Defending champs UJ press reset button
JOBURG - All systems go for University of Johannesburg rugby team as they seek to defend their University Sport South Africa title.
The defending champions, the University of Johannesburg (UJ), will be putting last year’s success behind them at the University Sport South Africa rugby tournament in East London from July 4 to 8.
History will count for nothing when the teams line up next month, said UJ head coach Werner Janse van Rensburg. He added that the Johannesburg side would be looking no further than their first match against the University of Cape Town (UCT).
“It is obviously an honour to go there as the champions, but a new year brings new challenges, and all the sides want to win this elite tournament,” he said.
“Therefore, we will only be looking at game one versus UCT, and then take it from there.”
Although UJ has lost some players, including last year’s player of the tournament, Jeremy Jordaan, Janse van Rensburg said his team still had a solid nucleus. “The team has changed but we have also kept a core group from last year,” he said.
“We have moulded a good group of players over the last two years and we are hoping that our debutants will take their chances.”
The coach added that it would be a priority to manage the players during an intense week of rugby and preparations, as this time of the year was always affected by exams, the provincial schedule and having players on national duty. “Playing the games in one week is the biggest factor.
“The physicality of the tournament is huge with a maximum turnaround time of 40 hours.”
Janse van Rensburg added that trying to avoid injuries as well as adapting to conditions at the coast would provide further challenges. “But it’s these factors which make the tournament unique and, therefore, also more satisfying if you are the lucky ones to win it.”
He believes the race for the title will be wide open. “The traditionally strong universities such as Tuks and Maties can’t be discounted. However, this tournament has shown that any team can beat any other side on any given day.”
