The University of the Free State (UFS) Shimlas started working harder for each other.
According to Thabang Mahlasi, the Shimla captain, this is one of the reasons why his team managed to pull itself together to get back to Varsity Cup winning ways.
The UFS is back at the top of the log after two consecutive wins against the University of Cape Town (UCT) and the University of Johannesburg (UJ). And it remains on course for semi-final spot.
The Shimlas are in first place with 27 log points, followed by UCT (26), the University of Pretoria (UP) (25), and
Stellenbosch University (SU) (24), making up the top four.
Although the UFS is sitting pretty after two rounds, with games against UP at Shimla Park and the Madibaz (Nelson Mandela University) in Gqeberha ahead, it wasn’t just smooth sailing.
The Shimlas defeated the University of the Western Cape (56-16), SU (50-28), and the Central University of Technology (48-27) in their first three encounters, but then lost their way by losing to Wits University (31-53) and the North-West University (22-32).
Mahlasi and his troops had to dig deep and came back with wins over UCT (58-7) and UJ (35-26) on Monday (28 March 2022) .
Lessons learnt
The Shimla leader says his side is happy with its current log position and has been rewarded for its effort so far.
But the UFS has learnt some valuable lessons along the way.
“I think in the two matches we lost, we went into those matches with a bit of comfort,” says Mahlasi.
“We now know that there is no room in this competition for being comfortable. You need to graft week in, week out, because every team is competitive. We started working harder for each other.”
Showing true character
In Johannesburg, the Shimlas had to fight back to beat UJ 35-26 this week, after trailing 16-23 at half-time.
Mahlasi says the match was a bit scrappy and his team decided to go ‘back to their systems’.
“We had to show massive character, because the crowd wasn’t making our job out there very easy.”
We had to show massive character, because the crowd wasn’t making our job out there very easy. – Thabang Mahlasi (Shimla captain)
The UFS next play the University of Pretoria, the defending Varsity Cup champions, in Bloemfontein on Monday (4 April 2022).
According to Mahlasi, it is tough for any team coming to Shimla Park.
“The first 20 minutes will be very important. We will have to make a massive statement and play our brand of high-intensity running rugby.”