Comets embracing the Tuks Varsity Shield final challenge
In their debut season in
the FNB Varsity Shield, FNB Varsity College did the unthinkable and made the final
where they will face FNB UP-Tuks at the Tuks Stadium on Friday night.
The Comets, as they are known, managed to beat a more fancied FNB Madibaz side in their semi-final down in Gqeberha last week in what was a historic result in itself.
They will now head to a ground that they were beaten on earlier in the season and for coach Jeremy McLaren, he wants his side to learn from that game into this week's final.
"We don't have a point to prove," McLaren said. "We've just got a second opportunity to show that we are better than we were when we played them in the earlier round.
"They are a phenomenal team that shouldn't be playing in the Shield, and no matter what happens on Friday we want to make sure we put in a performance that we can be proud of.
"In my twenty years of coaching this has probably been the best time for me as a coach. It's been different to anything I've done in how we've analysed, the way we've worked and the way we've picked teams week to week.
"It's been an incredible journey with this team; there are a lot of great leaders and guys that are hungry to achieve."
Reflecting on their narrow win in the Friendly City last week, McLaren was full of praise for his bunch of Varsity Shield rookies.
"To get through that semi-final the way that we did is something incredible in itself and that will give us a lot of energy going into this week.
"At our meeting on Monday you could see the focus in the eyes of the players because they know that it's going to be a massive task this week against a very good Tuks side.
"We are prepping really well and there's a great vibe amongst the group. We've created a good, strong bond and are looking forward to what will probably be the biggest challenge in a lot our careers."
Their first meeting in round four saw Tuks run away to a 75-21 victory on their home ground. McLaren and his coaching staff have had some time to analyse what they might expect from the Pretoria-based side.
"We initially broke the game down into 20-minute blocks with the strategy breaks at the first and third quarter mark.
"What we've realised is that the ball will be in play for around 120 seconds before a break, so we've focused really hard this week on being switched on for those periods.
"Tuks have been very strong across the board this season, so we've got to make sure that we are on top of our game for those short, sharp bursts between set plays," he added.
The IIE's Varsity College will be without experienced loose-head prop Daniel van Huizen who has been ruled out with an ankle injury while young Chris Horak has a hamstring tear that means he is unavailable.
The pair will be replaced by Bunono Jabavu and Josh Aissing respectively.
The final kicks off at 17:30 on Friday at the Tuks Stadium in Pretoria.
FNB Varsity College Comets v FNB UP-Tuks
1 Sonwabo Maseko, 2 Jacques Marais, 3 Siyabonga Dube, 4 Robert Everson, 5 Werner Coetzee, 6 Juan Steyl, 7 Enzo Van Niekerk, 8 Mandisi Nkutha, 9 Abande Mthembu (c), 10 Frederick Marx, 11 Nkazimulo Mzolo, 12 Macmillian Mudara, 13 Mbasa Nkonki, 14 Sivuyisiwe Mpendu, 15 Tshegofatso Ramaloko.
Replacements
16 Johan Viljoen, 17 Nathi Ntuli, 18 Bunono Jabavu, 19 Garren Müller, 20 Sinelifa Ncwana, 21 Michael Horak, 22 Benjamin Field, 23 Joshua Aissing.
