'Relieved' Watt looking ahead to 2010
FNB TUT have retained their FNB Varsity Cup presented by Steinhoff International status, after their second-leg promotion/relegation fixture against the University of KwaZulu-Natal was called off.
TUT and UKZN were meant to play two promotion/relegation matches on a home-and-away basis.
But after TUT won the first leg 55-27 (at home - in Tshwane) it was revealed that their opponents were not eligible to compete in the Varsity Cup due to the make-up of their team - hence the scrapping of the fixture that was meant to take place on Saturday, August 29.
The fixture was called off because the University of KwaZulu-Natal team is comprised of students from different campuses (and clubs) - in Durban and Pietermaritzburg, which, unfortunately, is against Varsity Cup regulations.
(Even though the UKZN competed in the USSA Rugby Week as one institution, the Varsity Cup constitution does not allow students/players that are from different clubs.)
Despite not having to oppose the University of KwaZulu-Natal once again, TUT coach Jimmy Watt was delighted that his team would be competing in the 2010 Varsity Cup, telling varsitycup.co.za: "It's a big relief, to be honest.
"Sometimes in life you don't know what you have until you lose it... or in our case almost lose it... As I said, it's a big relief for everyone at TUT, but the big challenge (for us now) is to ensure that we don't put ourselves in a similar position come next season.
"(But) the guys were actually very disappointed that the (second leg) game was called off," admitted the TUT coach.
"They were well up for it, as we had been working hard in preparation and were looking to finish our season on a high."
It's been an up and down 2009 season for TUT.
After struggling through a winless Varsity Cup campaign (they were the only side to lose all their league matches), they gave a good account of themselves in the Carlton Cup - going down 13-16 to eventual winners, Police, in the semifinals.
Watt revealed: "We're starting our Varsity Cup training on October 1.
"A few of our guys are busy playing for the various Blue Bulls teams in their respective competitions, but the majority of the squad will assemble and start working towards next year's Varsity Cup," he added.
"The scary thing is that all the teams made a huge improvement from 2008 to 2009, so I'm expected a helluva tough campaign next year."
At this stage, only Sangoni Mxoli (prop) will be missing from TUT's squad next season, whilst they are facing a tougher draw in 2010 - with away matches in Stellenbosch (Maties), Cape Town (UCT) and Bloemfontein (Shimlas).
"Those are probably the toughest away games you could ask for," lamented Watt to varsitycup.co.za.
"In 2009 we had five home games, because of the problems with Tuks' lights, but next year we have just two and the opening game in Tuks, which is something of a home match for us.
"Of course, one of those home games is against NMMU - it's our last match of the league - and that's one game in particular that we'll be up for, especially after losing to them last year; that game basically condemned us to last place on the log."