It was to be expected that the majority of Tuks 1 players would be rusty after last seeing action on 14 August in the Carlton Cup Final and the mistake ridden first half can therefore be contributed to a lack of match sharpness.

Tuks’ slow start was helped on by the fiery Barbarains who was not at all intimidated by their ‘big name’ opponents, although the result was never in doubt.

In the second half Tuks 1 played much better after it was decided to let the ball do all the work on to only kick in real emergencies. This saw to much more continuity in Tuks 1’s play.

Tuks did however pay a high prize as their No 1 scrumhalf, Hendrik Blignaut, was injured and had to be withdrawn from the group of 25 players for the SAA National Club Championships starting in Stellenbosch next Saturday.

He is replaced by 20 year old Tertius Harmse, who has had a marvellous season himself as scrumhalf of Jongspan, which won the Blue Bulls u.21 club title.