Ikey Tigers

The Ikey Tigers are a South African rugby union team from the University of Cape Town in the Western Cape who compete in the FNB Varsity Cup.

UCT Ikey Tigers

Full name	University of Cape Town Rugby Football Club
Location	Cape Town, South Africa
Region	Western Cape
Ground(s)	UCT Rugby Fields- The Green Mile [1] (Capacity: 4000+)
Captain(s)	Siphumezo Dyonase
League(s)	FNB Varsity Cup
2025	3rd
Team kit
Official website
www.uctrfc.co.za

History

The "Ikey" nickname originated in the 1910s as an antisemitic epithet applied to UCT students by the students of Stellenbosch University, because of the supposed large number of Jewish students at UCT.^[2]

Since the inception of the FNB Varsity Cup, the Ikey Tigers have been one of the strongest competitors, finishing runners up in 2008 and 2010. Both final loses fell at the hands of the Ikeys arch rival, the Maties. In 2008 UCT went down to Maties by 16–10 in the inaugural Varsity Cup final after topping the log at the end of the round robin stage of the competition. In 2009, UCT were once again prominent in the round robin stage, finishing second and qualifying for a second home semi-final. They lost the game to the NWU Pukke by 17–19.

The 2010 Varsity Cup saw another strong showing from UCT as they once again finished second on the log. They qualified for their second final by beating the Shimlas of Free State at home by 27–21. They then went on to play Maties in the final with the game resulting in the closest winning margin in the history of the competition with Maties winning by 17–14.

In 2011 UCT finished second on the log for a third successive time and claimed an unprecedented 4th Semi-Final appearance. They once again faced Shimlas in their home semi-final, beating them by 57–20 to qualify for their third final. The 2011 final took place on 11 April in Pretoria featuring UCT against Tuks. UCT won by 26–16 to claim their first ever Varsity Cup title.

Stadium

The rugby fields at UCT

The Ikey Tigers play their home fixtures on the Groote Schuur Rugby Field which is adjacent to the university campus. The fields are known commonly by UCT students as The Green Mile. Since the inception of the Varsity Cup, the field has not met the required standards for night fixtures which has resulted in UCT playing two "home" finals away, namely in 2008 when they had to travel to Stellenbosch to play Maties and in 2011 when they had to travel to Pretoria to play Tuks. On 7 March 2011 the UCT rugby club received a $1 million donation from Neville Isdell which allowed them to dust off their longtime plans to build a proper rugby stadium.^[3]

Rivalries

The Ikey Tigers main rivalry is with Stellenbosch University's Maties. The rivalry is fuelled by the relative geographical proximity of the two universities, and their status as the two top universities in the Western Cape. This rivalry is further intensified by the fact that they are the two most successful teams in the competition and have competed two finals against each other. Matches between these two teams draw large crowds and are normally televised on SuperSport.

Results:

Date	Home Team	Score	Away Team	Reference
20 March 2008	UCT	38–34	Maties	[4]
7 April 2008	Maties	16–10	UCT	[5]
2 February 2009	UCT	10–12	Maties	[6]
8 March 2010	Maties	23–17	UCT	[7]
29 March 2010	Maties	17–14	UCT	[8]
7 March 2011	UCT	16–37	Maties	[9]
12 March 2012	Maties	45–5	UCT	[10]
4 March 2013	UCT	15–37	Maties	[11]
10 February 2014	Maties	16–33	UCT	[12]
24 March 2014	UCT	20–8	Maties	[13]

Current squad

The squad for the 2016 Varsity Cup was named as follows:^[14]

