Die NWU-Pukke het Saterdagmiddag nie net die gevaarwaters van Greenside in Johannesburg trotseer nie, maar ook gesorg dat ’n gevaarlike Pirates-span 49-30 skipbreuk op hul eie rotse gely het. Sodoende het Hannes Esterhuizen se span Jong Turke weer hul skip op koers gekry ná Roodepoort die vorige naweek die wind uit hul seile gehaal het. Reg, genoeg met die oormaat beeldspraak. Die besoekende studente het altesaam ses drieë gedruk, wat ’n tweekuns vir sowel Eloff Scheepers as Rowayne Beukman ingesluit het. Pirates het van meet af die wind van voor gekry (jammer) en was aan die ontvangkant van ’n Puk-aanslag wat die studente ’n 22-3 voorsprong besorg het. Pirates se vlag het egter nie lank halfmas gehang nie (laaste, belowe) en teen lemoentyd was hul agterstand slegs 22-18. Hierna het die momentum wipplank gery voor Pukke in die laaste 15-minute met die wedstryd weggehardloop het. "Ons het met tye goeie rugby gespeel, maar dit bekommer my dat ons met tye in die wedstryd aan die slaap geraak het," sê hoofafrigter Hannes Esterhuizen. "Die spelers se besluitneming was wel stukke beter as teen Roodepoort en dit het gehelp dat ons ’n paar oumanne terug in die span gehad het, wat die druk op die minder ervare ouens ligter gemaak het. Dit was ook lekker om te sien hoe ons die bal vinnig deur die hande tot by ons vleuels gekry het, iets waarmee ons ook verlede week gesukkel het." Benewens die agterlyn se beter tydsberekening was daar ook weereens geen klagtes oor Pukke se lynstaan nie; dié het klopdisselboom gewerk. Vir die wenspan het agtsteman SJ Niemand ’n barshou gespeel, Hofmann Maritz was vlymskerp vir die tyd wat hy op die veld was, Justin Botha het op losskakel die wedstryd met gesag beheer en kaptein FG Fouché het met oorgawe die donkiewerk gedoen. Hoewel Pukke se wedstryd teen Impala uitgestel is weens laasgenoemde se reisverpligtinge, vind daar Donderdag ’n vriendskaplike wedstryd (met twee Pukspanne wat gaan uitdraf) teen die Luiperds se o.21-span plaas. Hierdie dien as voorbereiding vir die Puk se USSA-veldtog wat einde vandeesmaand afskop. Deur Bertie Jacobs

Bou ’n galg vir ander, en jy hang self daaraan. Dít was die duur les wat die NWU-Puk Vrydagaand in hul wegwedstryd teen Roodepoort geleer het toe die studente se aanvanklike aanslag op ‘Poorte se agttal lelik in hul gesigte opgeblaas het. Dit was ’n fout. Voorlangs is ‘Poorte so sterk soos Jan Wilkens en dit is daar waar hulle die skroewe aangedraai het om ’n welverdiende 30-14 sege uit Pukke te wurg. Ouch. "Ons het verkeerd gespeel," sê hoofafrigter Hannes Esterhuizen. "Inteendeel, ons het presies die teenoorgestelde gespeel as wat ons beplan het. Ons het geweet ons moet nie hul voorspelers in die eerste en tweede kanaal aanval nie, maar eerder die bal wyd vat en hul verdediging rek. Deur dit nie te doen nie kon Roodepoort hul pak bymekaar hou." Pukke het die eerste halfuur of wat die meerderheid besit geniet en was deurlopend, dog onsuksesvol, op die aanval. ‘Poorte se twee drieë net voor halftyd was ’n dwarsklap vir Pukke se gemoedere en hul daaropvolgende twee ná halftyd was genoeg om die besoekers se voete onder hulle uit te haal. Drieë deur Dawie de Koker en Wynand Olivier na die einde se kant toe was bloot troospryse. Waar ‘Poorte op hul pak staatmaak om teenstanders te kielhaal gaan die Puk Saterdag in Johannesburg met ’n meer gebalanseerde Pirates-span kragte meet. "Pirates kan sowel op hul voor en agterspelers se knoppies druk, hulle het takties baie vernuf en hulle gee nooit op nie. Hul skakelpaar het ook hope ervaring en is goeie besluitnemers," verduidelik Esterhuizen. As teenvoeter vir dié ewewig wat hulle in die gesig staar het Esterhuizen sy troepe vandeesweek tydens oefensessies getaak om op hul geduld sowel as besluitneming te fokus. "Ons gaan moet seker maak dat ons meer planmatig op die veld te werk gaan en ook die bal beter gebruik. Ons besluitneming moet definitief verbeter." Die les is geleer. Saterdag gaan dit die studente wees wat gaan poog om dosente teen Pirates te wees. Deur Bertie Jacobs

