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Blood, sweat, and cheers: a Shimla triumph

24 April 2024 | Story Anthony Mthembu | Photo Francois van Vuuren

Varsity Cup 2024 — The FNB UFS Shimlas are the winners of the 2024 FNB Varsity Cup.

The FNB UFS Shimlas are the winners of the 2024 FNB Varsity Cup. This comes after a 45-42 victory over the FNB UCT Ikeys in the final, which took place on 21 April 2024 at Shimla Park. “It was one of the best matches I have been involved in as a coach; both teams played unbelievable rugby and we are just so pleased to get this great result,” said Andre Tredoux, Head Coach of the FNB UFS Shimlas.

The last time the Shimlas won the title was in 2015. As such, Tredoux indicates that the team is thankful to bring the trophy home. Prof Francis Petersen – Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of the Free State (UFS) – was also in attendance at the final. In his congratulatory message, Prof Petersen described the match as a fantastic scene. “The team represented the University of the Free State; they represented one of our key values, which is excellence, but they also showed that sport – in this case rugby – has a social cohesion value,” he said.

The battle for the championship

Tredoux indicates that the match was a tough one, especially when the score stood at 14-0 and 31-19 against the Shimlas. He says the team had to dig deep to find its footing in the game again, considering that they were behind so early in the game. As such, he highlights, “It was a huge effort to get back into the game and keep playing as a team. We really focused on staying in the fight and being connected, as we knew Ikeys would tire in the later stage of the game.”

Subsequent to this monumental victory, he describes the team as having the ‘hearts of champions’ and credits their love and enthusiasm for the game as part of the reason for their success. In fact, one person who exemplifies this is the Shimla scrumhalf Jandre Nel, who was named the FNB Player that Rocks.

Furthermore, Tredoux thanks the UFS community for showing up in their numbers at the game. He also commends his team for working towards this victory, including “Inus Keyser, Mark Nichols, and Edith Maritz – our physiotherapist – for keeping the team healthy, as well as assistant coaches Melusi Mthethwa and Tiaan Liebenberg, and Jerry Laka, Director of Kovsie Sport at the UFS”.

Watch the highlights below:

News Archive

Valuable advice for businesses in difficult times

2013-04-15

Prof Helena van Zyl, Director of the Business School, and Dr Reuel Khoza.
Photo: Stephen Collett
15 April 2013

Dr Reuel Khoza, Chairman of the Nedbank Group, shared the group’s valuable rules for managing a bank in difficult times in an MBA lecture on the Bloemfontein Campus. Dr Khoza is a visiting professor at the UFS Business School.

He focused in the lecture on the group’s business and leadership model and highlighted some do’s and don’ts:

Do not surprise your stakeholders on the downside – communicate transparently, particularly when there is bad news.
Retrenching staff to contain costs should be a last resort – the damage to corporate culture from retrenchments is immense. Follow and support your customers – get as close to them as possible because business changes slowly, but customer behaviour can change in an instant.
Integrated central capital and funding management.
Entrench well-established reporting, KPIs and measurement systems.
Ensure strong independent risk management.
Manage your cost base – anticipate downturns and re-base your costs to avoid crisis-cost management.
Take advantage of opportunities – an economic downturn creates a situation where valuations fall and assets are sold off, which can be a great opportunity for acquisitions.
Keep innovating – innovation does not have to be a costly exercise, as the right culture can promote and encourage experimentation and collaboration.
Whatever you do – avoid a price war, as expedient pricing decisions may hurt the business in the longer term.

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