A special Monday for Tuks' Van Heerden

Winger Kruger van Heerden will remember his 50th cap for FNB Tuks for all the right reasons.

He played a substantial part in Tuks’ 25-23 win against Maties (16 March) – a victory that saw the Pretoria students qualify for the play-offs against all odds.

“To play 50 matches for Tuks is a milestone on its own, but to top it with an away win against Maties in a make-or-break match for us, makes it very special indeed,” said Van Heerden to varsitycup.co.za.

He added: “To add to all of this I also scored one of our tries in only my first start of the season (thus far).”

Commenting on his spectacular try (one of Tuks’ three tries), for which he had to dive over a Matie defender, Van Heerden said “there was no time for thinking. Instinct took over and the next thing I knew was when I had scored the try”.

“Our win will definitely go down as one of my major highlights in a Tuks jersey,” added Van Heerden.

“Last year we came so close to beating them twice in Stellenbosch, but had to be content with a draw in the Varsity Cup league phases and a heart-breaking last-minute loss in the semifinals.”

Their shock win on Monday aside, the big question remains: Can Tuks beat Maties again next Monday (March 23) in the 2009 semifinals?

“Let me answer this with a counter-question: who gave us the slightest chance to beat Maties on Monday? We proved that nothing is impossible which will be our motto for the semifinal as well,” added Van Heerden.

Van Heerden made his Tuks debut way back in 2005. He remembered: “It was in a Carlton Cup fixture against Naka Bulle.

“I remember two things to this day: the emotion of putting on the Tuks jersey for the first time and the two tries I scored. Other personal highlights are our wins in the 2007 and 2008 Carlton Cup Finals,” concluded Van Heerden.

By Morris Gilbert