CHARLES SIWELE
Tuks take on Shimlas at Tuks Rugby Stadium on Monday without their captain, Jono Ross and top try-scorer, Clayton Blommetjies. The pair have been called up by the Blue Bulls for the Vodacom Cup game against the Griquas and will therefore not be available for selection on Monday.
“It’s a huge setback as both Jono and Blomme are in top form and have been adding a lot of value to the campaign. Jono has also captained the side with distinction. It was expected that they were destined for senior provincial rugby and we were not caught off-guard by the call-up,” Tuks head coach, Nollis Marais told the TuksSport website. While Tuks will be without their current captain on Monday, a former Tuks captain, Shaun Davids, will be making his first return to Pretoria since his move to Shimlas in 2010.
Tuks, who will go into this game off the back of a narrow 22-23 defeat by Maties, will be excepting a tough challenge from Shimlas. Shimlas head into the fifth round of the Varsity Cup competition looking to bounce back from a heavy 18-50 loss at home to UJ.
Shimlas had an explosive start to the season with a 38-10 victory over Ikeys in Cape Town but since then they have suffered three consecutive losses to NMMU, Maties and UJ.
Tuks head into Monday’s match as slight favourites to take the win. It is unlikely, however, that Tuks will achieve an easy win over a team with a reputation for making comebacks. Shimlas’ captain, Willie Britz, admits there is a lot of pressure on his team to get a positive result. “We must beat Tuks next Monday. Well, we must win every game now.”
The last time that the two teams met was last year when Shimlas made home advantage count and won 20-15 in Bloemfontein. Tuks will be looking to reverse the score or better it this time around.
Make sure you get down to the Tuks Rugby Stadium to back your “boytjies” at 19:00 on Monday, 5 March.