Former FNB NWU-Pukke lock Lood de Jager is set to become the latest FNB Varsity Cup presented by Steinhoff International Springbok in the first Test against Wales at Kings Park in Durban on Saturday. The 21-year-old, colossus made a big name for himself at the Cheetahs over the past two seasons, in Super Rugby and is tipped by his franchise captain Adriaan Strauss to play much bigger rugby in the not too distant future. De Jager will get his first sniff of Test rugby, should he come off the bench and make his international debut against the Red Dragons this weekend. He has replaced Flip van der Merwe in the match-day squad, with the Bulls stalwart taking a break to attend his brothers' wedding. Speaking out of the Springboks camp in Durban, the 2,05m tall De Jager said he is looking forward to some game time against Wales. De Jager has recovered from a finger injury in time for the first test after missing out on the Cheetahs last few games and said that he can't describe how he felt getting the call-up to play at the highest level. "The first time I heard I was in the Durban training camp, I was delighted, I just can't describe the emotions I felt. It's a great honour for me," the skyscraper said. "I made the final squad, coach Heyneke Meyer told me earlier in the week that I would be in the match-23 for this weekend. I couldn't believe it, it's a great honour, and I just want to thank the coach for the opportunity. I'll do my best for my country, if I get playing time," the proud player added. Speaking of their opponents, De Jager said he expects a very physical game against the Welsh. "I think it’s going to be physical game. I watched them against the Kings they like to run the ball, so it's going to be a fast-paced game. "I want to bring physicality to the game, and I just want to do my part," he added. Speaking of his injury, De Jager conceded that his was devastated after breaking his finger during Super Rugby. "At first I was devastated, because I felt I had been playing good rugby. At least it was a finger, so I was able to maintain my fitness and carry on training. "The timing was perfect, it healed just in time for the training camp. The injury healed nicely and I'm feeling good," De Jager concluded. His Cheetahs teammate, Cornal Hendricks starts at wing for his debut, while Willie le Roux slots in at fullback, and France-bound Johan Goosen warms the bench. South Africa: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Cornal Hendricks, 13 JP Pietersen, 12 Jan Serfontein, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Fourie du Preez, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Willem Alberts, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Victor Matfield (captain), 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Gurthrö Steenkamp. Replacements: 16 Schalk Brits, 17 Tendai Mtawarira, 18 Coenie Oosthuizen, 19 Lood de Jager, 20 Schalk Burger, 21 Ruan Pienaar, 22 Johan Goosen, 23 Lwazi Mvovo. By Morgan Piek

Four former Varsity Cup stars will make their first appearance in a Springbok training squad next week after cracking the nod from coach Heyneke Meyer. Meyer named a wider training squad ahead of the June international window which will see the Boks take on a World XV, Wales and Scotland, and four of the eight new faces have Varsity Cup experience. Cheetahs flank Teboho Mohoje, Stormers utility back Damian de Allende, Bulls loose forward Jacques du Plessis and Cheetahs lock Lodewyk de Jager will all attend a national training camp in Durban from May 25 to 28 May. Mohoje is a former UFS-Shimlas captain and even played for them this year before breaking into the Cheetahs squad, De Allende played for UCT in 2012 whilst De Jager played for NWU-Pukke and Du Plessis represented UP-Tuks when they won their second title last year. All four players have made a big impression in Super Rugby this year for their respective franchises and join fello former Varsity Rugby stars Eben Etzebeth, Trevor Nyakane, JJ Engelbrecht and Juan de Jongh in the training squad. This continues the steady stream of players who have used the Varsity Cup as a launching pad before going on to earn national colours. Springbok training squad: Tendai Mtawarira, Trevor Nyakane, Marcel van der Merwe, Jannie du Plessis, Frans Malherbe, Coenie Oosthuizen, Bismarck du Plessis, Adriaan Strauss, Eben Etzebeth, Lodewyk de Jager, Victor Matfield, Flip van der Merwe, Heinrich Brüssow, Marcell Coetzee, Siya Kolisi, Willem Alberts, Jacques du Plessis, Teboho Mohoje, Duane Vermeulen, Schalk Burger, Fourie du Preez, Francois Hougaard, Johan Goosen, Marnitz Boshoff, Jean de Villiers, Damian De Allende, Jan Serfontein, Juan de Jongh, JJ Engelbrecht, Sibusiso Sithole, Frans Steyn, Lwazi Mvovo, Bjorn Basson, JP Pietersen, Cornal Hendricks, Willie le Roux.

