Joubert: Pukke's win 'comprehensive'

Although the scoreline might not suggest as much, FNB Pukke's 31-24 win over FNB NMMU in their FNB Varsity Cup presented by Steinhoff International match - in Port Elizabeth on Monday - was pretty comprehensive.

The Pukke, last year's losing finalists, scored five-tries-to-nil on the day - that after leading 31-18 at one stage.

But according to Pukke coach Rudy Joubert - who as a former Springbok assistant coach sets very high standards - they made too many mistakes and conceded too many penalties on the day, all of which kept NMMU in the game thanks to their accurate goalkicker Willem Laubscher.

(Laubscher kicked six penalties, together with two drop-goals - scoring all of their points.)

"I think we could have scored another five tries. But not conceding any tries was a very pleasing aspect of our performance," Joubert told varsitycup.co.za.

"I haven't had a chance yet to look at the video, but we conceded quite a few penalties and free-kicks at scrum-time. I'm not sure if they were serious or not, but I will have a look and deal with it (if need be)."

The penalty count aside, Joubert was not very pleased with his side's handling on Monday, as they lost a lot of possession in the tackle area.

"That will be something we will spend time on this week (rectifying)," he said. "(But) overall I was very satisfied with some of our younger and inexperienced players who got a chance to start against the Madibas - some of whom definitely grabbed their chances.

"In particular, I was pleased with PJ van Zyl at No.8 [who made his debut], whilst [centre] Wouter Watermeyer made a good comeback from injury. [Flank] Siya Mdaka is also starting to gel nicely with the team [after joining Pukke at the start of the season]."

Meanwhile, Joubert revealed that flyhalf Dauw Steyn injured his knee ligaments against the Madibas, which will keep him out of action for some time. He is likely to miss the rest of the 2010 Varsity Cup season.

By Ruan Bruwer