Pukke upbeat ahead of VC decider

FNB Pukke boss Rudy Joubert believes his team could have avoided their tough road of trying to make it into the Varsity Cup play-offs this season.

Pukke ensured that Maties maintained their unbeaten record in the 2009 FNB Varsity Cup presented by Steinhoff International, after they fell off the pace and were emphatically beaten 10-31 in Stellenbosch in Round Four this past Monday.

While Joubert was bitterly disappointed with the loss, there is still a lot of hope for the Potchefstroom outfit, who could still qualify for the play-offs if they win their remaining three fixtures - starting with an away clash against the University of Johannesburg on Monday, March 2.

Joubert stressed that they have addressed a variety of issues ahead of the FNB UJ clash and he is expecting a much improved performance from his charges.

"There were a lot of things that worried me against Maties last week," Joubert told varsitycup.co.za ahead of the crucial clash.

"We made too many silly mistakes, such as missing our first kick-off, which immediately put us on the back foot.

"We also missed some line-outs and I don't think the backs created enough opportunities. Our defence was also bad," said a clearly disappointed Pukke coach.

Joubert believes Monday's potential play-off decider could have been avoided if they were more consistent in the earlier rounds of the 2009 Varsity Cup.

"The UJ match is definitely a season decider for us," Joubert admitted.

"[But] We should have beaten Tukkies earlier in the competition and was also disappointed with our performance against Maties."

He added: "We now have to beat UJ to stay in contention for the play-offs."

While Joubert is well aware of the high stakes, he is expecting a battle royale in Johannesburg, as both teams will be desperate to boost their chances of securing that valuable play-off spot.

Pukke currently occupy fourth spot on the log on ten points, while UJ are fifth on nine points, so a victory for either side would virtually guarantee a spot in the top four and even keep the prospect of a home play-off alive.

"UJ is going to be a tough match for us. They have a solid scrum and they also have a lot of strike-power in the backline with guys like Earl Lewis (at fullback)," said the former Valke coach.

"We need to make the most of our opportunities and play much better rugby than we did last week," he concluded.

Monday's UJ-Pukke clash kicks-off at 6.45pm at the UJ Stadium.