A Welkom victory for Pukke
Last year’s Varsity Cup finalists, FNB Pukke, travelled to Welkom on Saturday night and came away with a valuable 40-36 victory over the Griffons – a huge boost for them ahead of the 2010 FNB Varsity Cup presented by Steinhoff International.
The visitors scored six tries, three of them from rolling mauls, with lock Francois Robbertse scoring two from drives and No.8 Thabo Molete also crashing over from close range against the Currie Cup Division One team.
The other Pukke tries were scored by fullback Theuns Kotzé, flanker Savvas Nel and scrumhalf Andries Mahoney.
Kotzé succeeded with four conversions from five attempts, whilst replacement flyhalf Cecil Dumond – who played Currie Cup rugby for the Leopards last year – added his team’s fifth conversion.
“Better teams than us have travelled to Welkom in the past and come away empty-handed,” NWU-Pukke head coach Rudy Joubert (pictured, above) told varsitycup.co.za, “so from that point of view I’m really happy.
“Our attack obviously fared nicely, but we still need to work on a few things when it comes to our defence,” he added.
“I was grateful for this fixture – it was a game we had, and needed, to play. If I look back to last year, I’d say we’re a lot better prepared [this year] and I’m just looking forward to the start of the tournament now.”
With the 2010 Varsity Cup just over a week away – Pukke will play Tukkies in Pretoria on Monday, February 1 – Joubert declared himself happy with his team’s build-up to the tournament.
“In terms of selection I’d say I’m about 98% there,” he said.
“I still have to watch the video from today’s match, to see exactly how everyone fared, but I’ve basically got my first-choice team in my mind already – except for one or two positions.”
Pukke’s scorers:
Tries: Molete, Robbertse 2, Kotze, Mahoney, Nel
Cons: Kotze 4, Dumond
The Pukke team: 15 Theuns Kotzé, 14 Dane Johnson, 13 Ruan Jacobs, 12 Wouter Watermeyer, 11 Danie Dames, 10 Neil Jacobs, 9 Andries Mahoney, 8 Thabo Molete, 7 Siya Mdaka, 6 Savvas Nel, 5 Markus Fourie, 4 Francois Robbertze, 3 Stefan Bezuidenhout, 2 Stoffel Duvenhage, 1 Snoepie Coetzee.
Replacements – from: 16 Aranos Coetzee, 17 BG Uys, 18 BW van Dyk, 19 Jaco Lotter, 20 Jan Rose, 21 Cecil Dumond, 22 Wensley Scott, 23 Andrew van Wyk, 24 SP Marais.
