NMMU still 'having a blast'

The Madibas are still in good spirits, according to NMMU skipper Lusu Booi, despite suffering heavy defeats in the first three rounds of the 2010 FNB Varsity Cup presented by Steinhoff International.

The Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University have been beaten by more than fifty points in each of their three Varsity Cup fixtures thus far - against the Maties, Shimlas and UCT - but Booi insists that his squad is far from despondent.

"We all knew what we were getting ourselves into," Booi told varsitycup.co.za, "and even though it has been a tough few weeks, we obviously all still want to do well."

Booi, of course, also finds himself in the unenviable position of having to encourage his troops, week-in and week-out, but the 24-year-old says motivation is not a problem for this group of players.

"As the captain I have a responsibility to motivate the guys, but there are a few other senior players helping me out," he revealed.

"It's a team effort and the guys all try motivate each other and, obviously, we all want to do better than we have thus far."

A veteran of two previous Varsity Cup campaigns, Booi knows that the scoreboard does not always reflect the progress of a team in this tough-as-nails competition and he is adamant that the Madibas are improving.

"I think our forwards have definitely improved in the last couple of games," he said. "Our scrums have been much better, and I think we startled UCT at ruck time.

"Those aspects have improved - which is a positive for us as those were the areas where we really struggled in the first two rounds... we just have to build from there!"

First-time tackling and a high-error rate are next on the list of what the Madibas need to work on, according to the former Newton Tech pupil, and he believes there will be a big improvement - for all to see - against Tukkies in Pretoria on Monday (kick-off 6.30pm - live on SuperSport One).

"The boys are really looking forward to facing up to Tukkies," he said. "It's going to be a tough ask, but that's what this competition is about. We have prepared well, but it's making it happen on the field that counts. [But] we'll definitely be up for it!"

And despite suffering those big losses in a competition where "the level is very high" and "the expectations are demanding", Booi is adamant that the determined Madibas are still "having a blast" in the 2010 Varsity Cup.

"It might not look like we are having much fun when we are being beaten, and things are obviously tough for us on the field," said the livewire No.9.

"But we are a close-knit group and every game we play we go out there and have a blast!"

By Tim Human