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When a tackle needs to be made, Henk Pretorius, the new captain of the Shimlas, doesn’t want to be the guy that shouts, ’tackle!’; he wants to be the first to make the tackle.
 
“I would like to be a doer and not a talker, and lead by example for my teammates to follow,” said the 20-year old who is playing both lock and flank.
 
Pretorius, playing in his second Varsity Cup, started in all but one of last year’s clashes. He takes over the captaincy from Johan Kotze and Benji Jansen van Vuuren, who led the team in last year’s competition. Pretorius has captained the Free State at U21 and U19 level.
 
According to him, they learned exactly how important every single log point in the Varsity Cup is, and they want to make sure that they don’t fall short again with one log point in the semi-final stage as was the case in 2018.
 
“It is important to start well. You can’t afford to wake up after the first ten minutes.”
They did exactly that, winning both of their first games in 2019.
He believes they will impress a few people.
 
“We want to make an impression and play exciting rugby. We will give it our all.”
 
Pretorius went to school at Affies in Pretoria and says his first experience of the Shimlas was in 2013 during his Grade 9 year when he and some friends slipped out of the hostel to watch Tuks play the Shimlas in Pretoria.
 
“I wanted to come to Kovsies because of the BAgric course they are offering, as well as the rugby bursary I received.”