By Raylene Captain-Hasthibeer
The UKZN Impi enjoyed a runaway 62-15 victory against Rhodes University in their opening game of the Varsity Shield rugby tournament at Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria.
UKZN honours student, Azakhiwe Afrika won the FNB Player That Rocks award in the game, which saw the Impi team score 10 tries, two penalties and two conversions.
The excitement was evident in these @varsityshield tweets: “The @UKZN_Rugby Impi start their FNB Varsity Shield campaign in emphatic fashion. Llawdden Roux collects a great offload and storms his way over for the opener.”
“Skills for Afrika! Beautiful work from the @UKZN Rugby backline as they string together the passes and Azakhiwe Afrika puts on the finishing touch.”
Mark Bashe, Manager: Student Health and Sport at UKZN congratulated the team on their win. “They played extremely well and gave it their all for the entire match. Our sincere thanks go to the Campus Return Task Team (CRTT) for allowing our students to return to campus and prepare for the tournament.
“Our UKZN team will do us proud this year and I have no doubt they will be top contenders for the championship trophy,” said Bashe.
This year’s Varsity Cup and Varsity Shield tournaments, sponsored by FNB and Steers, are taking place in a secure bio-bubble at the FNB Varsity Cup Village hosted by the University of Pretoria to ensure the safety of teams and their coaching staff.
UKZN won the FNB Varsity Shield Championship in 2015 after beating Wits 29-24 at the Wits Rugby Stadium in Johannesburg. Visit the Varsity Cup website to meet this year’s Impi team:
www.varsitycup.co.za/university/ukzn
To back the boys, follow the Impi on Twitter: @UKZN_Rugby and tune in to the games live on SuperSport (DSTV channel 211).