Maidza optimistic about chances in competition

The FNB NMMU Madibaz moved down two spots to sixth place after a 40 - 13 defeat by the defending champions, FNB UCT, at the Green Mile in Cape Town on a windy Monday evening.  

Despite the team’s loss, Madibaz head coach David Maidza remained positive about his team’s efforts and optimistic about their chances in the competition.

"We have to give credit to UCT, they played better on the night and they handled the wind factor better than we did," said Maidza.

 

"I thought the boys really put in a sterling performance. Taking into account that we have a young squad, I think there really was great effort from the team."

 

“There was no lacking in putting their bodies on the line on the night,” he added.

According to Maidza, the team did not start out as well as they could have from the whistle, which proved to be one of their major downfalls during the match.

 

“Also not leading at half-time with the wind at our backs definitely did not assist our force,” said Maidza.

 

He said there were a few minor technical issues the team would need to tighten up on come the fourth round of the tournament.

 

“We couldn’t stop UCT’s ball well and their scrums were very well structured, so they were solid up front. This is something we need to work on doing for next week’s game.

 

“But the boys have been improving with every match and they really did put in a fantastic effort on Monday.”

 

Maidza said the team just needed to keep looking ahead to the next match and finding ways to improve their game.

 

“We need to regroup and come out fighting again. Our next game is at home and we need to take advantage of that,” he said.

FNB UP-Tuks are currently top of the log on 13, followed by FNB UFS Shimlas on 12, FNB UJ and FNB NWU-Pukke on 9 each and FNB UCT on 8. Madibaz and FNB Maties are both on 6 points, but Maties are 7th on the log due to points difference. FNB CUT is currently 8th with no log points. 

Madibaz have scored 73 points and conceded 89 from 3 games, scored 11 tries and conceded 13 with a total of 6 log points which includes 2 bonus points.

Madibaz will face FNB UJ at the NMMU Stadium in Port Elizabeth on the 2nd of March at 7pm.