'We need to stay focused' says Van As
FNB UJ coach Hugo van As was understandably disappointed with his team’s 9-19 home loss to Pukke this past Monday – a result that has left their 2009 Varsity Cup semifinal hopes in tatters.
“I felt that we had some forward momentum, despite losing to the Ikeys (two weeks ago),” Van As told varsitycup.co.za.
He added: “We lost to a better team (the Ikeys) that day. But some of that momentum carried over into the Shimlas match (last week) and even the start of the Pukke match.
“We didn’t, however, make use of our chances in the first half against Pukke. And that cost us.”
UJ spent most of the first 25 minutes of the game deep in Pukke territory, but could not score any points because of Pukke’s water-tight defence.
“When they came into our 22 they scored a try and from there they had the upperhand,” commented Van As.
And, after that Pukke try (by wing Andrew van Wyk), the home side almost immediately deviated from their gameplan and structure, with Van As adding: “We made silly decisions and some individuals didn’t stick to the gameplan.
“I know that we have the gameplan, structure and players to beat any team in the Varsity Cup,” he continued, “we don’t fiddle with our starting 22 much and consistently play the same players in key positions. The results we need, however, are just not going our way at the moment.”
To make matters worse for Van As, UJ captain and hooker Neil Visagie is struggling with a rib injury and is a doubtful starter against FNB Tuks next Monday (March 9) – a game the Men from Johannesburg have to win to remain in some kind of semifinal contention.
Openside flanker Frikkie Maartens is also in doubt because of hamstring and shoulder injuries. Edgar Maruthuli will most probably replace Visagie, whilst Van As has some options should Maartens be ruled out, too.
Looking ahead to the remainder of this week, Van As concluded: “This week at practice we will focus on individual play, as well as working on methods to stick to our gameplan for a full 80 minutes.
“We will be under a lot of pressure to win against Tuks on our home ground – but I believe we can beat them, we just have to stay focused!”
Monday’s game against Tuks – at the UJ Stadium – will kick-off at 6.45pm. The match will be televised live on SuperSport 1 and CSN.
By Riaan Bam
