Blikkies Groenewald, UP-Tuks’ head coach, said he is relieved at his team’s win as “we came here with an injury ridden squad and really had to dig deep to get 22 fit match fit players on the park. In the end the guys stuck to their task and did what I asked them to do: win. It was not always pretty rugby, but effective enough to make a statement of intent. As things stand now we will be able to field a stronger against Maties as key players like Dirk Dippenaar, GD Kotzee and Dabeon Draghoender all look set to make their return.”

UP-Tuks’ five tries against Roses United were scored by Jono van Rensburg, Pieter Oosthuizen, Louis van Biljon, Zane Botha and Tian Schoeman. Schoeman added another 11 points with four conversions and a penalty goal. Karlo Aspeling succeeded with a conversion.

Monday will be the third time this season that UP-Tuks will clash swords with Maties. The first time was in the 2011 Varsity Cup Series, one that UP-Tuks won convincingly. The second meeting was in Wellington at the 2011 USSA Championships when Maties had their revenge.