TuksRugby achieved something this year that has happened only once before in Varsity Cup rugby – all three participating teams qualified for their respective semi-finals.

This coming Monday, Tuks will play at home against UJ in the Varsity Cup semi-finals. The same day, Tuks’ Young Guns will play Shimlas. Next Friday, Tuks’ women’s team will also be in action in the semi-finals of their competition.

At this stage, it is not clear who the women’s team will play. Everything depends on what happens in the last group of matches on Friday. Tuks will meet UWC – currently second on the log – in this last round of league fixtures.

In 2023, all three Maties rugby teams reached the Varsity Cup semi-finals. The Maties women’s team was the only one to be crowned champions.

Tuks’ first team finished as the log leaders on Monday afternoon after they beat UJ 51-22. It was refreshing to see that Tuks did not have to play catch-up rugby this time. At half-time, they were 32-15 ahead.

Captain Dillon Smith had reason to be satisfied with his team’s performance.

“It was important for us to get off to a good start early on in the game. That was something we haven’t been able to do in the last three or four games. Yesterday, it felt like the pride of playing for Tuks was back. We want to make the university proud,” he remarked after the game.

“It was important for me to have an impact on the game when I came on as a substitute. The team was playing so well, I didn’t want to be the one who was letting the team down,” Smith said about his fifth try of the season.

How difficult is it going to be playing against UJ for the second consecutive Monday?

“Monday is different. It’s the semi-finals, so there’s everything to play for. We can’t afford to rest on our laurels. It’s going to be a different UJ team we’re playing against. We’re going to try to keep the game tight,” Smith commented.

With the victory against UJ, Tuks moved its points tally on the log to 31. Northwest Eagles are second with 28 points, Maties third with 26 points and UJ fourth with 21 points. This means Maties will face the Eagles in the semi-finals in Potchefstroom on Monday.

The Eagles are the leading try scorers in the competition with 46. Tuks’ 43 tries are the second most. Hooker Jean Fourie is Tuks’ top try scorer with seven. Andile Myeni (wing) has scored six, and captain Dillon Smith has scored five.

Fourie, a fourth-year BSc Human Physiology and Pharmacology student, is modest when asked about his try-scoring ability.

“Most of the tries I scored came from rolling mauls. The one that stands out was when we drove with the ball for almost 17 metres before I scored,” he said.

Fourie did not score against UJ on Monday, but with a brilliant break, almost like a centre would, he caught the defence off guard, ran several metres before passing to Jacques Oberholzer, who scored.

“Because I’m small for a forward, it’s important to me that my ball-handling skills are impeccable. I’ve also worked hard to sharpen my defensive skills,” Fourie concluded.

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