Tuks run rampant against Madibaz to ensure their Varsity Cup status
Tuks ended their Varsity Cup campaign of 2018 on Monday with a resounding victory over the Madibaz of Port Elizabeth.
Former Bulls coach Nollis Marais has reason to smile again, after he over the past three weeks has managed to save Tuks’ Varsity Cup team from the imminent disaster of relegation that threatened them.
Marais’s help was called after Tuks lost their first five games consecutively. With three matches left in the league phase of the tournament, Tuks was dead last at the bottom of the log. They faced the threat of relegation since established Varsity Cup rules have determined that the team finishing last on the log this year will automatically be relegated.
To worsen matters, Tuks started the tournament this year as defensive champion.
Since Marais took over the reins from David Manuel Tuks underwent a metamorphosis. They started turning the ship around with a 54-26 victory over the Central University of Technology (CUT) on 12 March.
After that they caused a stir when their match against one of the forerunners in the tournament, the University of Johannesburg (UJ), ended in a draw (30-30). UJ eventually ended third on the log and therefore still had a chance to win the title.
On Monday night Tuks avoided any chance to be involved in possible relegation permutations when they destroyed the Madibaz (Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University) by scoring 11 tries on their way to an 82-21 victory in their final game of the tournament.
Thereby Tuks eventually finished seventh (third last) on the log. The Madibaz will now be automatically relegated to the Varsity Shield division, while CUT must play against Walter Sisulu University in a promotion/relegation match. The University of the Western Cape will automatically be promoted to the Varsity Cup division after they ended top of the log in the Shield division.
On Monday night Tuks not only crossed the tryline 11 times, but the rugby they played was streets ahead of their helplessness of earlier this season. They dominated the set pieces, made fewer handling errors and managed to finish almost every time when they came near the goal line.
Tuks’s backline players have had plenty of chance to run with the ball and the two wings have scored five tries between them.
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