“I love rugby and I love the queers, it was the natural thing to do!” said Khan, who works for the Gay and Lesbian Archives (GALA).

Siyavuya Makubalo: This year promises to be a great year for the Rhodes U21A side. The team bagged their second straight win against the Crusaders from Port Elizabeth.

DAN LOMBARD: FNB UP-Tuks successfully defended their Varsity Cup title when they beat FNB Maties 44-5. Throughout the season, captain Jono Ross and Courtnall Skosan played important parts in helping Tuks to win the competition for the second time. The two players spoke to Perdeby after the final about TuksRugby’s season so far.

The 2013 edition of the Steinhoff Varsity Cup drew to an end last Monday, with Tuks once again emerging as the victors. Playing away from home against a team that had beaten them in Round 4 (Maties), being unbeaten themselves, it seemed unlikely that Tuks was in with a chance. 

In the course of the tournament, they had also seen defeat at the hands of Pukke and NMMU. So why were neutrals not elated when the apparent underdogs not only won, but did so in emphatic style, 39 points clear of the hosts? The answer lies in the controversy that has stalked the team over the past two years concerning player eligibility. 

FNB UP-Tuks retained their Varsity Cup title by storming to a comprehensive 44-5 victory over FNB Maties at the Danie Craven Stadium in Stellenbosch on Monday.

The powerful Pretoria unit scored five tries to hand Maties their first defeat of the season, and just their third loss at home in six years of Varsity Cup rugby.

MAXINE TWADDLE: The University of Pretoria has been able to “get away with cheating in the Varsity Cup again”, Tank Lanning wrote in a Sport24 column, but UP has strongly denied allegations of cheating. This comes after the university, charged with fielding an ineligible player, faced disciplinary action from the Varsity Cup.

In 2008, a rugby tournament was founded to promote the ideal “student athlete.” These rare and beautiful creatures are capable not only of great feats on the field, but also of academic prowess off it.

For many promising highschool rugby footballers a choice loomed large, between professional rugby on the one hand and a competitive education on the other. The Steinhoff International Varsity Cup sought to propose a middle ground and in doing so provided a breeding ground for the future of the sport, and for life after retirement. Noble sentiments indeed.

But today, in 2013, the tournament faces a crisis, not of finances, but of morals. The University of Pretoria has been found guilty of fielding illegitimate players.

The tournament constitution requires that 18 of the 23 match day players be ‘bona fide registered students’. This requirement, read together with the purpose of the tournament, gives the impression that it defines registered students as those attending the University in the fullest sense, pursuing Bachelor’s degrees or possibly a Postgraduate degree. This may be what the constitution intended, but it is not what it says. In order to meet these criteria a player need only be registered for one course, and although on paper this would be sufficient, in reality it is a sham.

These are the allegations made against Tuks, that many of their players are not genuine students and far from attending class and submitting essays, can barely recall the name of the course they were signed up for in order to don the Tuks colours.

Although the extent of the breach is not known, the breach itself is no longer up for debate. Guilt was pronounced following an audit conducted by Advocate Jannie Lubbe. He recommended that rather than docking the team points for all four games, or disqualifying them from the competition, Tuks should be issued with a reprimand.

It is worth noting at this point that this was not the first time, but rather the fourth time, and that is only in the 2013 competition. In 2012 they were found guilty of the same offence, notably when the rules were more relaxed, requiring only 16 students in the match day 22. The result of that infringement? A reprimand. Recommended by? Advocate Jannie Lubbe.

Having paused to take in the gravity of this injustice, consider for a moment that Tuks finished last year at the top of the log and went on to beat Maties in the final. They were not docked points or disqualified. At the time of writing they are second on the log. This competition no longer reflects values of student sport nor does it remain a student competition. Unless the wording of the rules is changed and/or more strictly enforced, UCT and every other university should withhold participation in protest.

Every Monday students from around the country gather on fields and in front of TVs to “back their boytjies”, but ask yourself, whose boytjies are they?

Go to publisher's site: http://varsitynewspaper.co.za/sport/1431-boytjiegate-who-s-to-blame

Megan Kinnaird: Monday night saw the Ikeys get their first, and only, win of the 2013 Varsity Cup season, defeating Wits 50-40 on the Green Mile.

An exhilarating first half saw the Tigers sitting 42 points up by the break, but an ill-disciplined second half showing almost resulted in the win being ripped out of the Ikeys eagerly-awaiting hands.