Tackle, tackle, tackle - Tuks coach
The protagonist in M-Net's new crime drama, The Mentalist, notes that psychics don't exist, merely individuals who pay very close attention. It would seem that FNB Tuks coach Freddie Grobler falls in that same category.
While he obviously could not foresee his team slumping from the top of FNB Varsity Cup presented by Steinhoff International table to fourth after a three-match winless streak, the genial coach did note in an interview after Round Two with varsitycup.co.za that his team could not expect to provide a sustained challenge in the tournament in that kind of form - despite their good start to the season.
Well, psychic or not, Grobler certainly did pay sufficient attention to his team's progress to make that assumption and unfortunately it reared its ugly head.
And, if that was not enough to deal with, then the truly unforeseeable phenomenon of rain also struck on Monday to hamper their progress...
"You cannot plan for an unexpected rain shower and thus, it can't be used as an excuse," the Tuks mentor told varsitycup.co.za about his team's performance in their 3-9 loss to UJ.
"We certainly had our opportunities, like our goal kicks, but in the end we couldn't capitalise on them."
When times become tough for sports teams, various theories are usually abound about what is going wrong. Yet Grobler's take on his team's 2009 campaign is refreshingly simple.
"Discipline," he noted, "has been our main stumbling block. We are our own enemies as we make silly mistakes that cost us games."
That indiscipline has now put their play-off spot in doubt and the only way they can guarantee FNB UJ from not catching up to them is by completing what can be touted as the Varsity Cup 2009s Mission Impossible: Beating the table-topping and unbeaten Maties at their Danie Craven Fortress in Stellenbosch.
"That's going to be a tough one," sighed Grobler. "Maties are a magnificent side who are really difficult to beat - especially at home.
"But I really do believe we can win. We'll have to as that will be our only guarantee of reaching the semi's," he added.
There is actually quite a good argument in favour of the expectation that the Men from Pretoria could do well on their trip to the Cape.
The sides drew their round robin meeting 31-all last year, while Tuks went down in extra-time 47-44 in a pulsating semifinal - with both matches taking place in Stellenbosch. (It should also not be forgotten that Tukkies' first three wins this season were all away from home.)
Another permutation is that even if they do not win, a similar performance to last year's would ensure Tuks two bonus points that will keep them above UJ if Hugo van As's side do not win by more than 28 points against NMMU. The coach agreed that his team would keep that in mind and it would put them "in a good state of mind come Monday".
Said Grobler: "Anything can happen on the day, we have seen it in the past.
"There is no denying that we have struggled to win against Maties the past couple of years but we have a great bunch of new players who won't have any psychological baggage going into the game."
The game at the Danie Craven Stadium gets underway at 6.45pm on Monday and Grobler believes that the winning formula will consist of minimising mistakes and "tackling Maties out of their structure".
This potentially crackerjack match will be televised live on SuperSport 1.
* Meanwhile, Grobler has been forced into making some late changes to his starting XV, with star back Johan Jackson - who was due to start at outside centre - dropping out with an injury. (See all the changes in bold below.)
FNB Tuks (revised): 15 Shaun Davids, 14 Kruger van Heerden, 13 Luvuyo Mhlobiso, 12 Franco Booysen, 11 Sampie Mastriet, 10 Marnitz Boshoff, 9 Christian van den Berg, 8 Daniel Nicholls, 7 Tendayi Chikukwa, 6 Devin Oosthuizen, 5 Peet Botma, 4 Johan de Bruin (captain), 3 Jacques Botha, 2 Henry Bantjes, 1 Ettienne Breytenbach.
Replacements: 16 Corné Fourie, 17 Rossouw de Klerk, 18 Duncan Naude, 19 Willie Nel, 20 Ignick Windvogel, 21 Jaco Oosthuizen, 22 Clayton Blommetjies.
By Heinz Schenk