Marco van Staden and Dillyn Leyds have credited the Varsity Cup tournament as the stepping stone for their rise into the Springbok set-up.
The inaugural Varsity Cup took place in 2008 and the tournament has since produced 45 Springboks, including the likes of Van Staden, Leyds, Handré Pollard, Eben Etzebeth and Aphiwe Dyantyi.
With the 12th edition set to kick off on 4 February, Van Staden, who made his Test debut against Argentina last year, has attributed his meteoric rise to international rugby to the emergence of the Varsity Cup 11 years ago.
‘The Varsity Cup got me to where I am today by closing the gap between U21 rugby and senior rugby and that gave me the opportunity to perform at senior level,’ said Van Staden.
‘My greatest memory of the tournament is the celebrations with the whole university after every victory on a Monday, and my greatest moment was when Tuks won Varsity Cup in 2017.’
Leyds, who played for the UCT Ikeys and made his Test debut against France in 2017, shared Van Staden’s sentiments.
‘The Varsity Cup helped me adjust between age-group rugby and making that step up to senior-level rugby. That’s where some guys get lost in the system, and that’s something that Varsity Cup has tried to fill.
‘And you can see it’s doing that by the number of Springboks the tournament has produced. Many can vouch that Varsity Cup is the stepping stone to the next level. It has produced so many talented players, for unions and for this country.’
Varsity Cup Springboks:
1. Juan de Jongh
2. Coenie Oosthuizen
3. Eben Etzebeth
4. JJ Engelbrecht
5. Jaco Taute
6. Arno Botha
7. Trevor Nyakane
8. Lourens Adriaanse
9. Lood de Jager
10. Handré Pollard
11. Marcel van der Merwe
12. Oupa Mohojé
13. Marnitz Boshoff
14. Damian de Allende
15. Nizaam Carr
16. Vincent Koch
17. Rudy Paige
18. Ruan Combrinck
19. Franco Mostert
20. Jaco Kriel
21. Bongi Mbonambi
22. Malcolm Marx
23. Rohan Janse van Rensburg
24. Jamba Ulengo
25. Uzair Cassiem
26. Courtnall Skosan
27. Andries Coetzee
28. Raymond Rhule
29. Dillyn Leyds
30. Ruan Dreyer
31. Curwin Bosch
32. Wilco Louw
33. Warrick Gelant
34. Louis Schreuder
35. Ox Nche
36. Jason Jenkins
37. Travis Ismaiel
38. Akker van der Merwe
39. Marvin Orie
40. Rob du Preez
41. Embrose Papier
42. Aphiwe Dyantyi
43. Sibusiso Nkosi
44. Marco van Staden
45. Ivan van Zyl
Excited for #VarsityCup 2019? How can you not be after watching this! ??
Proudly brought to you by @FNBSA and @SteersSA. pic.twitter.com/JgsQGQXcoj
— Varsity Cup (@varsitycup) January 22, 2019
Photo: Gallo Images
