Roux not happy, despite win

FNB Maties coach Chean Roux has labelled his team’s Varsity Cup Derby win over UCT as their worst performance of the season, but he was still a relieved man after the Men from Stellenbosch secured their sixth successive victory of 2010.

The Maties beat neighbours UCT 23-17 in a superb Varsity Cup contest at the Danie Craven Stadium, but Roux – speaking to varsitycup.co.za on Tuesday night – said: “I honestly thought it was our worst match of the season. But, in saying that, we’ll take the win.

“We were bound to have a bad game, some time, and hopefully this was it – but the main thing is that we won without firing on all cylinders and we have that home semifinal sewn up.”

Roux was relatively pleased with the performance of his new-look centre pairing – of Charl Weideman and Danie Poolman – and also happy to report no further injury worries for the Maties, especially in the midfield where he has lost five players already.

“When one considers that they (Weideman and Poolman) had just two training sessions together, then, yes, I was happy,” said the Maties mentor. “[But] I think they could still improve their defence which will come with time as their communication improves.”

Meanwhile, despite the big build-up to Monday evening’s match – which, of course, was a repeat of the dramatic 2008 Varsity Cup Final – Roux revealed that he never faced any uneccesary pressure ahead of the game.

“We had the points in hand, so it wasn’t such a must-win game for us,” he added.

“But it was a great occasion, especially for the Varsity Cup, and it was nice to see all the supporters – from both teams – enjoying the rugby, and the evening, and just getting behind their teams.”

* Stellenbosch’s final league match of the 2010 FNB Varsity Cup presented by Steinhoff International will be against FNB Pukke, in Potchefstroom, this coming Monday (March 15).

The match gets underway at 4.30pm and will be televised live on SuperSport One.