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04 April 2019 | Story Ruan Bruwer | Photo Varsity Cup
Lubabalo Dobela
Flyhalf Lubabalo Dobela will be an important cog in the wheel for the Shimlas against the Maties in the semi-final stage of the Varsity Cup. He has been named Player that Rocks twice this year.

The Shimlas (University of the Free State) will go into the semi-final against the unbeaten Maties with confidence, knowing that they can compete against them, said coach Hendro Scholtz.

The Shimlas will travel to Stellenbosch for the Varsity Cup clash on Monday (8 April). They qualified for the play-offs thanks to a 38-14 victory over the University of Johannesburg (UJ) in the final round of the competition on Monday 1 April 2019.

The Free State students lost to the Maties by 59-14 two weeks ago, and although the score reflects a big hiding, the Shimlas stood tall for most of the encounter.

“With 18 minutes remaining, we trailed by only ten points (14-24). We can gain confidence from that. We learned a couple of things about them. We will have to stop their driving mall and be sharp when it comes to our discipline. They will hurt us if we concede penalties,” said Scholtz.

According to him, it is important to get off to a good start. “You often sit with students who have other things to think about apart from rugby, such as upcoming tests, which can hamper their concentration. Against UJ in the wet, it was important to play the conditions right, and I think it made the players concentrate that little bit more.”

The Shimlas won four of their eight group matches and will look back on their defeats against the Pukke and Ixias as matches that they could easily have won on another day.

It is the fifth time in the 12 years of the Varsity Cup that the Shimlas have reached the final-four stage, with one win in 2015 over the Ikeys.

The Shimlas will be without two of their key men among the forwards – the injured flank Janco Cloete and hooker Hanno Snyman.

News Archive

Scientists discover a water reservoir beneath the Free State
2009-12-09

Dr Holger Sommer

The Mantle Research Group Bloemfontein (MRGB), under the leadership of Dr Holger Sommer, a senior lecturer in the Department of Geology at the University of the Free State (UFS), has discovered an enormous water reservoir 160 km beneath the Free State.

This discovery, according to Dr Sommer, is the first of its kind in South Africa after he had previously made a similar finding in Colorado, USA.

However, this water cannot be used for human consumption. “It is not frozen water; it is not molecular water; it is not fresh water; it is not salty water; it is OH – water which is sitting in the crystal lattice,” he said.

He said the reservoir was comparable in size to Lake Victoria in Tanzania.
The researchers collected eclogites from the Roberts Victor (Rovic) Mine close to the town of Boshof, south-west of the Free State, for their study.

“The Rovic eclogites are rocks which represent former oceanic crust transported into the earth’s interior by complex plate tectonic processes about 2.0 billion years ago,” explained Dr Sommer.

“These rocks were finally carried back to the earth’s surface by volcanic (kimberlite) eruptions around 130 million years ago. Eclogitic rocks are therefore a window into the Earth’s interior.”

The question from the beginning for all MRGB scientists was: Is there water inside these rocks in such depth, and if so, where is it located?

To answer this question, Dr Sommer and his research fellows separated single mineral grains from eclogite samples and prepared about 100 micrometer (0,1 mm) thick rock sections. Afterwards, specific particle accelerator (Synchrotron) measurements were carried out in the city of Karlsruhe in Germany.

“And indeed, the MRGB found water inside the studied rocks from the Roberts Victor Mine,” he said. “The water was located in defect structures in crystal lattices and along boundaries between single mineral grains.”

“The occurrence of water at such depth would give first evidence that all water of the oceans could be stored five to ten times in the earth’s mantle.”
The study was conducted about a year ago.
 

Media Release
Issued by: Mangaliso Radebe
Assistant Director: Media Liaison
Tel: 051 401 2828
Cell: 078 460 3320
E-mail: radebemt.stg@ufs.ac.za
4 December 2009

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