It is often said good things come in pairs and as far as the Tuks Varsity Cup rugby team is concerned, it is true. 

After Tuks's first two games the lyrics of Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder's hit song "Ebony and ivory" springs to mind when searching for ways to describe the play of Tuks's centre-pairing - Wian van Niekerk and Sango Xamlashe. On the field, they certainly play together in perfect harmony.

Centres are vital players for any team. They are required to have the ability to think on their feet, so they can deceive the opposition by using individual or combined skills. Being fearless and committed to defence is another vital requirement. Van Niekerk and Xamlashe ticks all the boxes. 

The statistics will back this up. Last year the centre-pairing was instrumental in helping the Bulls win the SA Rugby Under-21 Championship. Van Niekerk's onfield heroics did not go unnoticed. He received the award as the Bulls best under-21 backline player. 

The centre-pairing have set them now the challenge to help Tuks win the Varsity Cup-title.

Van Niekerk credits his "working relationship" with Xamlashe to a complete understanding. Apparently, it is often a case of the one knowing what the other is planning without any words ever spoken.

As to his role Van Niekerk said: "As an inside centre I got to be able to make decisions because it is at this point in the chain that the options begin to appear. It is my job to deliver different types of passes that open up the gaps in the defensive line. Often it is also the inside centre along with the openside flanker who ends up making the most tackles."

Van Niekerk hails from Paarl Gymnasium, so it is no surprise that the former Springbok captain, Jean de Villiers, is one his heroes. 

Tuks has scored nine tries in their first two Varsity Cup encounters against the Northwest University and CUT. Werner Fourie (hooker) with three tries to his name is, for now, Tuks's top try scorer. Van Niekerk and Xamlashe have both dotted down once.

Fiela Boshoff (flyhalf) is one of the tournament’s top points scorers. He has scored a trie, succeeded with a drop-goal as well as four penalty goals and six conversions. 

On Monday, Tuks is playing UJ at home. Kickoff is at 19:00. Tuks's Young Guns who last week has outplayed CUT to win 47-23 is playing against UJ at 17:00.