Much like UKZN Impis (who lost 42-4 to CUT in in Bloem last night) in the tier two Varsity Shield, the TUT Vikings are embarrassing themselves in the Varsity Cup this year, and if one had to be honest, have been doing so since the inception of this tournament …
UJ recorded the biggest-ever Varsity Cup victory in the five-year history of the tournament by hammering the Vikings 93-0 last night. It was a record-breaking 12-try romp – which included a 33-point haul for Worsie Kotze and four tries for fellow Namibian RWC star Chrysander Botha.
Elsewhere there were fifth-round wins for Maties and Tukkies, whilst the UCT Ikeys and FNB Pukke played out to a dramatic and entertaining 29-29 draw.
The Ikeys led 29-13 with less then 10 minutes remaining in Cape Town, but no lead is safe in the perennial hurricane that was in full force at the Green Mile last night. And the manne from Potch used it full advantage to score two tries to come away with a draw – no doubt putting an end to UCT’s semifinal aspirations in the process.
In PE the Maties converted a solid enough 18-0 half-time lead into a 42-26 victory over the Madibaz, outscoring them 26-14 in the second half. Tuks kept up with the log-leading Maties after leading 24-10 at half-time, scoring three tries in each half, while UJ put together a comfortable enough 48-18 win over the injury-hit Shimlas.
As things stand now defending champs UCT are in sixth place on the FNB Varsity Cup presented by Steinhoff International log with nine points from five matches.
The Madibaz are a point ahead on 10, Pukke on 14 points, Tuks and UJ on 20 points (UJ ahead of Tuks on points’ difference), with the unbeaten Maties in first position on the log with 22 points. Shimlas are in seventh place on six points, with TUT on an embarrassing zero log points in eighth position.
With TUT the obvious contenders for automatic relegation at this stage (with the winning Varsity Shield side gaining automatic promotion), one of Shimlas, UCT or the Madibaz could still be forced to play in the promotion/relegation game against the team that loses in the Varsity Shield Final.
Shimlas still have to play against TUT, a game they should win, and Pukke, with UCT set to travel to Stellenbosch next week to take on the Maties before finishing their league campaign against Tuks on March 19. The Madibaz face TUT in the final round of league action, with a Round Six assignment against Tuks next on their agenda.
The Varsity Cup and Shield results from last night (Half-time scores in brackets):
Varsity Cup
UCT 29 (24) NWU-Pukke 29 (5)
UP-Tuks 48 (24) Shimlas 18 (10)
NMMU 26 (0) Maties 42 (18)
UJ 93 (16) TUT Vikings 0 (0)
Varsity Shield
Fort Hare 10 (2) Wits 10 (2)
CUT 42 (10) UKZN 4 (4)
* In Varsity Young Guns action it took an incredible fightback from FNB UP-Tuks’ Under-20s to claim a 36-33 victory over the FNB UFS Under-20s.
* Finally, in Steinhoff Koshuisrugby Championships action, defending champions Steinhoff Patria (from NWU-Pukke) went down 25-28 to a determined Steinhoff Cobras (from UCT) in Cape Town. In other Koshuis action, a dominant Steinhoff Vishuis side inflicted a 26-18 defeat on Steinhoff Mopanie.
