Kovsies relishing chance to beat UJ in Varsity Netball semi-final

UFS Kovsies are relishing the prospect of home-ground advantage when they host UJ in the second semi-final of Varsity Netball 2026 on Monday 21 September (19:00) at the Callie Human Hall in Bloemfontein.

The five-time champions finished their round-robin campaign strongly, but two defeats earlier in the tournament saw them finish fourth overall.

One of those defeats came against the Orange Army, with the Kovsies going down 40-50 in Johannesburg.

Now, with a place in the final and a sixth Varsity Netball title within touching distance, captain Megan Erasmus believes the home crowd could make all the difference.

“I’m just very excited about the semi-final. It’s obviously going to be a good game against UJ. They’re very strong opponents. They’ve been unbeaten for the most part, until Tuks beat them this weekend.

“We’re very excited and we’re really going to take this opportunity to go to the final. Then we want to win the Varsity Netball and get the sixth star on our dresses.

“We’re very excited about the home-ground advantage. The Callie (Human Hall) always has an amazing atmosphere, and it’s just so great to see all the people come to support us.

“We work hard every day, just like other teams. This week we’re just going into some preparation. We’re doing some analysis on UJ, so, yeah, we’re just very excited.

“We have a very wide variety of players in our team. We have strong players in each position.

“And yes, not everything went well in this Varsity Netball, but you know what? Rome wasn’t built in a day. And we believe that we learned from each game, and we’ve grown so much as a team, working together.”

For coach Burta de Kock, Monday’s clash represents another important milestone as she enters the final stretch of her tenure at the helm of Kovsies.

De Kock has backed her squad to embrace the occasion, with the Callie Human expected to be buzzing as the Kovsies chase another appearance in the final.

“We are so grateful for such a brilliant, brilliant group of players. We reached the semi-finals.

“UJ are always strong, but they also struggled this weekend with a loss. I don’t think they want to play against us at the Callie, so we are looking forward to it.

“It is a totally new competition. We will go out full gun, with brilliant, brilliant players and good preparation.

“We have a lot of contributions from the captain and from the other assistant captains, as well as my coaches with me. So, I’m looking forward to this week.”

Fixtures HERE.

Tickets HERE.