Pukke head back to square one

Coach Jonathan Mokuena's side came out firing and scored two tries in the opening nine minutes, the second of which being the tournament's first nine-point try.

"We want to play a nice brand of rugby and have been working hard to play a fast game, which is exactly what the boys went out and did. We knew we needed to be fired up and hit the ground running, which is what we were able to execute. The key was about changing the pace of the game and knowing when to do that.

"The attitude and intensity they showed throughout the match was really good to see because we knew that Tuks have never been a side that will just lay down and roll over," Mokuena told rugby365.com.

The scoreline may suggest that Pukke had the perfect game, however, Mokuena knows his side still has a long way to go.

"We actually had a good, critical look at our game on Monday and there are a lot of things we were not good at and that needs to be worked on. In terms of going forward, we are going back to square one because if you focus on what happened in the past, you open yourself up to arrogance and end up losing sight of where you want to go.

"When that happens, you might end up falling to a team you thought would be an easy victory," he added.

Pukke will welcome the University of Johannesburg to the Fanie du Toit Sports Grounds on Monday, February 15 – for their first home match of the season but Mokuena is not fazed about the venue.

"We don't place any focus on where we play but rather on our processes and what we need to do, in order to achieve success. Once you start focusing on things outside of the game like who is in the crowd, you get distracted from the objectives," he stated.

By Tauriq Ebrahim