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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

Faculty of Health Sciences celebrates various successes

2015-01-12

The Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of the Free State achieved a number of successes in the course of 2014. This included awards, presentations and keynote addresses at conferences, as well as publications in various journals.

Some of the highlights are:

• Dr Madelein Koning from the Department of Internal Medicine received the Vice-Chancellor’s award for Excellence in Teaching and Learning during November. Prof Alan St Claire Gibson said the award is richly deserved, given Dr Koning’s many years of high-quality teaching and input to particularly the fifth-year MB ChB students.

• Prof Schalk Wentzel, Head of the Department of Urology, was elected President of the South African College of Urology, and Prof Alicia Sherriff from the Department of Oncology was elected President of the South African College of Oncology. Prof William Rae was appointed to the College of Radiologists. These are the highest and most prestigious offices an academic clinician can hold or be elected to in the specialty of their choice. Prof Rae also published an article in the Journal of Infectious Diseases.

• Prof Nats Mofolo, Head of the Department of Family Medicine, gave a keynote address at the Free State Health Indaba hosted by the Free State Department of Health.

• Dr Holtzhausen from the Department of Sports and Exercise Medicine chaired and delivered a presentation at the 6th Clinical Sport and Exercise Medicine Conference of SA held in Cape Town from 22 to 24 October 2014. He was also the convener of the conference. His presentation was titled ‘Safer exercise in apparently healthy individuals and those with possible risk factors for chronic disease and injury’.

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