On Saturday the Ikey Tigers lost their Intervarsity clash against Maties 18-19, ending a ten-game winning streak they had engineered in the Varsity Cup and in the first few games of the WP Super League. The game was a fiercely fought battle, with the Ikeys leading 18-16, with only minutes to go. The Stellenbosch side snatched the win away from them within the final minutes at the hands of a penalty try. When coach Kevin Musikanth was asked about what he thinks went wrong he said “our game plan was to maul them and scrum them, which worked completely but unfortunately the overall reward wasn't there.” Referring to the break-down area he said “The yellow cards that the opposition are usually given when consistently pulling down mauls, and the penalty tries that are usually awarded when front rows repetitively stand-up didn’t happen. So there was a lot of frustration here.” The coach also cites frustration at the fact that the side threw an intercept pass at the beginning of the game. On the bright side, however, he said “our ‘plan’ worked as we completely dismantled the Maties pack - worse than we did in the Varsity Cup and we did pull ourselves back and 18-16 with a minute to go.” In terms of what areas of the game they team will be looking to improve on, he said, “we need to deal with making correct decisions on when to throw the 50/50 passes. The miracle offload, as much as it worked in the Varsity Cup final, doesn't always work and none of them came off in this match which was disappointing.” Speaking about which areas of the game he believes the Tigers were impressive in he commented “Stellenbosch were determined and had nothing to lose and were fully committed to the cause which was good, but fundamentally, despite us being off-form our set phases were way better than theirs, their scrum got completely dismantled and we let ourselves down by not capitalizing here. Unfortunately the luck wasn’t with us this time.” Tomorrow, the Ikeys return to the WP Super League, taking on SK Walmers in their fourth match of the tournament. The side will look to bounce back from Saturday’s loss with a win against the Walmers, who have given impressive performances thus far in the season and will be sure to prove challenging. “We will fight back and are determined to compete harder and are 100 percent committed to the WPSL. All teams lose so we mustn't cry over spilt milk and stand up and fight and make it right. We need to learn our lesson,” said the coach.

Defending championes UP-Tuks got off to a solid start in the opening round of the 2014 Carlton Cup competition on Saturday. UP-Tuks beat Harlequins 54-21, scoring 8 tries to 3. Home team Quins surprised UP-Tuks by taking a 7-0 lead in the opening minutes, but at the break the visitors already had the win in the bag with a 33-7 lead. “We are satisfied with the result as it was the solid start we were aiming for, but we all know this was not a true reflection of our potential - by far. We have some fine tuning to do in the days leading up to the match against Oostelike Eagles (24 May), but all in all I am very encouraged by the positives we can take from the win against Harlequins,” commented UP-Tuks 1 Head Coach, Pote Human. Outside centre Jacques Rossouw had an outstanding UP-Tuks 1 debut, not only scoring two of his team’s eight tries, but also adding another 14 points with seven conversions for a personal contribution of 24. Winger Enver Brandt, another UP-Tusk 1 debutant, scored three tries with fullback Riaan Britz, hooker Jan Enslin and replacement lock Graham Logan adding the other five pointers. ♦ Other results: 2: Tuks Fezelas 57, Harlequins 11. 3: Harlequins 15, Tuks Pumas 14. u.21: Tuks Jongspan 48, Harlequins 3. u.19: Tuks win by default.