TuksWomensRugby head coach Lizanne Jacobs believes her team has what it takes to overcome Maties in the 2025 FNB Varsity Cup final on Friday, 11 April, in Stellenbosch—if they stay composed and patient under pressure.

Although Maties edged Tuks 23–17 in the group stages, Jacobs is confident the outcome could be different this time around.

"Against Maties, we ran out of time. We had the upper hand in the scrums and lineouts. The team is capable of doing so again. During training this week, we worked on a few things to improve the interplay between the forwards. It will be of cardinal importance in the final for the players when they control the ball not to do things overhastily. They must think before they do," said Jacobs.

"Maties' backline is the team's strength. That's why putting the scrumhalf, flyhalf, and inside centre under pressure from the start will be important. Especially the inside centre. Once she's through a gap, it's hard to stop her because she is a strong runner."

On Friday, it is the first time Tuks will play in the Varsity Cup women's final. The previous two times, Tuks lost out in the semifinals. But this time, the captain, Jess Mare, promised that come what may, Tuks would play in the final. It certainly took a lot of courage to pull it off. It was only after almost 90 minutes of play that Precious Tlaka was able to seal the match for Tuks with a penalty. It meant Tuks got the better of last year's champions, Fort Hare, winning 8-5. 

Jacobs still gets excited about her team's performance in the semi-finals.

"We told the 'girls' beforehand that there will come a stage in the match where we will tell them to 'empty their tanks.' It meant they should not hold anything back. Every player did precisely that. They played their hearts out from the start. Our team dynamic was incredible. The players had each other's back. When one made a mistake, there was a teammate to correct it."

Jacobs considers the tackle made by Tlaka to be the turning point in the match against Fort Hare.

"One of the Fort Hare players broke through. She is pretty big, but that didn't stop Precious despite being skinny and small. When she went for the tackle, she didn't hold back. It was metres from the goal line. When Precious got up, she shook her shoulders a few times and went to take her place as flyhalf with a few tears streaming down her cheeks. That was the attitude of our players that day.

"The penalty that Precious succeeded with was just as remarkable. Because she is so small and delicate in stature, she struggles to get enough strength behind the ball when she kicks for the posts. The last time Precious seriously practised kicking for the posts was last year. But when the penalty was awarded against Fort Hare, she decided to go for the posts and succeeded."