Varsity Netball Final Facts Favour Tuks, But Maties Have Upset in Them

It all comes to this, the Varsity Netball grand final between unbeaten hosts Tuks and Maties – who ended the back-to-back hopes of Kovsies a week ago. Will Tuks become the first team in Varsity Netball history to go through a tournament unbeaten or will Maties cause an upset like they did four years ago in Pretoria?

varsitysportssa.com looked at all the facts and figures which could play a role come Monday (7 October 2019) evening at 18:45 at Rembrandt Hall.

• The finalists have met eight times in the competition before. Only on one occasion has the Maties been able to pull off a win. That was in the semi-final of 2015 when they caused an upset by beating Tuks 55-50 in Pretoria.
• It will be the first time the two teams meet in a final.
• Tuks will make a record fifth final appearance. They previously reached the final in 2014, 2016, 2017 and 2018.
• Maties have only appeared in one final, back in 2015. Jo Prins, Sasha-Lee Petersen and Stephanie Brandt are the only remaining members of that team.
• Tshina Mdau, captain of Tuks, will become the first player to appear in five Varsity Netball finals.
• If Tuks win, they will join NWU as the second most successful team in the competition with two titles each behind the Kovsies with three.
• It will be the fourth time this year that the two teams lock horns. At the University Sport South Africa (USSA) tournament in July, Tuks prevailed by 46-40 in the group stage before losing 41-44 in the semi-final. In the group match in round four of Varsity Netball 2019 (in Port Elizabeth), Tuks ended on the winning side with a 53-46 scoreline.

Squads for Varsity Netball Final:
Tuks:
5 Marlize de Bruin (vice-captain)
16 Anique Grobler
13 Venetia Grobler
8 Akosua Mensah
7 Lungile Mthembu
12 Tracey Mthunzi
2 Tshina Mdau (captain)
1 Mbali Ntuli
4 Chantelle Swart
3 Jamie van Wyk
6 Danielle van Zyl
11 Jasmine Ziegelmeier
Coach: Jenny van Dyk

Maties:
12 Stephanie Brandt
3 Claudia Jarrard
11 Khomotso Mamburu
4 Chrisley Marshall
1 Sian Moore
10 Sasha-Lee Petersen
8 Jo Prins
13 Nicola Smith
9 Caleigh Stuart
2 Nicholé Taljaard (captain)
6 Adri Uys
5 Carla Werth
Coach: Zanele Mdodana

Photo 1 Caption: The Varsity Netball final will see Tuks and Maties face off for the title at Rembrandt Hall in Pretoria on Monday, 7 October 2019. Photo: varsitysportssa.com

With editing by gsport