Giantkillers eye another scalp

FNB UJ's second away victory in the 2010 FNB Varsity Cup presented by Steinhoff International has given Hugo Van As's charges a sporting chance of qualifying for the play-offs for the first time.

FNB UJ are now in fourth position on the log, after their well-deserved 23-22 win against FNB Pukke in Potchefstroom last night.

"It was close, but in the end we did enough to ensure a very important four points," Van As told varsitycup.co.za.

"We did not start well at all and were down 0-12 after the first 20 minutes before guts and character kicked in which saw a dramatic turnaround in fortunes.

"The rugby we played in the last 20 minutes of the first half and first 10 minutes of the second half was real quality stuff," he added. "We played in a structure and stuck to the gameplan clinically."

With the score at 20-12 for UJ, Van As thought it was game, set and match as "we had them by the throat and enough chances to finish it off".

He added, however: "We'll have to make the most of such opportunities [in the future]."

The UJ coach was very impressed with his pack of forward's dominance in the set-phases, against last year's losing finalists, as well as the huge step up in his team's defence - especially after last Monday's disappointing 10-43 defeat to Stellenbosch (at home).

FNB UJ's next opponents are the FNB Ikey Tigers - one of only two unbeaten sides in the competition, the other unbeaten team being the defending champion Maties.

They will host the Ikeys at the UJ Stadium on Monday, March 1 (kick-off 6.30pm). The match will be televised live on SuperSport One.

By Morris Gilbert