The University of the North West’s men’s sevens team scooped gold at the University Sports South Africa’s Rugby Sevens tournament, while in the women’s section the University of Stellenbosch took the gold medal.
The University of the North West’s men’s sevens rugby team scooped gold at the Sol Plaatje University’s first hosting of the University Sports South Africa’s (USSA) Rugby Sevens tournament which was held in the Diamond City over the weekend.
The USSA Rugby Sevens hosts team Sol Plaatje University (SPU) men’s team did not fare well enough in the round robin stages to earn a spot in the follow-up Mervyn Taylor section for the top teams. It also means SPU are relegated for the upcoming 2023 rugby sevens season in terms of the USSA competition rules.
The local university narrowly beat Rhodes University 14-12 in the tournament opener which was played at the south campus fields in what would turn out to be a solitary victory in the rest of the tournament for Sol Plaatje.
SPU lost their next match against Walter Sisulu University (WSU) 19-14. The student side from Botswana (Botessa) also had a field day against the Diamond City team, beating them 19-14 as well.
The senior Sol Plaatje side was to collect yet another drubbing at the hands of WSU B who took the match honours 24-15.
The SPU invitational side had an equally unenviable record to show for their trouble in this tournament. WSU trounced SPU Invitational 30-7. Botessa then won their game 26-14 and Rhodes University beat SPU Invitational 26-14 only for Botessa to hand SPU their worst score in the closing round, beating SPU Invitational 29-0.
In the women’s section the University of Stellenbosch took the gold medal after beating Pretoria University 21-7 in the finals.
In the opening day’s matches on Saturday, Stellenbosch won 49-0 against the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT). However, the tables were turned when the two met in the second match which CPUT took 14-7. The University of Fort Hare also piled the pressure on Stellenbosch, drying them out 24-5 in the round robin stage.
Stellenbosch made it into the second round (Mervyn Taylor segment) where they beat University of Johannesburg 10-5 which earned them a spot in the women’s finals and the showdown with Pretoria University.
