With four Varsity Cup victories secured in four games and an added four bonus points to top the log gave Nico Luus (Tuks head rugby coach) cause to be smiling last night.
Tuks were brilliant at times in the way they went about beating Shimlas 43-33. Naturally, the home team first had to play catch-up. Within the first eight minutes, Shimlas scored twice to take a 14-0 lead.
Tuks's fans might have thought here we go again. It is going to be humdinger right up to the final seconds, but like slow poison, Tuks recovered from the visitors early Blitzkrieg. Towards the end of the first half, they started to dominate, scoring four tries in the next 30 minutes of play to take a 43-19 lead.
Luus joked afterwards saying it seems as his team first has to take a "knock to the chin" to get them to start playing good rugby.
"Overall, I am happy with the way 'we' played. There were definite moments where we played our best rugby of the season. It was exciting to seeing the players opting to play the ball wide. It shows they are gaining confidence."
Tuks's left-winger, Kabelo Mokoena, come to his own every time Tuks took the ball wide. His try in 43rd minute was as if out of a textbook. He did everything expected of a winger. Sidestepping the flailing arms of desperate Shimla defenders over 40 metres.
It was his fourth try in four games. Mokoena refuses to take sole credit for any of the tries he scored.
"It is a team effort. As a winger, my job is to finish what we started. I got to give credit to my coaches. They told me to back myself, and that is what I am doing."
Luus was impressed with the passion and fire with which Marcel Barnard (lock) played.
"From the very first moment, Marcel gave it his all and never relented. Our loose forwards - Karools Smit, Hanru Sirgel and Hendrik Bezuidenhout - were also brilliant. It would be wrong also not to mention Andre van der Merwe (loosehead) and Jean-Pierre Smith (tighthead). They laid the foundation for our victory."
Smit deservedly got the man of the match award. He is possibly the loose forward with the highest work rate in the Varsity Cup. On average, during a game, Smit would make 15 or more tackles. Often you would see him bouncing back on to his feet as he has executed a tackle to go at it again immediately.
Once he has got the ball in his hands, it is hard to stop him. Last night he scored twice. Smit could be compared to the legendary "Duracell Bunny" who never runs out of energy.
Tuks points scorers: Tries: Karools Smit (2), Stefan Coetzee, Kabelo Mokoena, Sango Xamlashe, Lesley October. Penalty: Fiela Boshoff. Conversions: Boshoff (3), Alexander du Plessis (1). Shimlas: Tries: Charl Pretorius (2), George Rossouw (2), William Eybers. Conversions: JP Duvenhage (4).
Tuks's Young Guns lost 32-25 to Shimlas. It is their first defeat.
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