The Maties will get their title defence underway against the

Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) on February 1 at

4.30pm, with UCT and Shimlas playing the game before them (at

2.30pm) and UWC and Fort Hare, who will be vying for Varsity Cup

places in 2011, once again playing a pre-Varsity Cup curtain-raiser 

beforehand - as they did last year when the double headers took

place in Cape Town and Potchefstroom.

   Tuks' LC de Villiers Stadium will play host to the other two

Varsity Cup fixtures on the opening day - TUT v UJ and Tuks v

Pukke; that after the Men from Pretoria upgraded their floodlights

sufficiently in time for the start of the 2010 season.

   The Men from Pretoria, of course, lost the right to host their

home televised matches in 2009 after failing to upgrade their

lights accordingly - despite assuring tournament organisers that

they would address the issue. 

   They did, however, make the necessary moves to ensure that their 

new and improved floodlights met tournament regulations before

February. 

   All four opening matches will once again be televised live on

SuperSport - along with 15 other matches (two per week - 19 in

total) in the 2010 Varsity Cup; including both semifinals and the

final at the end of March.

   "Once again, I think the new Varsity Cup fixtures have thrown up 

some fantastic and mouth-watering match-ups," said Varsity Cup

Board Member Francois Pienaar.

   "That first Monday is shaping up as an exciting day's rugby (yet 

again), but there should once again be plenty to play for right up

until the final weekend - as there was in 2008 and 2009," he added.

   "Monday night rugby is back... and I, for one, cannot wait until 

the start of the 2010 Varsity Cup."

2010 FNB Varsity Cup presented by Steinhoff International fixtures:

(Home teams first, TV games in brackets.)

Monday, February 1 - Round One:

14.30: Shimlas v UCT, Xerox NMMU Stadium, PE (TV)

16.30: NMMU v Maties, Xerox NMMU Stadium (TV)

16.30: TUT v UJ, Tuks Rugby Stadium, Pretoria (TV)

18.30: Tuks v Pukke, Tuks Rugby Stadium (TV)

Monday, February 8 - Round Two:

16.30: UCT v Pukke, Groote Schuur, Cape Town (TV)

18.30: Shimlas v NMMU, Shimla Park, Bloemfontein (TV)

18.30: Tuks v UJ, Tuks Rugby Stadium

19.30: Maties v TUT, Danie Craven Stadium, Stellenbosch

Monday, February 15 - Round Three:

16.30: TUT v Tuks, TUT Stadium (TV)

18.30: UJ v Maties, UJ Stadium, Johannesburg

18.30: Pukke v Shimlas, Fanie du Toit Stadium, Potchefstroom (TV)

18.30: NMMU v UCT, NMMU Stadium

Monday, February 22 - Round Four:

16.30: UCT v TUT, Groote Schuur (TV)

18.30: Pukke v UJ, Fanie du Toit Stadium

18.30: Tuks v NMMU, Tuks Rugby Stadium (TV)

19.30: Maties v Shimlas, Danie Craven Stadium

Monday, March 1 - Round Five:

16.30: Maties v Tuks, Danie Craven Stadium (TV)

18.30: UJ v UCT, UJ Stadium (TV)

18.30: NMMU v Pukke, Xerox NMMU Stadium

18.30: Shimlas v TUT, Shimla Park

Monday, March 8 - Round Six:

16.30: UJ v NMMU, UJ Stadium (TV)

18.30: Tuks v Shimlas, Tuks Rugby Stadium

18.30: Pukke v TUT, Fanie du Toit Stadium

18.30: Maties v UCT, Danie Craven Stadium (TV)

Monday, March 15 - Round Seven:

16.30: Pukke v Maties, Fanie du Toit Stadium (TV)

18.30: UCT v Tuks, Groote Schuur

18.30: Shimlas v UJ, Shimla Park (TV)

18.30: TUT v NMMU, TUT Stadium

Monday, March 22 - Semifinals:

16.15: Semifinal One - Log position 2 v Log position 3, venue TBC

(TV)

18.30: Semifinal Two - Log position 1 v Log position 4, venue TBC

(TV)

Monday, March 29 - Final:

18.30: Final - Winner 1 v 4 v Winner 2 v 3, venue TBC (TV)Wim van

der Berg