Their senior counterparts may have left the Varsity Cup competition a bit prematurely, but the NWU Eagles Young Guns aimed to go all the way when they squared off against Tuks in Stellenbosch on Monday, 25 April. It was not to be. The team from Pretoria, doing what Pretoria-based teams seem to be doing in every conceivable rugby competition in South Africa over the past year, beat the Eagles Young Guns 22–14. 

It is not the fairy-tale ending the boys were hoping for, but the journey proved to be memorable. 

He is no longer the reigning, defending, undisputed Two Oceans Half-Marathon champion. However, Elroy Gelant transcends the above-mentioned moniker. After the 2020 and 2021 half-marathons had been scrapped due to the Covid-19 pandemic, on Sunday, 17 April 2022 Gelant relinquished the title he had won in 2019. Yet he again showed the grit and resolve that have been hallmarks of his exceptional career. Gelant claimed silver, which is a great achievement that is made exceptional if one takes into consideration the thigh muscle injury he sustained at the 2021 Olympic Games in Japan.

Bertie Jacobs

Bertie Jacobs

Bertie Jacobs

Bertie Jacobs

The Netherlands won, but hockey triumphed. When the final whistle blew on Tuesday, 12 April, it was the Dutch fans who cheered and the players clad in orange who celebrated as the Netherlands beat Germany conclusively 3–1 in the final of the FIH Women’s Hockey Junior World Cup at the Astroturf of the North-West University (NWU) in Potchefstroom.

Bertie Jacobs

Oh my goodness, it is going to be a very close call. On Monday evening, 4 April the Eagles kept their playoff hopes alive in a sopping wet Bloemfontein by beating the CUT Ixias by 33–14.

Bertie Jacobs

Bertie Jacobs

It is no joke. From 1 April, the North-West University (NWU) will host the 2022 Women's FIH Hockey Junior World Cup at the Astroturf fields in Potchefstroom.

This is the ninth time the event has been presented, and it would have taken place in December, but the Omicron variant of the Covid-19 virus put paid to those plans.

Now, 16 teams comprising the best under-21 hockey players on the planet will come together next to the Mooi River from 1 to 12 April.

The virtues of the style of rugby that the Shimlas have been playing has been extolled from all corners. Pundits praised their enterprising playing style and willingness to run with the ball. A loss against Wits exposed some cracks preventing an impressive win, and then, on Monday, 14 March in Bloemfontein, the NWU Eagles caused a quake with a 32–22 win against the men from the University of the Free State.

The Eagles got off to a rollicking start and led 20–0 after outside centre Tino Swanepoel had dotted down twice. Nivan Petersen slotted two penalties and two conversions.