Defending champs UCT eventually picked up their first Varsity Cup points of 2012 – in some style it has to be said – via a whopping 66-2 demolition of Wooden Spoonists TUT in Tshwane.
Having suffered successive defeats in the first two rounds, the Ikeys, sans even a few losing bonus points – would have been a bit nervous heading into this encounter against a desperate TUT outfit.
The Vikings, based on the slow start from the blue and whites, might have fancied their chances of a first-ever win over UCT but they were quite simply blown away by the visitors who scored nine tries – four of them going to young No.8 Rayn Smid who was making his first Varsity Cup start.
Smid came off the bench in last week’s 15-29 loss to UJ, but he found the going a bit easier this week as his teammates cut down their errors and got on the front foot for the first time this season.
TUT had their moments and their forwards were adequate, but poor handling and options cost the Vikings dearly. Their line-outs were also not up to standard.
The Cape side ran up six second-half tries for a total of nine against a side that ultimately had little to offer after their initial firm resistance, resorting to negative tactics in the last quarter in an effort to keep the scoreline respectable.
The win puts Maties’ big 52-2 win against TUT in the first round in perspective and it remains to be seen if the Vikings are a team to really measure your prowess against.
UCT’s big win was the only away victory of the week, as other results saw UJ beat the Shimla-topping Madibaz by 48-18 in the day’s first game, the ever impressive Tuks beat Pukke by 40-20 in a physical clash in Pretoria and the Maties remained unbeaten with a deserved 20-7 win over Shimlas at the Danie Craven Stadium.
As things stand, Maties Tuks are the only unbeaten teams in the Varsity Cup and, making their clash next Monday particularly spicy.
Tuks claimed a four-try bonus point in their win having converted their 24-10 half-time lead into their third successive win of the season. Flyhalf Wesley Dunlop kicked five from five conversions and fullback Clayton Blommetjies – the official Man of the Match – scored an acrobatic try in the second half to extend his team’s lead at a crucial stage.
Maties scored just three tries in their win over Shimlas, but it was a match won at the breakdown – as flankers Helmut Lehmann and Sam Mabombo gave their side the advantage on the ground.
The scorers:
TUT:
Pen: Van Loo
Ikeys:
Tries: Winter, Slatem, Bax, Smid (4), Kilroe, Nel
Cons: Holton 7
Referee: Tiaan Jonker
Assistant referees: Lihan Pretorius, Quinton van Huysteen
Tuks:
Tries: Verwey, Draghoender, Momberg, Blommetjies, Jacobs
Cons: Dunlop 5
Pukke:
Tries: Van Wyk 2, Fourie
Con: Nortier
Pen: Nortier
Referee: Marius van der Westhuizen
Assistant referees: Eduan Nel, Wilco Esterhuizen
TMO: Shaun Veldsman
Maties:
Tries: Smith, Light, Badenhorst
Con: Kemp
Pen: Kemp
Shimlas:
Try: Ulengo
Pen: Scheepers
Referee: Lesego ‘Pro’ Legoete
Assistant referees: Andrew Slater, François Pretorius
UJ:
Tries: Malton, Botha 2, Esterhuizen, Du Toit, Wheeler
Cons: Cronjé 6
NMMU:
Tries: Pretorius, Swanepoel, Godfrey
Con: Smith
Referee: Jason Jaftha
Assistant referees: Jaco van Heerden, Stephan Geldenhuys
TMO: JC Fortuin
Congrats to Tony Delport (Montana) on his yellow cap in the Front Row Grunt SuperBru pool – who got all four wins and two margin points last night … Delport is now just 0.25 points behind Chrsito Smuts (Abs) on the FRG leaderboard … I had an absolute nightmare in forgetting to put my predictions up, so instead of a “Four out of four” rise up the ladder, I am in freefall and lurking in 135th place!! Semi regretting that call not to allow defaults it has to be said … 🙂
