One final hurdle for Shimlas

 

The Free State side have never played in a final before, but find themselves hosting the showpiece event on Monday as they look to end Smith's first season in charge on the ultimate high.

 

The former Springbok utility back, back in his hometown after a six year stint coaching Italian outfit Treviso in the Pro12 and European Cup, has already taken the UFS-Shimlas further than they have ever been before in the Varsity Cup with one more hurdle looming.

 

They face their old rivals NWU-Pukke who will be looking for redemption after going down in dramatic fashion in their home final against UCT last year.

 

The Potchefstroom outfit underlined their class in coming from behind to beat UP-Tuks in their Pretoria semifinal, and Smith knows that they will push his side to the limit.

 

"I think their record speaks for itself, they pulled off a big win in the semifinal against Tukkies and they are the only team that has beaten Tukkies so we have got the world of respect for them.

 

"They are a very good side with some good players like Dillon Smit and Rhyno Smith who must be one of the most exciting players, and you can't count Jonny Welthagen out of it.

 

"They are a very well-balanced side with a good pack of forwards and they are definitely well coached," he told varsitycup.co.za.

 

The two sides met at Shimla Park just a few weeks ago, with a late surge from NWU-Pukke earning them the two bonus points that saw them sneak into the play-offs.

 

Although UFS-Shimlas had been in control at half-time, Smith admitted that they let the pressure get to them in the second half which is something they will not be able to afford on Monday.

 

"In that game that fear of failure caught hold of us, most of the players in the team had never beaten Pukke and suddenly there was the prospect of winning all of the games in the round robin.

 

"So I think there was unnecessary pressure we put on ourselves in the second half which was the main lesson I took from that. 

 

"You can never turn your back on Pukke, they also learned that lesson last year in the final so we just have to keep playing for the full 90 minutes because I don't think 80 will be enough.

 

"We will have to keep on playing and keep working hard on our stuff and not concentrate on what they are doing but keep doing our things as well as we can," he explained.