Tuks men’s hockey team will have to be at their absolute best to win Varsity Tournament

No second chances are what the Varsity Hockey Tournament will boil down from Wednesday at Tuks.

The team who loses its first game will play out for third place. That is why Sigz Ntuli (Tuks men's head coach) considers the game against Maties as a semifinal.

And what a semifinal it might be. The two teams were the main protagonists during July's USSA Tournament. Tuks got the better of Maties during the pool game, but Maties played the better hockey when it mattered in the final. That is why they were crowned champions.

According to Ntuli, if one takes the statistics of the USSA-final into account, Tuks was the better team. But he immediately added that matches are never being won on paper.

"Tuks and Maties sort of balance each other when it comes to having national players. Most of our team has played for the senior national team and the South African under-21 side as has Maties. But it does not make my job as the coach any easier.

"It can be challenging to get good players to play together as a team and not do their own thing trying to prove a point. But we have succeeded in the past. There is no reason why we can't do so again.

"What made the difference in the USSA final was that Maties made their opportunities to score count. We only got ourselves to blame. At crucial times we let ourselves down through a lack of discipline. There were too many yellow cards. It left us at a disadvantage for most of the game.

"The only way to fix this on Wednesday when we play Maties again is to focus on what we are good at. Every player will have to be at their best. More importantly, the players need to remain on the field.

"One of the drawbacks we have as a Tuks team is that we are not playing enough crunch games. Our players hardly ever get challenged in any local league game. They are cruising. Winning one game after another. It is different in the Johannesburg and the Western Cape leagues. That is why the Maties, Wits and UJ players are used to handling pressure situations on the field."

UJ and Wits will be playing the other "semifinal". The final will be played on Thursday. The hockey games form part of the Varsity Sports Festival hosted at Tuks.