BLOEMFONTEIN – The local men’s rugby teams of the University of the Free State (UFS) and Central University of Technology (CUT), Free State, are looking to bounce back in a high-stakes local derby on Monday 2 March in Bloemfontein.
Both teams fell by the wayside in the second round of the 2026 Varsity Cup. The matches were played at different venues on Monday 23 February.
The UFS Shimlas were unable to exploit their home turf advantage as they suffered a crucial 22 – 38 loss against a determined University of Pretoria (UP) Tuks. Victory against the UP-Tuks would have seen the Shimlas remain at the helm of the log table and improve their chances to secure a top-four slot.
In the opening round, the UFS lads overcame their arch-rivals, the Stellenbosch University’s Maties, in a 50 – 39 clash.
The second round of the competition saw the CUT Ixias suffer a 34 – 83 defeat in an away game against the University of Cape Town’s (UCT) Ikeys. The result leaves the local boys second from the bottom of the table. In the opening round of the competition, the Ixias suffered a 42 – 59 loss to the Eagles of the North West University (NWU) in a match played in Bloemfontein.
Both the Ixias and Shimlas are looking to make amends in their upcoming local derby taking place at the CUT Rugby Stadium. Kick-off is at 19:00.
While the Shimlas have historically dominated the derby, the rivalry has become more competitive in recent years. This is evidenced by the 16 – 9 scoreline in favour of Shimlas in last year’s tournament.
The CUT Ixias claimed bragging rights winning consecutive derbies in 2019, 2020 and 2021. The teams have faced each other ten times in the FNB Varsity Cup since 2015; the Shimlas have won eight of these derbies.
