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Cheating Tuks causing unrest

Cape Town - Varsity Cup teams are upset over the "light" punishment Tuks received for contravening the Varsity Cup constitution.

The Varsity Cup Executive Council (EXCO) declared a dispute against the defending champions after it was revealed that they had transgressed the tournament rule which requires a minimum amount of bona fide students in a match-day squad of 23.

The rule states that at least 18 of the 23 players on match-day must be bona fide registered students at the university for which they are playing to be eligible to play in the Varsity Cup.

According to the SA Rugby Magazine website, eight charges were laid against Tuks for fielding possible ineligible players in the Varsity Cup and Young Guns competitions.

Advocate Jannie Lubbe was asked to rule on the academic qualifications of the participants under review. He found Tuks guilty on four of the five charges in the Varsity Cup and not guilty of all three charges in the Young Guns competition.

All the guilty charges were related to one player, who didn’t have a positive attendance record and failed his exams. The university then allegedly cleared his academic record and enrolled him in a new course.

Lubbe handed Tuks a severe reprimand.

However, no points were deducted from the team which reportedly upset the other Varsity Cup teams. An undisclosed source told SA Rugby Magazine that "some universities didn’t want to play their matches" on Monday, but decided to play as they "didn’t want to jeopardise the competition".

However, the source revealed that the matter is not closed.

"There will be a number of conference calls happening this week. Expect some fireworks over the next couple of days."

Tuks finished second on the Varsity Cup log and will host the University of Johannesburg (UJ) in their semi-final match in Pretoria next Monday.

The table-topping Maties will host NMMU, who beat Tuks 13-7 on Monday night to sneak into fourth spot.

Varsity Rugby results on Monday:

Varsity Cup:

UJ 26-26 Shimlas
NMMU 13-7 Tuks
Maties 37-34 Pukke
UCT 50-40 Wits

Varsity Shield:

Fort Hare 12-36 CUT
UKZN 36-13 UWC

Varsity Cup semi-final line-up:

Monday, March 25:

Tuks v UJ, Pretoria

Maties v NMMU, Stellenbosch
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