It will stand the UP-Tuks players to good stead this afternoon when they face off to UJ in their second Varsity Cup-encounter to be aware of the home team’s X-factor.

Any coach or player will tell you that it does not matter how much video analysis is being done; UJ remains one of those teams who always seem to have an “ace up their sleeve”. That spur of the moment brilliance that can change the outcome of any game in mere seconds.

Something else that might favour UJ is their coaches experience. Denzil Frans and Dewey Swartbooi were last year coaching the UP-Tuks Young Guns which means they got a fair idea of how the “Striped-up Team” go about doing things. 

However, none of this fazes Marius Verwey (UP-Tuks captain) as he believes on focusing only on the controllable. One of the best assets the big guy brings to any team is natural calmness.
 
“I believe you earn respect from your players if you respect them. That is why remaining calm no matter what happens during a game is important to me.  The moment you allow yourself to get worked up is when you set you and the team up for failure.”

Verwey honestly believes that UP-Tuks can beat UJ. However, he admits to it not going to be easy. 

“The one thing I have learned from playing Varsity Cup rugby is that there is never such thing as an easy game. You got to be playing to your best each time.”

During last week’s first encounter against CUT, the UP-Tuks players impressed with their rock solid defence. For 80 minutes every player had no hesitation to time and again put their bodies on the line to disrupt attacks. 

What was somewhat disconcerting was the play of the UP-Tuks backline. Individually every player had one or two moments of brilliance, but it happened too often that promising moves on the attack fizzled out to nothing because a player opted to run that few extra metres instead of passing. 

The few times Dewald Naude and Ciaran Dayaram got the opportunities to run with the ball it took some doing to stop them. Unfortunately having possible two of the best wings in the Varsity Cup Competition counts for nothing if they are not being involved when the team attacks.

Kickoff for this afternoon’s game at UJ is at 18:30.