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Van As: WITS must be better

The visitors went down 14-26 against Maties thanks to precision kicking by Maties flyhalf Theo Stapelberg.

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The loss was a bitter pill to swallow for a side who were in the match right until the end. And Wits head coach Hugo van As knows all too well what a mammoth task it is to steal a victory at Maties.

"It was a missed opportunity. As management, we are really disappointed because we got ourselves in situations where we could have applied more pressure. We headed into the last quarter just 14-24 down and they were to 14-man.

"You don’t always get a chance to beat Maties at home and we saw it just slipped away. The team is disappointed however we showed a lot of guts and determinations in the enemy's camp," Van As told rugby365.com

Van As found it very difficult to pinpoint what truly went wrong, however, the coach revealed that not taking control at crucial periods of the game cost them dearly.

"We have to be better especially at certain times of the game. Like if you look at Maties they were not on top of their game for the whole  40 minutes but eventually, their got things going and ultimately won the match.

"We have a great squad of 25 and a couple of players are returning from injuries so that is a boost. We just have to back our systems and the players understand that  I don’t have to tell them that.

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"It just about sticking to the plan," he added.

Wits have the privilege of welcoming CUT-Ixias to Johannesburg.  With a new coach at the realm, CUT could prove to be one of the easier encounters. But Van As is in no hurry to underestimate any oppositions, instead, his focus is exclusively on his own troops

"There is no easy game, if you look at CUT last year and this year, what I heard – they did give UCT a really tough match down in Cape Town.

"However, my focus is solely on my team. I believe we will be better in week three and the results will come with it," he added.

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By Leezil Hendricks

@Leezil07

@rugby365.com

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