Madibaz skipper calls for love affair with 'consistency' in Shield

Madibaz No 8 Leon van der Merwe will lead the team for the third straight year in the FNB Varsity Shield rugby competition. Madibaz open their campaign against Varsity College in Durban on February 14.

Madibaz rugby captain Leon van der Merwe has asked his charges to enter into a love affair with “consistency” from the moment they kick off their FNB Varsity Shield campaign in Durban on Valentine’s Day.

The Mandela University outfit will certainly have to hit the ground running against Varsity College, who toppled them in the semifinals last year.

It was their second successive defeat at that stage of the competition and the Madibaz will be champing at the bit to clear that hurdle in 2025.

At 23 years of age and heading into his fourth Varsity Cup/Shield competition, Van der Merwe knows exactly how to navigate the new season.

The captain, who made his Cup debut in 2022 before leading the Madibaz to two successive semis in the second-tier event, believes it is all about consistency.

“Varsity Shield has become extremely competitive. There are no easy games,” he said.

“That is why maintaining a high level of performance week after week has become essential for the sort of success we desire.”

The Gqeberha side have made a good run of it in the Shield competition and therefore the skipper understands the importance of showing up on day one.

“It doesn’t get much tougher for our first game than a clash with Varsity College in Durban after they ended runners-up last year,” Van der Merwe said.

“But we are all excited about this opportunity. It will be good to have such a stiff challenge right off the bat.”

The eighth man feels that a good performance away from home on Friday will set them up nicely for the rest of the season.

Despite having had to say goodbye to several experienced players from the 2024 squad, Van der Merwe is buoyant about the future.

“The new players still need to prove themselves at this level but I’m excited about what they have to offer.”

While experience counted for a lot, he said the youngsters arrived with fresh ideas and energy and that it would be interesting to follow their progress.

The Madibaz modus operandi is not to reinvent the wheel but rather to perfect the blueprint already put in place by coach David Manuel and his management team.

“We have not changed much in our approach and will draw confidence from a really good build-up,” the skipper said.

This included a 29-24 victory over the Elephants.

“It will be a matter of focusing on our systems and getting the basics right so that we can accurately execute the gameplan,” Van der Merwe, who can still count on the support of seven senior team members following the inevitable “brain drain”, said.

Manuel, now in his fourth year with the Madibaz, clearly had the support of those around him.

“Coach David has been fantastic for us since coming in,” the captain said.

According to the latter, there existed a close bond between the coach and his players and he pushed them to be the best version of themselves.