There is something special happening here and either heartbreak or euphoria await. On Monday night, 10 April, the North-West University (NWU) Eagles beat Maties from Stellenbosch University 19-10 in Potchefstroom to advance to the Varsity Cup finals. Take a bow, boys.

The Eagles’ defense again proved telling. They tackled like organized demons. It should be remembered that the Eagles’ only defeat in the 2023 competition came at the hands of Maties, and it has been a few years since the Eagles last recorded a victory over Maties. They will be well chuffed to get that bogey off their shoulders.

The Eagles led Maties 7-3 heading into the break after Tino Swanepoel scored and within the first ten minutes, and Zindedine Robinson landed the conversion. Swanepoel also scored his team’s first try in the second stanza, which was nothing short of superb. Robinson again converted before Jandre de Beer went over after a rolling maul.

The victors will now face Ikeys from the University of Cape Town (UCT) in the finals on Monday, 17 April at the Fanie du Toit Sport Grounds in Potchefstroom.

The Eagles will be hoping to emulate their 2016 counterparts, which was the first and only NWU team to win the Varsity Cup. They will also be wary not to repeat the mistakes of 2014, when they also faced Ikeys at the same venue.

The Eagles looked set to claim a maiden Varsity Cup title, and with five minutes to go, campaign corks were already popping. Then the unfathomable happened. Ikeys scored three tries in quick succession – the last with time gone on the clock – to shatter every NWU heart.

That was nine years ago. Plenty of time to plot revenge, hey?

*Two Eagles, Gustav Erlank and Vernon Paulo has been nominated as the tournament’s overall Player That Rocks, together with Shimlas’ Lourens Oosthuizen