Small mistakes at crucial times and an inability to finish when opportunities arise are why Tuks suffered their fifth consecutive Varsity Cup defeat against Maties last night at Loftus Versfeld.

In addition, the Pretorians struggled in the set phases, which not only cost them a lot of momentum, but also directly affected the result due to a penalty try that was awarded to Maties after a scrum on the goal line.

Maties won 31-24. The result means no team is yet sure of contesting the semi-finals. On the log standings, the top teams are separated by five points. 

Ikeys is the log leaders with 19 points after four games. CUT is second with 18 points, followed by Tuks and Northwest Eagles, with 15 points and Maties on 14 points. Tuks have yet to play against both of these forerunners.

Monday, things are really going to heat up when Ikeys and CUT face off. They are currently the only two unbeaten teams in the tournament. On Tuesday, Maties plays against the Northwest Eagles. It is going to be another crunch game. As will be the Maties versus CUT encounter on Friday and Tuks versus Ikeys. 

Tuks’s head coach, Nico Luus, believes in letting bygones be bygones. 

“Naturally, we play to win, but on the day, Maties were the better team. We have only ourselves to blame for making mistakes at crucial times. As far as I am concerned, the game’s deciding moment might have been the try Maties scored in the dying minutes of the first half,” he said.

Maties had a 15-6 lead by half time. Twenty minutes into the second half, the score was 28-14. It looked like Maties might run away with things, but the Tuks players refused to give up as has become the norm. In the last six minutes, the deficit was only four points. It is this never say die attitude that excites Luus. 

“No one can fault the Tuks players’ commitment. I am proud of my players. What truly impressed me is how our scrums improved later in the game. The 19-year-old Damian Swartz did very good playing at tighthead. It was his first game playing for Tuks, but he did not allow himself to be pushed around,” Luus remarked. 

The coach admitted that their lineout play could have been better.

“But well-done to Maties. They did their homework. They picked up that we often opt to throw the ball deep. They were prepared and countered immediately. The important thing is to put the loss behind us and to focus on our next game, which is UWC on Monday,” Luus concluded.

Zander du Plessis (fullback), Louritz van der Schyff (centre), Clyde Lewis (scrumhalf/wing) and Hanru Sirgel (flanker) all impressed for Tuks. 

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