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Shimlas stick to attacking style to secure semi-final spot

07 April 2022 | Story By Jóhann Thormählen | Photo ASEM Engage, Hannes Naude

They did have a more conservative plan in the soaking wet conditions, but it was the attacking style of the University of the Free State (UFS) Shimlas that shone through.

According to André Tredoux, the Shimlas Head Coach, his players followed their attacking instinct against the University of Pretoria (UP) on Monday to book a spot in the Varsity Cup semi-finals.

And that is also why the UFS is the team that scored the most tries in the tournament.

The team defeated UP 26-15 in trying conditions at Shimla Park and will finish among the top four. This, even though the Shimlas are still playing the Madibaz (Nelson Mandela University) in Gqeberha in their last league encounter on Monday (11 April 2022).

The UFS is at the top of the log (32 points) and will play in its first semi-final since 2019.

Anxious moments

Many would say an expansive approach is risky when it rains, but the Shimlas proved them wrong this week.

“Our vision for the team is to play according to our DNA (attacking rugby),” says Tredoux.

He admits that the wet conditions made them tweak this a bit: “But we still encouraged the players to attack the space that our opponents gave us.”

“Our execution and intensity in the first 34 minutes were superb.”

Six minutes before half-time, his side was leading 19-3 against UP when the game was stopped due to impending lightning. It could have been a bad result if play had not continued, as 40 minutes was needed for a result.

“After the good start, we were quite anxious. We knew that we at least had to play until half-time to get a result.”

Outscoring opponents

It is their philosophy of playing without fear and scoring tries that has helped the Shimlas outscore other Varsity Cup teams.

The UFS scored 48 tries in eight rounds, with the University of Cape Town Ikeys second on 38 tries.

But the Kovsies are also solid on defence, as they have conceded only 21 tries. Only UP (20) conceded less.

There is, however, not too much talk in the Shimla camp about a semi-final yet.

“We are very happy with where we are on the log at the moment.

“We will continue working hard and playing good rugby. But we only focus on the next match,” says Tredoux.

News Archive

Kovsie athletes set the world alight

2009-08-05

Kovsie athletes Johan Cronjé, Thuso Mpuang and Kagisho Kumbane recently left for Berlin to participate in the World Senior Athletics Championships that will take place from 15-23 August 2009. It is an extraordinary achievement for the University of the Free State (UFS) that three of its athletes were included in the South African senior group that will participate in the world athletics championships in Berlin.

Johan will participate in the 1 500 m. Thuso, who earlier this year won a bronze medal in the 200 m at the World Student Games that were held in Belgrade, Serbia with a time of 20,69 seconds, will again participate in the 200 m at the championships in Berlin. Together with Kagisho he is also included in the South African relay team that will participate in the 4 x 100 m relay at these championships. Both Thuso and Kagisho were included in the South African team that ended third in the 4 x 100 m relay in Belgrade.

Kagisho also participated in the World Student Games in Belgrade, Serbia and progressed to the third round in the 100 m. Boy Soke, also a Kovsie athlete, ended in ninth place in the 5 000 m finals in Belgrade.

Windy Jonas, also from Kovsies, has left for Mauritius where he will participate in the Africa Junior Championships that will take place from 30 July to 3 August.


Boy Soke	Windy Jonas	Johan Cronjé

Thuso Mpuang		Kagisho Kumbane

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