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Maroela set up Mopanie rugby final
TuksCricket trio selected for South African USSA side
On Tuesday 2 September, Maroela’s first XV played Sonop’s first XV in the semi-finals of the Koshuis Rugby League. The game started with both teams observing a minute of silence for Teemus Kauluma, the Maroela resident who died last Monday. Maroela kicked off the game and the teams were deadlocked as neither defence let up. Maroela strung a few phases together and were playing well but the Sonop defence was able to keep them at bay. Maroela kept pushing and eventually an incredible chipped ball landed well and bounced in favour of Maroela and they scored a sensational try. The conversion was unsuccessful. The game started becoming exciting, with Sonop looking for a reply. Sonop’s Jan van der Walt was sin-binned and with the extra man advantage, Maroela took charge and got another try. The try was converted and the score was 12-0. The game continued and poor discipline on the Maroela side led to Sonop earning a penalty. They punted the ball into touch and earned a line out right in front of Maroela’s 22. From the lineout, Sonop mauled into Maroela’s 22 and broke off swiftly to score the try.
KAYA NOCANDA
SIMPHIWE NHLABATHI
The conversion was unsuccessful and the score remained 12-5. Just before the break, Sonop scored another penalty and the game went to half time with Sonop trailing. Sonop kicked off the second half and immediately forced Maroela to make errors as they were awarded a penalty, which they scored. Maroela’s reply was another well worked converted try. Sonop was hungry for the win, and started digging deep for it. Their constant pressure on Maroela led to more mistakes and Sonop scored another unconverted try from a lineout. After another Sonop player got sin binned, Maroela attacked to try to cement their win, but a brilliant break on the counter from Sonop led to a beautiful try and for the first time in the game, Sonop converted a try and took the lead. The score was 19-23 with just under five minutes to play. Maroela didn’t give up. After falling behind Maroela pressed for the win and got the breakthrough. Their pressing of Sonop paid off as they scored the try in the final minute of the game. The try was converted and Maroela won the game 26-23. The final will be played this week against Mopanie.
Varsity netball on the horizon
Image provided.
WILLIAM ALDRIDGE Varsity Sports has been entertaining students all year, featuring sport like hockey, rugby and football. Now it is netball’s turn to take centre stage. The second edition of the Vasity Sports Netball tournament will feature 11 players from the South African u/19 netball squad, ensuring high quality netball. The netball action commences on 14 September and runs until 20 October. There are eight universities taking part in the competition, namely: Stellenbosch University (Maties), University of the Free State (Kovsies), North-West University (Pukke), University of Johannesburg (UJ), Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU), University of Cape Town (UCT), Vaal University of Technology (VUT), and the University of Pretoria (Tuks). Last year’s winners Kovsies will be aiming to replicate
their form in 2013. They managed to edge out tournament favourites Pukke, who had gone the entire campaign unbeaten until Kovsies beat them 40-44 in a tightly contested final. Round one sees last year’s finalists Pukke host Maties, UJ welcome VUT, UCT take on NMMU and Tuks open their campaign with a difficult fixture in the Free State against defending champions Kovsies. Tuks narrowly lost out last season, with Kovsies winning by 53 points to Tuks’ 46. All the teams will then travel to Port Elizabeth for a threeday round of fixtures, running from 20-22 September. Tuks will face Maties, VUT and NMMU. Tuks will play at home on 29 September when they face UJ in Pretoria. The teams then travel to Johannesburg where Tuks will face UCT and Pukke in the last round of group fixtures. The ladies from Pretoria will be looking to improve on last year’s performance where they finished fourth, losing out by a mere four points in the semi-final to Pukke.
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Three TuksCricket players were selected to represent the University Sports South Africa (USSA) cricket-side in the Cricket South Africa (CSA) triangular series that were hosted at the TuksCricket Oval from 18-23 August. Heinrich Klaasen, Ruben Claassen and Johan Wessels were selected for this side and they were also part of the team that represented the country and the university at the Red Bull Campus Cricket World Finals in July. Klaasen is the vice-captain of the TuksCricket side and was also recently selected to represent the Titans in the eKasi Challenge. Claassen, who is an off-spinner, put in a few good performances for the side during their successful campaign at the Red Bull Campus Cricket Finals. Wessels was also instrumental in his side’s performances at the tournament having been named man of the match in both the semi-final and in the final because of his heroics with the bat. Perdeby spoke to Klaasen and Claassen about how well they did last season. Heinrich, you recently represented the Titans in the eKasi Challenge that was played in Soweto. What valuable lessons did you learn while playing with individuals that have represented the Proteas? Klaasen: First of all it was a massive honour to have played with those guys. There wasn’t time really to learn a lot, but just the way they back their skill 100% even in difficult conditions stood out for me. You were also the vice-captain of the side at the recent Red Bull Campus Cricket World Finals. What has it been like being in the leadership group for a team that has been so successful in recent times? Klaasen: It’s incredible to be part of this unbelievable Tuks unit and to be part of the senior group of players is always a privilege. Our captain Theunis de Bruyn was magnificent, so my job was easy and I could just [go] and play my game. We [are] a very close unit, so to help the younger guys out with the things they ask is fun and I honestly enjoyed it. I have learned a lot from them as well. South Africa isn’t really well-known for producing a lot of spinners. Do you think that this makes it difficult for batsmen in our country to face you seeing that you’re an off-spinner? Claassen: I don’t think that it is necessarily harder for batsmen to face spin. I just feel that you can maybe outplan batsmen as a bowler and put them under pressure by doing that. So I have been working hard with the help of the world class coaches at Tuks to be able to execute certain plans during different stages of the game in order to try put batsmen under pressure in that manner. Ruben, you bowled extremely well at the recent Red Bull Campus Cricket World Finals and now you’ve been selected for the USSA side. What are your short term goals for the future? Claassen: Well, it’s rumoured that Varsity Cup Cricket will start sometime in the near future which [will] be an awesome opportunity to expose what you have to offer as a cricketer. But ja, in order to do that I feel that a lot of hard work still lies ahead. I mean that’s all you can do, the rest of the stuff will take care of itself. Johan, you were instrumental in your win in the final of the Red Bull Campus Cricket World Finals. What can you attribute your recent success in terms of your batting to? Wessels: I really worked hard on my batting just before England. I put in a lot of hours trying to get my game ready for the World Finals. But just before we went there I hit a bad patch of form. I made three ducks in a row, but I knew if I just trust in my preparation everything will be fine. So everything fell in place the final day and all the hard work paid off. But it is all thanks to God for giving me the talent and trusting him in his timing. Has your recent selection for the USSA team given you the belief that you can work your way into the Titans side and ultimately maybe one day represent your country? Wessels: I would love to go on and play for the Titans. It’s going to be hard work to get there but I am up for that challenge. To play for my country would just be a dream come true.