It’s good to play spectacular rugby and get your stadium full of spectators. Yes, everyone likes a team that gives the ball air and attacks from everywhere on the field. But is it really winning rugby?

It will be quite interesting to get the coaching staff of the Shimlas in Bloemfontein’s response to this question after Monday night’s Varsity Cup semi-final in Bloemfontein, during which Tuks beat the Shimlas 29-21 against all expectations.

When Pote Human announced at the end of last year that he was leaving Bloemfontein to coach in America and therefore also leaving the position of head coach of Shimlas vacant, the distress in the Free State capital was short-lived.

Because then the management of the University of the Free State’s rugby club came forward with a group of coaches in charge of affairs at the Shimlas who watered the mouths of “running rugby” prophets. Swys de Bruin as Director of Rugby, André Tredoux as head coach and assistant coaches such as Hendro Scholtz and Tiaan Liebenberg.

De Bruin’s rugby philosophy is well known. He wants to score tries and entertain the spectators. Ditto for Tredoux. And Scholtz and Liebenberg both come from the mill of Free State rugby, which has been trying to live out this philosophy for years, except at the time when Rassie Erasmus coached them and they could suddenly win the Currie Cup again – after almost three decades – with structure and presentation rugby…

Tuks’ coach Nico Luus is a man who understands how play-off matches work. And he understands structure and percentage rugby. In addition, he knows from all his years as a player in the Carlton Cup league that the only way to beat teams that play adventurous rugby is to first dominate them up front so that they do not get enough quality possession; then, secondly to have accurate kickers in your team; and thirdly to have a waterproof defence pattern drilled into your players.

How does the old saying goes? – Tries place bums on seats, but good defence wins matches…

Tuks applied this simple, yet effective and proven recipe on Monday night, while striking like hawks to exploit every mistake of the favourites. Et voilà – the men about whose rugby onslaught all the “experts” drooled so much during the season got stuck in the most important game of the tournament.

No one is going to remember how many tries they scored throughout the season. No one is going to remember how they gave everyone goosebumps with their exciting style of rugby. All that will be written in the history books is that Tuks advanced to the final, even though the Shimlas ended at the top of the log and even though they were everyone’s favourite to win the cup this year.

Tuks have won three of their four Varsity Cup titles so far by beating Maties in the final. Only in 2019 could the men of Stellenbosch win a final against their arch-enemy of Pretoria. In addition, the two teams dominate the history of the Varsity Cup with four titles each. That makes next week’s final a huge occasion.

Can Tuks once again trump the maroon jerseys on their home ground in Stellenbosch as in 2013? Will the same guts and focus they showed in Bloemfontein on Monday night be enough again this time?

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