Cheetahs' signing of NWU star shows unions are tapping into value-for-money Varsity Cup market

The Cheetahs on Monday announced that they had signed Vernon Paulo on a two-year deal, a piece of recruitment that once again highlights the latent value to be had in targeting Varsity Cup stars.

The NWU Eagles hooker, part of their title-winning squad this year, is part of a substantial group of young men who have made their debuts in this season's Currie Cup campaign or will be available from next year onwards.

News24 takes a look.

VERNON PAULO (Cheetahs)

An Oakdale alumnus, Paulo was superb as an Eagles' dynamo in the front-row, eye-catchingly bustling but also willing to put in the hard yards in terms of work rate.

He reserved his best performance for when the stakes were at their highest - a thrilling final against Ikeys.

Paulo scored a brace of tries and also memorably flattened opposition half-back Asad Moos in the second half in a Man of the Match showing.

The Cheetahs wasted little time stating that they are "proud to have such a hard-working young man to add to the team".

RUAN 'SAMPIE' SWIEGERS (Pumas)

Much like Marcell Coetzee, Swiegers hails from the rugby backwaters of Empangeni and moved to NWU solely to study before he caught the eye playing hostel (koshuis) rugby.

Chaka Willemse, the Eagles' grizzled assistant coach, realised the young prop was the son of his former Bulls team-mate, Gielie, and took him under his wing.

Swiegers was inspirational in his final year of varsity rugby, proving an outstanding leader and, importantly, is an accomplished and sometimes devastating scrummer, a rare commodity in many upcoming front-row forwards.

READ | One for the late bloomers: Eagles skipper Sampie Swiegers, the Varsity Cup's made man

Acutely aware of how hard he's had to work to get here, he'll fit in seamlessly in Jimmy