Tuks struggle in the second half against UWC… and a shockingly poor referee performance
Although Tuks certainly experienced a slump in the second half of Monday's Varsity Cup match against UWC, a very poor performance by the inexperienced referee also cost them a lot of momentum.
Tuks won their duel with the University of the Western Cape (UWC) on Monday night by beating the Capetonians 31-26
In the process they scored five tries for a bonus point, which means they are second on the Varsity Cup log.
But statistics are not always a true reflection of what happened. Of course, there are other factors as well, some that reflect negatively on the team as such, but there are also other things that the team can do nothing about … such as the referee’s performance.
It was a game of contrasts. Tuks dominated in the first half to lead 26-10 by halftime. UWC was, however, not going to give up without a fight. Towards the latter stages of the game, UWC’s forwards started to hold their own in the scrums and contested the breakdowns.
The team’s resilience paid dividends. They pinned Tuks in their 22 metres, forcing them to make after mistake. Two of Tuks players got yellow carded in the last ten minutes. That enabled UWC to score twice. It was only through brilliant defence that Tuks ensured their victory.
Tuks’s head coach, Nico Luus, did not want to comment afterwards.
Perhaps Luus may still have struggled to process the very poor performance of the referee, Sean Muller, at that point. The man in charge got so carried away with UWC’s fightback attempt in the second half that at times he got totally flurried.
However, Luus did admit in a brief television interview that his team made far too many mistakes. A particular concern was the play at the breakdowns. Luus is a firm believer in keeping things simple on the field.
Tuks’s Johan Mulder was again impressive playing as scrumhalf. He has got a knack for testing any team’s defence-finding the gaps. He and Zander du Plessis (flyhalf) were the generals that kept guiding their teammates to the try line during the first half. Both of them scored tries.
On Friday, Tuks is playing Ikeys, who is currently the only unbeaten team in the Varsity Cup Tournament. On Monday they hammered CUT 76-5, scoring 12 tries. Tuks will need to step up and play rugby for the full 80 minutes.
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