UCT Ikey Tigers Varsity Cup squad
Hookers Brenton Greaves Keagan Timm Malanus Pesach Props Joel Carew Alex Goldstein Michael Kumbirai David Maasch Samuel Theron Msizi Zondi Locks Olwethu Hans Jade Kriel Gary Porter Duncan John Saffy	Loose forwards Guy Alexander (c) Brendan Ross Clements Jason Klaasen Sean Paterson Mark Prior Aphiwe Qaba Alva Junior Senderayi Luke Stringer Nyasha Tarusenga Tino Zakeyo Scrum-halves Hilio de Abreu Stefano de Gouveia Dylan-Lee Tidbury Steve Wallace Fly-halves Robert Anderson Tom Bednall	Centres Paul Hendry Justin Heunis Rico Lategan Sebastian Rudolph Adran Roodt Joel Clive Smith Wingers Suwi Chibale Bradley Janse van Rensburg Rayno Mapoe Nate Nel Jesse Wilensky Lihleli Xoli Fullbacks Khanyo Ngcukana Gerard Pieterse
(c) Denotes team captain.

Season standings

Ikey Tigers Varsity Cup Final Standings
Season	Position	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	BP	Pts	Play-off Result
2008	2nd	7	6	0	1	260	149	+111	7	31	Losing finalists
2009	1st	7	5	0	2	177	121	+56	5	25	Losing semi-finalists
2010	2nd	7	5	1	1	223	139	+84	3	25	Losing finalists
2011	2nd	7	5	0	2	213	134	+79	3	23	Champions
2012	7th	7	1	1	5	164	195	–31	3	9	Won relegation play-off
2013	7th	7	1	2	4	159	198	–39	3	11
2014	2nd	7	5	0	2	186	141	+45	4	24	Champions
2015	3rd	7	4	1	2	258	157	+101	4	22	Losing semi-finalists
2016	8th	7	0	0	7	103	324	–221	3	3	Won relegation play-off
2017	8th	8	2	0	6	140	248	−108	1	9
2018	6th	8	4	0	4	182	181	+1	5	21
2019	5th	8	3	1	4	227	262	−35	6	20
2021	2nd	9	8	1	0	174			7	41	Losing finalists
2022	3th	8									Losing semi-finalists
2023	2nd	9									Losing finalists[15]
2024	2nd	9									Losing finalists[16]
2025	3th	9									Champions

Individual records

• Tries (Season): Mathew Turner (9 tries in 2008); Therlow Pietersen (7 tries in 2011); Therlow Pietersen (6 tries in 2009)
• Tries (Career): Therlow Pietersen (15 in 2009–11); Marcello Sampson (14 in 2008–10); Nyasha Tarusenga (14 in 2015–19); Ntokozo Makhaza (14 in 2022-2024)
• Most Points (Season): Demetri Catrakilis (136 in 2011)
• Most Points (Career): Ntokozo Makhaza (267 in 2024–2025)

Player awards

• 2008 Top Try Scorer – Mathew Turner (9 tries)
• 2009 Top Try Scorer – Therlow Pietersen (6 tries)
• 2009 Back That Rocks – Therlow Pietersen
• 2011 Top Try Scorer – Therlow Pietersen (7 tries)
• 2011 Top Points Scorer – Demetri Catrakilis (136 points)
• 2014 Forward That Rocks – Shaun McDonald
• 2024 Overall Player That Rocks – Ntokozo Makhaza

Notable players and coaches

• Jake White - Assistant Coach 2008
• Bobby Skinstad - Assistant Coach 2008
• Robbie Fleck - Assistant Coach 2009
• Mathew Turner - Wing 2008
• Tim Whitehead - Center 2008
• Kyle Brown - Wing 2008
• JJ Gagiano - 8th Man 2008–2010
• Siya Kolisi - Flank 2010
• Marcel Brache - Wing 2010–2011
• Nic Groom - Scrumhalf 2010–2011
• Demetri Catrakilis - Fly Half 2011
• Nizaam Carr - Flank 2011
• Eben Etzebeth - Lock 2011
• Don Armand - Lock, flank 2008–2011
• Damian de Allende - Centre 2012
• Oli Kebble - Prop 2013
• Huw Jones - Centre 2014

See also

• FNB Varsity Cup
• 2011 Varsity Cup
• University of Cape Town
• FNB