Tuks may have lost 48-35 to Shimlas in Round 7 of the 2025 FNB Varsity Cup competition, but what counts in sport is not how you fall but how you get up. The Tuks head coach, Dewey Swartbooi, says his team will not be short on motivation when they face UCT Ikeys in the semi-finals on home soil on Monday, 7 April.

"We had two goals at the start of the season. The first was to make sure we qualified for the semifinals. The second was to play in the semifinals on our home field. We achieved both. But the battle is far from won. As far as we are concerned, Monday is the first of two finals. This means every player will have to play like never before."

Swartbooi had no excuses for his team's defeat against Shimlas.

"The players went out with the idea of winning, but Shimlas were desperate to win—and with good reason. For them, it was do or die. If Shimlas had lost, their campaign as the reigning Varsity Cup champions would have ended.

"To be honest, Shimlas were the better team on the day. They put us under pressure in the lineouts early on. We lost the first four lineouts on our throw-ins. Kudos also to Shimlas. They did their homework beforehand. Until yesterday, we had a lot of success with our rolling mauls. Shimlas, however, found a way to counter us.

"What impressed me about Tuks was the way they never gave up. They kept fighting back to the end. The players' courage makes me excited for Monday.

"To summarise, Tuks lost because we didn't use our chances. The players' discipline also let them down. In the first 15 minutes, we were mainly on the attack. I know of at least five occasions where we could have scored points but didn't. One try during that time could have turned the game for us. It would have meant that the team did not need to play catch-up.

"The player's discipline genuinely led them down on Monday. I still want to check how many penalties we conceded. One of the realities of rugby is that no team can expect to win if they keep making mistakes at crucial times. So, starting tomorrow, my message to the players will be that it is back to the basics. They got to stick to what worked for them."

Maties ended up topping the log with 30 points after seven games. Tuks finished second with 27 points, Ikeys got 26 and Shimlas got 22.

So on Monday at 16:45, Tuks play Ikeys in the first semi-final. Maties and Shimlas will face off at 19:00 in Stellenbosch.

The Tuks vs Ikeys clash has all the makings of being a humdinger. Since 2018, the two teams have played each other on 18 occasions. Ikeys has won nine times, while Tuks were victorious on eight occasions. In 2019, the game ended in a 26-all draw. Since 2021 Ikeys has won three of the last five encounters.

Tuks' most significant victory was in 2016 when they won 100-25, while Ikeys won the encounter in 2008, beating Tuks 55-24. In 18 games, Tuks have scored 560 points and Ikeys 504, which equates theoretically to Tuks, on average winning 31-28.