Even so, it will be a tough ask to become the first team to beat Maties this season, especially in front of their partisan crowd.

“Varsity Cup rugby is unpredictable and Tuks usually keep their best for Maties,” added Grobler.

Tuks takes it as a given that UJ will be on top in their last group match against NMMU in Port Elizabeth, ending on 17 points at least. It is, however, more probable that UJ will score four or more tries to take home a full tally of 5 log points.

As the log stands now, Tuks are fourth with 16 and UJ fifth with 13.

“In circumstances like these people tend to play around with all the different permutations, but we as coaches and the players as well know the only way to reach the semi-final is to beat Maties”, said Grobler.

As for his teams’s performance against UJ, Grobler said it was touch and go.

“We lost because we missed too many kicks at goal and the captain (Johan de Bruin) still maintains that Tuks scored a try in the last two minutes that could have been our saving grace. As it turned out, the TMO was of other persuasion and did not award the try. This was only one of the critical decisions that went against us,” said Grobler.