NWU-Pukke will take some red-hot form into the Varsity Sevens tournament in Camps Bay at the end of the month.
Coach Pieter van den Berg was also in charge of the Leopards squad that recently won the South African interprovincial Sevens title, and his Pukke squad boasts ten players that lifted that trophy.
His team also came second to a Blitzbokke academy side in a tournament in Zimbabwe earlier in the year which featured a few national teams, so they will certainly not be short on confidence.
The Pukke coach has had to bring in just four new players for Varsity Sevens, and he is hoping that the continuity in the squad stands them in good stead.
“We had to bring in four new players as some of the guys were not students, so it will depend on how they slot in but we are feeling good,” he told varsitysportssa.com.
Whilst it has been a very succesful year so far, Van den Berg does not see his side as one of the favourites for the title in Camps Bay, and pointed to defending champions Maties as the biggest threat.
“Maties have to be the favourites and I know that UWC have a strong side with quite a lot of their Varsity Shield players involved. But we expect a big onslaught from all of the varsities – nobody likes to lose on tv,” he quipped.
Van den Berg expects every team in the tournament to raise their game, which should make for some fierce competition in Camps Bay.
“Everybody is a year wiser now and they will all be taking it more seriously so it will be very tough.
“We prefer being underdogs, our results this year might make the other teams see us as contenders but we are just looking forward to showing what we can do,” he said.
