A stunned Madibaz side were left feeling absolutely gutted after they were thrashed 63-8 by Wits in a Varsity Shield rugby clash in Gqeberha on Friday, says coach David Manuel.
After the heavy loss, a concerned Manuel immediately engaged in conversations with his players to ensure they are ready to face the University of the Western Cape in Cape Town on Friday (kickoff 4pm).
“We were all highly disappointed with our showing against Wits in the fifth round of the competition,” Manuel said.
“The Madibaz disappointed ourselves and our student community, whom we love and whom we want to inspire. We fell short on so many levels against Wits, who really played well against us.
“It is painful, and we are hurting, and we are not making any excuses for the loss. Wits were good, and they dominated the set piece and used the width of the field well, and they had some strong backs on the outside.
“They combined set-piece dominance with giving the ball air. We did not deal with that pressure on the day, and we are gutted, and we want to make sure we move on.”
Manuel said the team had had a deep look at where they fell short against Wits.
“There were hard conversations to make sure we do not take this [defeat to Wits] with us into the new week. We want to learn and take the lessons with us, but not the disappointment.
“The Madibaz want to leave that behind us, and our eyes are now on UWC in Cape Town on Friday. It is not ideal where we find ourselves, and we will make sure we pitch better on Friday.”
Log leaders Wits put some distance between themselves and the chasing pack thanks to their big win. Wits are well on the way to securing automatic promotion to the Varsity Cup, while the Madibaz may face a tricky promotion match against the team ending seventh in the Varsity Cup.
Tournament rules stipulate that the bottom team (8th) on the Varsity Cup log is automatically relegated and is replaced by the top-finishing Varsity Shield team. Additionally, the 7th-place Cup team faces the 2nd-place Shield team in a playoff.
The build-up to this top-of-the-table clash between the Madibaz and Wits was intense, but the visitors were quick to stamp their authority on proceedings, running in 11 tries.
The Wits onslaught was led by Dustyn Holmes, who put the Madibaz to the sword with a hat-trick of tries. There were also five-pointers for Liam Santos (2), Christopher Kachungunu (2), Meyer Opperman, Ricardo Brandao (2), and Lindani Dweba.
The only Madibaz try on a difficult afternoon for the home team was dotted down by Bahle Cengani.
Tries flowed for Wits after Layron Milborrow gave the Madibaz an early lead with a penalty.
No 8 Liam Santos got the try-fest under way, followed by a powerful run down the right and a touchdown by wing Holmes — the first of his three five-pointers of the afternoon. The pressure continued building on Madibaz, leading to infringements that saw two of their players binned within minutes of one another.
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