Poor show as varsity teams slip
Blues and All Blacks must dig deep in last games
It was a disappointing night in the Varsity Shield for the Fort Hare Blues and Walter Sisulu University All Blacks on Monday, leaving both teams with a tricky end to their pool stage campaigns.
The Blues lost 41-25 away against the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) in Cape Town, while the All Blacks’ poor home form continued as they went down 2827 against the University of KwaZulu-Natal Impi, their third home loss in a row.
For the Blues the result leaves them with an uphill task to qualify for the semifinals, with them currently fifth on the log on six points, six behind the All Blacks in fourth.
“Unfortunately, we played catch up rugby again which has been our biggest downfall this season,” admitted Blues coach Lumumba Currie.
“One of our biggest challenges has been our decisionmaking. At crucial [times] on the field we have made wrong decisions and CPUT made us pay.
“There were some times that we showed some very good play, especially our forwards who had a good night, and a few of our backs, but there were not enough of those moments to help us win.”
In their final two pool matches, the All Blacks will need maximum points if they want a chance of progressing to the semis, but will face a massive challenge taking on the Impi away and then hosting the table-topping Nelson Mandela Bay Madibaz in their last game.
“I think that we need to try and bounce back from this loss. In this competition, anything can happen, so we travel to UKZN next week looking for a win,” said Currie.
“They are in good form this season and have won most of their games and then we host the Madibaz in our last game, but we believe we can beat anyone in this competition on our day. So we just want to make sure that we finish the pool stages on a high.”
For the All Blacks they only have one game left in the group stage, with the next week a bye for them.
They will conclude against the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) Vikings in Pretoria in two weeks’ time and depending on the coming weeks’ results, may have already qualified for the semis. Or, they may need to win the match with a bonus point to reach the knockout stage.
“We need this break. We have played a lot of rugby over a few weeks and the guys need to have a rest, so we will enjoy the bye week coming up,” said All Blacks team manager Akhona Mgijima.
“In terms of a home semifinal we have been told that the semifinals will be a doubleheader and will be held at the team who finishes top of the log, so we are already out of the running, so finishing second is neither here nor there any more.
“But our destiny is still in our own hands, we have to go and beat TUT with a bonus point up in Pretoria in two weeks time and that will seal our place in the semifinals.”
The Blues will be back in action next Monday against the Impi, kick-off at 6.30pm.