Tuks make things difficult for themselves against Shimlas
After two weeks during which no Varsity Cup action was possible due to Covid problems, Tuks appeared rusty on Monday night in their return match against Shimlas, while they made many unforced errors that the Bloemfontein men could exploit.
Tuks had a ‘looks at the scoreboard’ moment last night when they beat the Shimlas 42-39 in a Varsity Cup encounter at Loftus Versfeld.
It was definitely not one of Tuks’s best performances. At one stage, they were leading 20-0 but then things slowly starting to unravel. With 18 minutes left to play, Tuks was trailing 32-39.
Zander du Plessis (fullback) only managed to seal the victory for Tuks in the 83rd minute, kicking a penalty goal.
But as the legendary Springbok, Boy Louw reasoned nearly 80 years ago, it is not how a team plays but who wins that matters. The statistics will show that Tuks had won last night. More importantly, they scored five tries to gain a bonus point.
It means the team is still second on the log standings with 27 points after seven games. Ikeys are the log leaders with 31 points. Maties has 25 points. CUT is on 22 points after six games, and NWU has 19 points after six rounds. It means there are still five teams contesting to play the semi-finals.
Conrad Boshoff (TuksRugby manager) praised Shimlas for their never say die attitude.
“I think we definitely played the better rugby in the first 30 minutes, but then we let things slip. It is something you don’t do, especially when playing against the Shimlas. It allowed them back in the game. Once they started scoring tries, they gained confidence,” Boshoff explained.
Credit must also go to Pote Human, the Shimlas coach. He is brilliant in reading the game, finding ways to disrupt an opposing team’s play in the scrums and lineouts.
“The one thing that became clear last night is that Tuks is also a team that won’t go down without a fight. We proved that we will take the game to the dying seconds doing whatever it takes to win. That bides well for the rest of the tournament,” said Boshoff.
According to Boshoff, the tighthead prop, Etienne Janeke, made a real difference in the second half as a replacement. He scored two tries. Du Plessis and David Coetzer (flyhalf) also played well.
Tuks is playing the Madibaz on Thursday. Judging by the results, it should be an easy game, but Boshoff does not believe in taking anything for granted in the Varsity Cup Tournament.
“The score line is not a true reflection of how the Madibaz played against Maties yesterday. They made Maties work for every try giving as good as they got in that the first 20 or so minutes,” he concluded.
Do you have more information about the story?
Please send us an email to editorial@rekord.co.za or phone us on 083 625 4114.
For free breaking and community news, visit Rekord’s websites: Rekord East
For more news and interesting articles, like Rekord on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or Instagram
