“It has always been my philosophy to only make changes if it is for the better or necessitated by injuries or other uncontrollable circumstances. In this case we were fortunate enough to reward our 23 charges who all played a role in the 53-8 win against Wits with a full vote of confidence. Naming an unchanged side will do a lot for team spirit, momentum and continuity,” remarked Human.

By giving the ‘Wits 23’ a nod to also take charge against Shimlas, does not mean that Human will not expect more of his players.

“We played much better against Wits than in the opening round against UJ, but we’re far from saying or even thinking we’ve arrived. Despite the solid performance against Wits, there is still a lot of room for improvement in critical areas of our game. We can only build on the win against Wits if we are more clinical on the attack, at the break-downs and in converting chances into points,” said Human.

He agreed that his side may be suffering from ‘try-line fever’ as UP-Tuks lost the plot on too many occasions when they were on or very close to the Wits line.

“It is a challenge we have already addressed this week in field and video sessions. I expect a marked improvement in our finishing,” said Human.

UP-Tuks captain Reniel Hugo gave the assurance that his team will not make too much of the win against Wits as “it was only the second of seven obstacles we have to overcome in the group phase of the competition. Shimlas will pose bigger challenges as they play total rugby and their unpredictability makes them dangerous. Our focus now is only on beating them, full knowing we will have to be better than good to achieve this.”

Click here for the team sheet.