In light of Isaac Newton’s quote of what goes up must come down, it could be argued that no team can remain victorious against the same opposition forever.
That is why it might be safe betting on UP-Tuks to beat TUT during Thursday’s Varsity Football semi-final encounter in Cape Town. What an upset it would be.
Since the inception of Varsity Football, UP-Tuks have proved capable of beating any team on a good day barring one… TUT.
In spite of what the past results might suggest, UP-Tuks’ erstwhile captain Katlego Motlhatsang is confident of his team ending TUT’s ‘reign of terror’ against the Stripe Generation.
“Statistics is what it is. There is no getting away that TUT has had the better of us for a couple of years now. It, however, does not mean we are getting obsessed with beating them. If we did, it would be a mistake.
“On Thursday, it is only going to be about staying focused on the moment, meaning on what we can control. UP-Tuks has already shown a lot of character coming back from being second last on the log to finishing third.”
Motlhatsang is sure that TUT will bank on the same tactics that stood them in good stead in the previous encounters.
“This time around, it is not going to be about playing pretty. We don’t mind winning dirty. Winning is all it is about. Player for player I believe we are capable of playing better football. We need to be dominant from the very first minute forcing TUT to play, ensuring they are the ones that are making mistakes and not us.
“I will put money on it that it is going to be a thrilling encounter. In the end, it is all going to come down to who wants it the most. A classic scenario of ‘do or die’.”
Meanwhile, Tlisane Motaung was equally positive as to what he expects the outcome to be.
“We have a new strategy,” the Tuks head coach claims.
“From Sunday, the focus during training was to ensure every player understands what their role needs to be. It is high time we bring the Varsity Football trophy back to Tuks.”
Kick-off at UWC will be at 16:00. The game is being broadcasted live on SuperSport 204. UWC faces NWU in the other semi-final at 18:15.
By Willem de Swart (TuksSport Media)
