Roux has eyes for his Maties only
Stellenbosch head coach Chean Roux is well aware of the various permutations facing some of the teams in the final round of league action in the 2009 FNB Varsity Cup presented by Steinhoff International. However, all Roux is worried about at present is how his team performs.
And who can blame him?
The Maties ‘breier’ has guided his side to six wins from six this season; starting with an away win over FNB UCT on February 2 and culminating in Monday night’s 58-3 hammering of FNB NMMU.
“Ja, it was a good win – you can’t really have too many complaints after putting 50 points on the board,” Roux told varsitycup.co.za on Tuesday.
“The big scoreline aside, our major aim ahead of the game was to concentrate on keeping possession. (And) in order to do that, you need to be patient for the full 80 minutes…
“The guys certainly started well, for the first 20/30 minutes, but then they lost concentration and took their foot off the gas. (But) to their credit, the guys got things back on track in the second half and I was happy with our overall performance.”
As things stand now, the Ikey Tigers (on 24 points) could still topple the Men in Maroon (27 points) from their position at the top of the Varsity Cup log, but the Maties are assured of a home semifinal – regardless of what transpires in the final round of league action next Monday.
But Stellenbosch are set to entertain a desperate Tukkies outfit at their Danie Craven fortress next week – a game that the Men from Pretoria have to win in order to qualify for the semifinals.
“All we can do on Monday is (do) our best,” said Roux.
“As a team we have certain goals, but all the individuals in the side also have personal goals, too. If those personal goals are achieved, the team goals are achieved… and if the team goals are achieved, that means we’re on the winning side.
“We don’t look at games and worry about what our opponents need to do in order to qualify for the semifinals or not,” added Roux, “our individual and team goals come first. The rest will then take care of itself.”
Tukkies went down 3-9 to UJ this past Monday – their third loss on the bounce, having topped the log at one stage this season – but Roux admitted: “To be absolutely honest, I haven’t seen much of Tukkies this year.
“Obviously I’ve seen their results in recent weeks, but I tend to focus on a team only in the lead-up to playing them.
“I should hopefully know more about this Tukkies team later in the week and will then plan accordingly,” he added with a wry smile.
In team news, Roux should have his captain Wesley Wilkins back in tow this week, the hard-working flanker having sat out Stellenbosch’s last two matches to rest some niggles, leaving the defending champions with a fit group of players to choose from.
JP Mostert, of course, is out of action after being involved in a serious car accident last week, whilst Roux also has Vodacom Cup call-ups to contend with.
“I expect WP will keep their side pretty much the same after their win over the weekend,” said Roux.
“But that could change when the Stormers go on tour as they normally make their squad a bit bigger and that means about four or five guys could be called up from Stellenbosch and perhaps even from UCT.
“Time will tell, I guess, but for now, we’ve got a fully fit squad except for JP, to choose from and I’ll announce my team at the end of the week.”
The Maties-Tukkies match will kick-off at 6.45pm next Monday. The match, which was initially meant to be played at the LC de Villiers Stadium in Pretoria – but was moved because of Tukkies’ inadequate floodlights, will be televised live on SuperSport.
