It is still early days but judging by how UP-Tuks dominated the second half of their Varsity Cup-encounter against the team of UJ it seems as if they are hell-bent on restoring the university’s honour on the rugby field.
During halftime yesterday UP-Tuks was only leading 14-10, and it looked to be anyone’s game however the “Striped-up Boys” were rejuvenated over the last 40 minutes scoring four tries, ensuring they got that oh so important bonus point. The final score was 40-19.
UP-Tuks was again brilliant on defence. The statistics prove it. In two games they have scored nine tries and only conceded two. The big difference this time around according to Nollis Marais (head coach) was that the players did not let scoring opportunities go to waste.
They possibly could have scored one or two more tries, but during the last 20 minutes, Marais substituted quite a few players to ensure everyone got some game time. Sort of “stocktaking” before Monday’s game against Maties.
“Overall it was a much better performance. Last week against CUT our forwards conceded seven penalties during the scrums, but they were much more disciplined against UJ. However, the one thing we need to work on is conceding less offside penalties especially when we play Maties next week,” said Marais.
Marius Verwey (captain) ascribed their dominance to them being able to stick their game plan.
“The forwards set up a solid platform which allowed our backs to be creative. As good as we played against UJ we still can’t afford to get overconfident. The reality is that we are still making too many mistakes which could cost us when we play against teams like Maties.”
Tinus de Beer (fly half) played a blinder yesterday being the proverbial “backline general mastering his troops” to set up attack after attack. He converted five tries as well as scoring a try. According to De Beer he was only doing what is expected from him.
“Whenever the team converts their opportunities to tries it is my job to ensure that we get those two extra points. We did not do anything fancy, we just made sure we played the right areas. If you are able to play the territorial battle to perfection retain the ball and are patient, there will be gaps opening. Then you just need to score, and we did. I am proud of how we played against UJ.”
Erich Cronje (outside centre) again impressed every time he got to run with the ball. He deservedly scored a try which clinched “The Player that rocks award” for him.
The UP-Tuks Young Guns won their encounter against UJ 17-8. Dabeon Draghoender (coach) however is far from happy.
“We played badly. Our intensity was poor. In spite of having a territorial advantage, we were not able to convert our chances. Our ball retention was not up to standard; we were not able to set up more than three consecutive phases when on the attack. I can just go on to list mistakes. However, I got to give the players credit for how they defended. If we play the same against Maties, we will be in for hiding next to nothing.”
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