Madibaz still chasing first win

NERVES will be jangling in the Madibaz dressing room tonight as they bid to pull off a dramatic great-escape victory over Tuks to preserve their Varsity Cup status.

After failing to win any of their opening seven games, even a win might not be enough to save the Port Elizabeth students from the big drop to the lower-tier Varsity Shield.

Now that they are no longer in control of their own destiny, the Madibaz will have to rely on another result going their way tonight even if they beat Tuks.

It is a precarious situation they find themselves in, in what will be a high-stakes game with massive rewards.

Even if they avoid automatic relegation by not finishing last, the Madibaz still face the prospect of a relegation playoff showdown against the second-placed Varsity Shield side.

Every second year, the team that finishes last in the Varsity Cup competition is automatically relegated to the Varsity Shield, while the team that finishes first in the Varsity Shield gains automatic promotion to the Varsity Cup.

The Varsity Cup team finishing second from bottom will play a promotion-relegation match against the Varsity Shield team that finishes second from the top.

The Madibaz are bottom of the log with four points, and trail the second-frombottom CUT Ixias side by three points.

If the Ixias win their final game against Shimlas in Bloemfontein, then the Madibaz’ fate will be sealed.

The Port Elizabeth side will throw all their efforts into one last push as they bid to topple Tuks on their home ground so that they have a chance of retaining their top-tier status.

Madibaz captain Riaan Esterhuizen said his team were determined to finish on a high note.

“The future of the squad is at stake and we have spoken as a team about the issues that are involved,” Esterhuizen said.

“We are definitely fired up to break through for that first win this season. All the guys are really hungry to achieve that.”

Esterhuizen has also promised that his team will fix their discipline which has let them down recently as they strive to end their season on a high.

Tuks have hardly set the world alight themselves this season, and have won only one game. In their last outing, Tuks fought back to secure a thrilling 30-30 draw against UJ after trailing 7-20 at the break at the Tuks Rugby Stadium.

It has been a frustrating season for the Madibaz, who came agonisingly close to grabbing victories in their games against Ikeys, CUT Ixias, Pukke and Shimlas.

But they were unable to get over the line, and this has left the Port Elizabeth side facing a relegation battle at the wrong end of the table.

In their last game, the Madibaz went down 28-22 to Shimlas in a tight contest.

One aspect of his team’s play that must be concerning coach David Maidza is their lack of firepower in their opening seven games.

They have only managed to score 118 points, which is the least of any of the nine teams in the competition.