Bandise heading for the 'Big Time' - again
Former TUT student Bandise Maku played his first Super Rugby match against his former teammates, the Bulls, this past Saturday when he turned out for the Lions.
Bandise Grey Maku was born in King William's Town and went to school at Dale College. He played Craven Week for Border and relocated to Pretoria after school where he enrolled at TUT and completed his B Tech.
He then went through the Blue Bulls ranks and represented the province at Under-19, Under-21, Vodacom Cup, Currie Cup and Super Rugby level.
Bandise never played Varsity Cup as he was already in the Blue Bulls squad when the competition kicked off in 2008. However, he is very positive about the tournament, saying the Varsity Cup forms a very important bridge between junior amateur rugby and the senior professional game.
(He does, however, question the condition of the spectators on Tuesdays after the festivities of the Monday-night games!)
Maku represented the SA Under-21 team in 2006 and gained his first Test cap against Italy in Witbank in June 2010 - making him TUT's third Springbok. He was called up for duty again on SA's year-end tour in 2010 when former Bulls teammate Chiliboy Ralepelle was forced to return home after facing a drugs test.
In all, Maku has played four matches for South Africa - including last year's tour match against the Barbarians when he scored a try. Bandise - who can play hooker and loosehead prop - is positive that he will become a regular member of the national team soon.
He was also very excited about the TUT Vikings' victory over Tukkies last week - believing that this could be start of a big revival of the game at TUT.
The Lions No.2 still supports the team, even being based in Johannesburg now and has fond memories of his days as a student rugby player.
Bandise invites former teammates to contact him on This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . He would like them to join him to support TUT at a local game this season.
By Piet de Jager
See below for other Alumni articles:
- Wynand Claassen | Read
- Chris Badenhorst | Read
- Krappie Odendaal | Read
