KATLEGO PHEEHA
Less than a week after claiming their first Varsity Cup title, the Tuks1 rugby team took to the field to begin the defence of their Carlton Cup title.
After claiming the Varsity Cup, Tuks management released a statement on the TuksSport website claiming that the team was aiming for a treble victory this year: the Varsity Cup, the Carlton Cup and the USSA Championship to be held at Wits later this year.
The team started their Carlton Cup campaign on a high when they thrashed tournament newcomers Eastern Eagles 101-9 in the opening round of the competition, scoring 15 tries and conceding none. It was the first time since 2009, when Tuks beat Brits 130-0, that a century was scored.
Next, the team played Naka Bulle who proved to be much more of a challenge for the defending champions, as Naka held them to a 27-19 win. “I would not like to take anything away from Naka as they made us labour for every point, but all in all it was a very disappointing and frustrating performance by us. By deviating from the game plan, we played right into their hands. The most important lesson we will take from this hard-earned win is that the honeymoon is over. The 101-9 win against Eastern Eagles in the opening round was a once-off and I am sure all the players realise that now. We cannot take anything for granted anymore and will have to make the necessary shift in attitude to not be caught off guard again,” said Bart Schoeman, head coach of Tuks1.
Tuks’s next fixture was won by default when opponents Silver Valke informed TuksRugby that they would not be able to field a side for the match. Under the by-laws of the competition, Tuks won by default won 40-0 (the equivalent of a five-try win) was recorded for official purposes. The following fixture on the calendar was a rematch of a Varsity Cup Pretoria derby between TUT and Tuks. Tuks beat the TUT Vikings 40-0 in a Varsity Cup round-robin game ang they were again beaten 66-6 by Tuks at the TUT Stadium. Tuks’s Johann Tromp scored a hat-trick in the game, with other tries from Hayden Groepes (2), Kurt Haupt (2), Dabeon Draghoender, Frederik Eksteen and Fanie Booysen. Cameron Dunlop, brother of 2012 Varsity Cup Player of the Tournament Wesley Dunlop, added to the score with eight successful conversions. Tuks have now scored 32 tries in this year’s competition and have only conceded one. Despite a seemingly convincing win against their Pretoria rivals, Coach Schoeman still described the win as “uninspiring”. “One should not like to be perceived as ungrateful or even greedy because many coaches would have taken 66-6 with a smile. In our case, however, we were up 47-6 at the break but it took us 30 frustrating minutes to score again. This is totally unacceptable as we could and should have put a much bigger score on the board. Our single biggest problem was that we deviated from the game plan by playing like 15 individuals and not as a team. This lack of coherence will cost us dearly against a stronger opponent and we’ll have to up our game considerably if we want to beat Centurion on Saturday,” he said.
Tuks1 now sits at the top of the log in the Carlton Cup. Tuks1 has not lost a rugby match since losing to Maties on 27 February in the Varsity Cup. See the Carlton Cup log below.
Photo: Brad Donald
| CARLTON 1e LIGA | ||||||||||
|
Speel |
W |
V |
G |
Pte V |
Pte T |
Verskil |
Bonus Pte |
Liga Pte |
Pte Verbeur |
|
| Tukkies |
5 |
4 |
1 |
0 |
269 |
122 |
147 |
5 |
21 |
0 |
| Silver Valke |
5 |
3 |
2 |
0 |
157 |
117 |
40 |
5 |
16 |
1 |
| TUT |
5 |
3 |
2 |
0 |
141 |
128 |
13 |
4 |
16 |
0 |
| Polisie |
5 |
3 |
2 |
0 |
167 |
121 |
46 |
3 |
15 |
0 |
| Centurion |
5 |
3 |
2 |
0 |
144 |
134 |
10 |
1 |
13 |
0 |
| Naka Bulle |
5 |
2 |
3 |
0 |
123 |
163 |
-40 |
3 |
11 |
0 |
| Harlequins |
6 |
0 |
6 |
0 |
113 |
329 |
-216 |
0 |
-1 |
1 |
