'Proud' UJ coach looks ahead to 2010
FNB UJ fulfilled their part of the bargain in the quest for a semifinal spot in the 2009 FNB Varsity Cup presented by Steinhoff International by beating NMMU in Port Elizabeth on Monday evening.
Unfortunately for them, their neighbours from across the Jukskei River did not follow the script as Tuks beat – or rather, shocked – FNB Maties at their Danie Craven stronghold.
That result, confirmed by a last-minute missed penalty by Maties scrumhalf Donald Stevens, saw a promising season from UJ come to a shuddering halt.
One could be sympathetic towards the Men from Johannesburg’s bad(dish) luck but in a tournament where a team’s attitude must exhibit a ruthless, professional nature, coach Hugo van As feels pats on the back are unnecessary.
“Never ever,” the UJ mentor told varsitycup.co.za, seemingly eager to impart some wisdom to others, “leave your destiny in the hands of others.”
Despite this, Van As was very complimentary of his team’s 36-10 win over the ‘Madibas’, saying that they displayed “character and adaptability” as the conditions at the Xerox NMMU Stadium were not ideal.
The win – their fourth of the season – gave UJ a statistically better season than 2008, with more wins and more log points, but the coach was in no mood for comparisons.
“I think it’s difficult to make a compare our two campaigns because firstly I feel that the first tournament didn’t do the teams justice in the sense that it was a unknown quantity and one didn’t quite know what to expect,” Van As said.
“Secondly, we started this tournament with a very different squad to last year’s and that makes a comparison difficult,” he added.
Van As acknowledged that “a slow start out of the blocks” contributed to the tantalisingly near miss of the play-offs, but there was a more influential factor, which he described as: “Our slip-up against Pukke actually derailed us. It was a game where we really should’ve done better.”
Nonetheless, it was a Varsity Cup campaign that UJ can take a lot of heart from.
They now seem to have the bulk of a squad on which to build on for next year and will probably have a settled coaching staff, after their previous coaches were replaced late last year.
“I also think that the experience we picked up during the season will put us in good stead (for 2010). We had a tough draw with four away games and some pretty challenging match-conditions which tested our mettle and we will be a better team for it next year,” Van As added.
Whilst UJ will not be challenged for the Varsity Cup trophy in 2009, the coach remained steadfastly diplomatic when asked to pick his winner this year.
“It’s too close to call,” said Van As.
“If there is something this tournament has taught me, it’s that the gap between the top teams seemed to close on a weekly basis. Having said that, the home teams, the Maties and the Ikeys, have an advantage – but the semi’s can really go any way,” he added.
Pushed – or rather badgered! – for an answer, the UJ mentor finally budged: “Maties.”
Perhaps next season it will be the Men from Johannesburg…
By Heinz Schenk
