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.
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.
Since the inception of the FNB Varsity Cup, the Ikey Tigers have been one of the strongest competitors, winning the title three times, in 2011, 2014 and 2025, and finishing runners up five times.
Stadium
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.
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.
Results:
Date Home team Score Away team Reference 20 March 2008 UCT 38–34 Maties 7 April 2008 Maties 16–10 UCT 2 February 2009 UCT 10–12 Maties 8 March 2010 Maties 23–17 UCT 29 March 2010 Maties 17–14 UCT 7 March 2011 UCT 16–37 Maties 12 March 2012 Maties 45–5 UCT 4 March 2013 UCT 15–37 Maties 10 February 2014 Maties 16–33 UCT 24 March 2014 UCT 20–8 Maties
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 3rd 8 Losing semi-finalists 2023 2nd 9 Losing finalists 2024 2nd 9 Losing finalists 2025 3rd 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
References
External links UCTRFC website UCT website Varsity Cup