Tuks beating UWC 51-19 in Round 5 of the 2022 FNB Varsity Cup season proves the team is back to its winning ways, but the players can't afford to rest on their laurels.

The next four weeks are going to be a full-on war. Only the top four teams get to play the semifinals. The problem is that there are still seven teams in contention after round five. As things stand Ikeys tops the log with 21 points. Maties are second with 20 points and Shimlas third with 17 points. Tuks, UJ and Wits are all on 15, while Northwest has 13. Things will undoubtedly change as few Derbies are yet to be played. 

Tuks's head coach, Nico Luus, is under no illusions as to what awaits his team. 

"From Monday, we can't afford to play one bad game. One loss could end our aspirations of defending the Varsity Cup title we won last year. I guess the same goes for any other team with aspirations of winning. Tuks needs at least 15 points to remain in contention, according to my calculations. It means that we need to bonus-point victories at least.”

Luus is quietly confident of Tuks getting a bonus point on Monday when they play CUT at home. But after that, things will get challenging as Tuks will play Wits, Shimlas and UJ. 

The Tuks coach is happy with how his players went about things in yesterday's away game against UWC.

"As expected, the wind was a factor which made things tricky. Overall I think we had a good game. The players were disciplined. I am impressed with how the forwards are playing better with each game. Against UWC, they gave as good as they got in the mauls and the scrums were solid. 

"The one thing we need to work on is our 'game management. At times the players still battled to play in the right areas."

According to Luus, the turning point in the game possible was when the flanker Dian Schoonees got the ball near Tuks's try line and started a movement that led to Bernard van der Linde scoring a seven-point try. Clyde Lewis made no mistake with the conversion. Before that, UWC had scored twice to narrow the score to 35-19. They looked poised to stage a comeback. 

Tuks's tighthead prop, Ethan Burger, was also impressive. At first, he was not in the starting lineup, but Luus made a last-minute change. Burger did not disappoint. He scored Tuks's first try in the second minute. 13 minutes later, Burger forced his way over the try line again. 

Tuks 51 (28) – Tries: Ethan Burger (2), Bernard van der Linde (1x5, 1x7), Allister Williams, Orateng Koikanyang, Divan Venter. Conversions: Clyde Lewis (7)
UWC 19 (0) – Tries: Aydon Topley, Justin Theys, Shaine Orderson. Conversions: Lyle Hendricks (2).
FNB Player That Rocks: Tiaan de Klerk (FNB UP-Tuks)