Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items

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

Researchers receive study grant for research into Congo Fever

2015-03-10

UFS researchers will be contributing significantly to the search for a vaccine against the deadly tick-borne disease known as Congo Fever.

Prof Felicity Burt from the Department of Medical Microbiology and Virology was recently awarded a research grant by the National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS) to study candidate vaccines for Crimean-Congo heamorrhagic fever (CCHF) virus and other arboviruses.

Arboviruses are viruses transmitted by mosquitoes, ticks, or other arthropods.

Prof Burt is an internationally-recognised expert on the Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF). The Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF) virus is a tick-borne virus that is associated with severe haemorrhagic disease in South Africa and other parts of Africa, Asia, and eastern Europe. Her interests focus on medically significant viruses that are transmitted by ticks and mosquitoes. Her research group is involved in determining the immune responses that are induced by different viral proteins.

Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF) virus, a tick- borne virus found in Africa, Asia, the Balkans, and eastern Europe, causes severe viral haemorrhagic fever outbreaks.

Although a number of tick species are capable of becoming infected with CCHF virus, ticks of the genus Hyalomma, commonly referred to in SA as the “bont-legged ticks”, are the principal vector. The ticks have distinctive brown and white bands on their legs.

In February 1981, the first case of CCHF was recognised in South Africa (SA). To date, there have been nearly 200 cases of CCHF infection in SA with a 20% fatality rate. The majority of cases occurring in SA were in patients from the Northern Cape and Free State provinces.

“The funding that has been awarded will be used to profile immune responses against CCHF viral proteins, and investigate mechanisms and strategies to enhance these immune responses. We hope that the study will contribute knowledge towards the development of a vaccine against this medically significant virus.”

For more information or enquiries contact news@ufs.ac.za.

Back

Economic and Management Sciences

Education

Health Sciences

The Humanities

Law

Natural and Agricultural Sciences

Theology and Religion

Open Distance Learning

Business School

We use cookies to make interactions with our websites and services easy and meaningful. To better understand how they are used, read more about the UFS cookie policy. By continuing to use this site you are giving us your consent to do this.

Accept