After the best possible start to their 2014 Varsity Cup campaign against Maties and UJ, the NMMU Madibaz have lost two consecutive matches and slipped down to 6th place on the log.
A record 45 - 29 opening round win against Maties which they followed up with a 21 - 15 win over UJ, but failed to build on that momentum when they lost to Ikeys, 13 - 26, and received a 16 - 52 thumping from the NWU-Pukke boys on Monday night.
David Maidza, head coach of NMMU, said that his team was simply outplayed on Monday night.
“We were outmuscled, outplayed and outsmarted. Pukke got all the basics right and did everything they were supposed to do.
He said six of Pukke’s seven tries were the result of errors by the Port Elizabeth team.
“You cannot play rugby like that. We need to address the mistakes and fix them as quickly as possible.”
NMMU failed to put any points on the board in the first half, and were trailing 0 - 23 at the break.
Outside center Michael Bernardt scored NMMU's first try in the 64th minute, his second try followed 2 minutes later, just to bring the score a little bit more pleasing to the eye at 16 - 39 with 14 minutes to go. Pukke however put the final nails in NMMU's coffin as they scored a further two tries to take the final score to 52 - 16.
Maidza is still optimistic and said the competition is still far from over, and that they would go back to basics for the remaining round-robin matches.
“There’s not a chance that we’re going to drop our heads now. It’s going to be up until the last game and we have to play.”
“The players know what is required of them – that we never lie down. I don’t think we can play any poorer than what we did on Monday.”
“We know we’ve dug ourselves into a bit of a hole and it’s our responsibility as a team to get ourselves out of that.
NMMU's next fixture is against Wits at Wits Rugby Stadium in Johannesburg, followed by two more away games against Tuks and Shimlas to finish off the round-robin stages.
“We’ve just got to make the most of where we are at the moment and concentrate on the next game against Wits.
“We must make sure that we prepare thoroughly and come away with nothing less than a win.”
More than any single result, Maidza said it was vital that they continue moving forward with the plans and ambitions of the club.
“There’s not a chance that we’re going to let our supporters down or the people that want to come to this club. We’re not going to let NMMU down.”