Tough times don’t last. Tough teams do.

The University of Pretoria (Tuks) rugby team proved this saying on Monday night when they beat the North-West University’s North West Eagles 31-3 in the Varsity Cup final at the Hillcrest Sports Campus in Pretoria.

Pretoria Rekord reports that with this performance, Tuks made history. They are the first team to win the Varsity Cup six times. They also did so in 2012, 2013, 2017, 2021 and 2022.

The team’s journey over the past four years is like a sporting fairy tale.

In 2023, Tuks were down and out. They lost all seven of their matches in the Varsity Cup and were relegated to the Shield Tournament. The next year, 2024, they fought back and won the Shield to be promoted back to the cup competition, where they belong.

Last year, Tuks contested the Varsity Cup semi-final, and now they are champions again.

It can be predicted with almost certainty that what Tuks achieved will not happen again.

Back to the principle of when the going gets tough, the tough get going. After the first 20 or so minutes of Monday night’s final, few would have tipped Tuks to win. The Eagles were dominating. In one of the first scrums, the Eagles pushed Tuks’ forwards metres back. Like slow poison, Tuks processed the pressure and then started to change things around.

The home team was leading 10-3 at halftime and never relented from then on.

The way Tuks defended was brilliant. They put their shoulders onto the bodies of their opponents, forced turnovers at the breakdowns and slowed the ball down. It led to the Eagles not getting the opportunities they wanted. In contrast, Tuks took points when they were available, as it should be done in a final.

‘Showing character’ is the phrase Tuks’ coach, Dewey Swartbooi, uses to describe his team’s on-field heroics.

He emphasises that the Eagles are a formidable team, as they proved in the semi-final against Stellenbosch University (Maties).

“I take my hat off to our players for preventing the Eagles from scoring any tries. Good defence is proof of a team’s character. If the Eagles had scored a try, things could have turned out completely differently,” Swartbooi explains.

What impressed the coach throughout is that everyone played as if they were possessed.

“I could see in the players’ eyes that they would put in a great effort. It didn’t matter who was on the field. All that mattered was to give 100%. Both our props were injured in the first half, but nothing changed. Randy Muzungu and Barnard Nortje immediately played at the same high intensity level when they took to the field. That’s what makes this team so good – that will to be at your best,” he says.

For Swartbooi, Monday night’s effort wasn’t the perfect game – the one where you can afterwards say ‘I love it when a plan comes together’.

Swartbooi refuses to be seen as one of the ‘saviours’ of Tuks rugby.

“No, I am not. I am just Dewey. It is the players who have bought into the plan over the past three years that made the difference in Tuks rugby,” was his immediate reaction to any praise from friend and foe to the success of the season.

Asked how it feels to be Varsity Cup champions after the game, Tuks’ captain Dillon Smith says he does not have words.

“I am feeling ecstatic. I am so proud of the boys. Our journey has been tough. We really had to dig deep to achieve what we did. It has been a privilege to play for the ‘Tuks Stripes’,” an exuberant Smith remarks.

Andile Myeni, who produced a brilliant solo run to score a point of origin try for Tuks, was the Player that Rocks. Tuks’ hooker, Jean Fourie, also dotted down. It was his ninth try in the tournament, the most for any player.

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