Simanga vows fight to death in playoff
Fiery All Blacks shine as Varsity Shield newcomers
DESPITE the disappointment of the Walter Sisulu University All Blacks losing the Varsity Shield final, there was still reason to cheer for Border Varsity Shield teams at the culmination of this year’s edition.
The All Blacks, along with the University of Fort Hare Blues, saw individual players rewarded for their outstanding play over the season, with All Blacks hooker Maliviwe Simanga named overall player of the tournament and Blues flank Chuma Biyana named forward of the tournament, after the final on Monday evening.
For Simanga, it was just reward for a fantastic season where he lit up the Varsity Shield, running in five tries and putting in some massive performances that helped his team reach the final in just their second year in the competition.
A highlights video of him in action during the early stages of the season even went viral as people responded positively to his exciting style of play.
“I am very happy to have got the award. I wasn’t expecting to be nominated but I feel really honoured to have been given this award,” said Simanga.
“I think I could have done more though to be honest. I did play well but I feel like I have more to offer and could have contributed further, so I just have to do more training and try and give everything I have.”
In all, the All Blacks only lost twice over their campaign, both against the champion University of the Western Cape team, who proved they were by far the best Varsity Shield side.
But the All Blacks also showed that they are a team to be reckoned with, having made the semis in their first ever Varsity Shield season and then going one better this year, showing the constant improvements they have been making.
“I am very proud of the boys, we started really well last year and just missed out, losing in the semis, and this year we came back and proved that we belong at the top and made the final, so it was really good work from the whole team,” claimed Simanga.
“But I think we could have done better. The team battled to gel at stages but we managed to pull through, so I think there is room for improvement as we have a really talented team that can go far.”
Looking ahead, the All Blacks will be hard at work getting ready for their massive Varsity Cup playoff match against the Central University of Technology Ixias next week Monday. Due to finishing runner-up in the Shield and with the Ixias finishing second from bottom of the Cup, the two sides will now battle it out to see who will compete in the next two editions of the Varsity Cup.
“We are going to be really fired up.
“We want to make a statement after losing the final and we feel we deserve a place in the Varsity Cup, so the guys are going to be ready for the match and we are looking forward to the challenge,” admitted Simanga.
“If we miss out, we know it will be another two years before we will get another shot at making it to the Varsity Cup, so that is a big motivating factor for us and I am sure we will pull through.
“I am very excited for the game, I am sure it is going to be at another level, it is going to be very tough but we want to prove we can play with the best.”
The playoff will take place as one of the curtainraisers to Monday’s Varsity Cup final and will be broadcast live on SuperSport 1, with kick- off at 2.15pm.