the Wits Rugby Fields. The University of Namibia (Unam) rugby team left for Johannesburg on Saturday to take their place in Pool B of the University Sports South Africa (USSA) Varsity Rugby.They were expected to begin their campaign with an opening fixture against Central University of Technology (CUT) this morning while in the other Pool B match Fort Hare University takes on Varsity College.If Unam win their first game, they will then take on the winner of the Fort Hare University/ Varsity College game on Wednesday morning. Should they lose their opener, they will face the loser between the Fort Hare University or Varsity College on Wednesday afternoon.Unam will get a chance to test themselves against the best of South African varsity rugby as they will again get a game in the winners’ section or losers’ section of the USSA Varsity Shield Cup.University of Johannesburg (UJ) are the defending champions, having beaten the Maties by 20-17 in the unofficial final at Wellington’s Boland Stadium last July.Unam warmed up for the tournament with a big win in round six of the MTC Rugby Premier League with a 38-24 victory over the Dolphins.That win earned them joint top spot on 17 points along with Wanderers and United. The USSA Varsity Cup experience is expected to to boast their season even further – especially if the South African adventure ends in success. According to Werner Jeffery of Unam the team’s participation in the Varsity Cup could have not come at a better moment.’We are joint top of the premier league at home and we will use the SA tour to encourage the boys and also keep them fit and ready to come back and make sure we qualify for the rugby semi-finals at home,’ said Jeffery.’We have set our target and we want to achieve them and achieve them well and this experience will be huge for the players.’Unam unfortunately had to travel without six of their regulars – Cameron Klazen, John Drotsky, Webber Heckert, Celmo van der Byl, Simon Kanime and Tjiuii Uanivi – who are part of the Tertiary Institutes Sports Association of Namibia (TISAN) Sevens Rugby team that are taking part in the World Student championships Rugby action in Brive, France from July 7 to 14.The Unam team will return home on Sunday before they take on Wanderers on July 21 in a top of the table clash.That game is followed by another crucial showdown with United before the season is decided.Meanwhile, the TISAN netball team also left for Cape Town over the weekend and will start their pursuit of the World Students Championship glory with a opening clash against Uganda today. That competition ends on Saturday. The team spent four months in camp and are expected to do well.