Tuks clinch third Varsity Cup
• Dominant pack secures title for Pretoria students in come-from-behind win as potent Maties backline neutralised
Tuks secured their third Varsity Cup title with a thrilling victory over Maties in Pretoria. Tuks turned a 13-15 halftime deficit into a 28-21 winning scoreline.
Tuks secured their third Varsity Cup title with a thrilling victory over Maties in Pretoria.
In a contest between the competition’s two heavyweights, Tuks turned a 13-15 halftime deficit into a 28-21 winning scoreline on Monday to grab a hat-trick of victories and their first title since 2013.
Maties have also lifted the coveted trophy three times, the most recent time in 2010.
Pretoria University and Stellenbosch University are the two most successful teams in the intervarsity competition. A total of 25 Springboks have been produced along the way, including Eben Etzebeth, Damian de Allende, Bongi Mbonambi and Coenie Oosthuizen.
The 10th final, at Tuks’ home field, was a thriller in front of a packed house, the outcome hanging in the balance to the end. Maties, trailing by seven points with seconds left on the clock, launched a counter-strike from deep inside their half and carried through many phases towards the 22m line, but it was all in vain when the ball was knocked on. Game over.
Tuks’s hardworking pack
deserves all the plaudits.
The front eight were too strong for their opposite numbers, especially at the scrums while also owning most of the other physical exchanges.
The men from the Cape winelands lost key lineout ball, which played a part in their demise. Their hopes in a second straight final and seventh overall rested with their talented backline which had excelled in just about every one of the previous eight games.
And while the backs often did run strongly in both halves, the fact that their pack were under the cosh in the tight exchanges meant most of the moves executed were from a position of weakness.
It was a forward battle for most of the 80 minutes with Tuks’ engine-room staff bullying proceedings at will.
That was how Maties used to go about taming their rivals in the early days of the competition. Clearly, there has been a changing of the guard, with Tuks doing the bidding.
Their back seven played starring roles as well.
“It’s been a team effort from day one,” said Tuks coach Pote Human. “We wanted this trophy badly. So, mission accomplished. Maties are a tremendous side and they made us sweat to the very end. “Our game plan for the final was the same as in the other games: play smart and be disciplined at all times.
“As for our overall season, there was just the one loss from 10 games by one point in the third round of the pool phase at UJ,” Human said.
“And we put 100 points past CUT of the Free State.
“We ended up topping the nine-team table that earned us a home semifinal, and while we had to dig deep here to down 2015 winners Shimlas, it ensured us a home final.”
It was a bridge too far for the Maties who suffered just two defeats overall, the same as in the 2016 campaign.