'Young' Tuks just want to scrum
Tuks have lost the majority of their 2015 squad and will be inexperienced this year but Human has opted to get his side ready by playing pre-season matches against physical opposition, in an effort to bring his young players up to speed on what to expect.
One aspect he feels will be key in the competition will be the scrums, however, he has not ruled out going for the try bonus-points.
"At the moment, we are just going to play the scrums and not worry about the bonus points. It's difficult to comment on the bonus point system now but we are the first game on Monday, so we will have to see how it goes.
"In the beginning, we would want to try some new things but I doubt it will get to a point where we would want to run everything out of our 22, that will just be crazy. We will adapt to whatever the situation is in the second half.
"We have a really young side but there is a new energy. Most of the current squad played Young Guns in 2015 with a few 2015 SA Schools players as well. They are really hungry and eager to run with the ball, so I am really excited to see what they can do. We will stick with what we do well but we will surprise some people with some new things," Human told rugby365.com.
The physical pre-season scheduled included matches against the Valke, Impala and Pretoria Police – which he feels helped them achieve their goals.
"We played the Falcons and lost 29-33, we beat Impala 21-5 and then beat Pretoria Police 52-15. Those matches were just a case of getting the guys to come to grips with the physicality that they could expect [in the Varsity Cup] and I think we achieved that," he added.
Tuks will host NWU-Pukke in the opening match of the tournament, a side they have not beaten in recent times.
"We owe them [Pukke] one but we know it's going to be really difficult. Luckily for us, we are playing at home but I don't think that will count for anything. We have huge respect for them.
"I don't think they will have much of a different approach because they have managed to retain most of their 2015 squad and I'm sure they will continue to go with what they did well last year. It will definitely be a physical battle and their back three has the ability to run from anywhere.
"We are approaching the tournament week by week and right now, we are fully focussed on Pukke because they are a massive concern and must be one of the favourites to win it this year," he stated.
By Tauriq Ebrahim
