Tuks could make Varsity rugby history on Friday

Tuks's rugby team is on the verge of making rugby history on Friday when taking on Varsity College in the Varsity Shield final.

If victorious, Tuks will be the only team in the history of Varsity rugby to have won both the Cup and the Shield trophies. Judging by this season's results it seems a foregone conclusion that Tuks will win. During the pool games Tuks has beaten Varsity College 75-21.

But Tuks's players will avoid falling into the trap of taking anything for granted. When talking to them, they keep repeating phrases like "One game at a time . . . a game is only won when the whistle blows for the final time . . . we are playing to restore TuksRugby's pride . . . our goal is to get back to playing Varsity Cup rugby."

The one thing, however, that can't be denied is that Tuks have been dominating. Numbers don't lie. Playing around with the statistics makes for an interesting story.

508: The total of the points Tuks scored in the eight games they played.

99: The number of points Tuks conceded.

81: This is the most points scored by Tuks in a game.

80: The 80 points Tuks scored in the semifinals is a Varsity Shield record.

79: Tuks's flyhalf, Jean-Pierre Wentzel, succeeded with 38 conversions and one penalty goal.

75: That is how many tries Tuks have scored. They only conceded 12.

63: On average, Tuks have been winning 63-12.

42: Kyle Cyster has scored the second most points for Tuks - 5 tries, 7 conversions and a penalty goal.

23: Is how many Tuks players scored tries.

13: The most tries Tuks scored in one game.

9: Edwin Till, with nine tries, has been Tuks's top try scorer.

8: The captain, Ethan Burger, has led by example, scoring 8 tries. In only two of the Tuks games, he did not score.

6: In six of the eight games Tuks played, they scored more than 50 points.

3: Tharquin Manuel, Kyle Cyster, and Kamohelo Tlome were nominated for the Varsity Shield Overall Player that Rocks award.

2: Manuel and Cyster also got nominated for the Backs that Rock award, while Marco Venter and Ethan Burger got nominated for the Forwards that Rock award.

Kickoff for Friday’s final at Tuks is at 17:30.