“Die Maties kom” … And boy did they arrive on a swelteringly hot day at UCT’s Green Mile, in the end comprehensively beating their traditional rivals.
The Maroon Machine overcame some extreme heat and a fiery Ikey Tigers team to record a 37-15 victory over their Cape rivals on the Ikey campus.
As always, not matter the previous form, the match was competitive, with UCT even enjoying the lead early in the second half, but the Maties powered away from their hosts in the closing stages, leaving UCT remaining in search of that elusive first win of the season.
The Ikeys lineout was an issue all afternoon, although it was from one that went awry that they scored from 5 metres out just before half time. And they were perhaps guilty of too many aimless kicks that gave up much needed possession.
But as with several previous encounters between these two sides, it was the impressive power and physicality up front that eventually wore down the home side. The Matie scrum and lineout, together with some well orchestrated drives and mauls, and educated kicks from the halfbacks, makes them a very difficult side to beat.
IN PE, NMMU caused a bit of an upset when they downed UJ to maintain their unbeaten record at home this season. It was a hard-fought 20-13 victory over a competitive UJ for the Madibaz, who move into fourth position on the log.
The defeat saw UJ drop down to third place, with their single bonus point not enough to keep them above Tuks, who cruised to a comfortable 52-0 win over Wits in Pretoria.
In Bloemfontein Shimlas secured their second win of the season, scoring five tries against Pukke to secure an impressive 38-18 victory at home. The bonus-point win will come as welcome relief for the Free State side after a run of three consecutive defeats. Pukke, on the other hand, have dropped out of the top four.
CUT kept up their unbeaten record in the Varsity Shield with a 49-40 victory over UWC in an entertaining, if ill-tempered clash in Bellville which saw 12 tries, four yellow cards and one red card. In Pietermaritzburg, UKZN did the season double over TUT, holding out for a tense 10-9 victory.
Monday night’s results and scorers:
Shimlas 38-18 Pukke
Shimlas: Tries: Mohoje, Botha, Dolo, Scheepers, De Wet, Cons: Scheepers 3, Pens: Scheepers 2
Pukke: Tries: Oosthuizen, Maritz, Mahuza, Con: Nortier
Tuks 52-0 Wits
Tuks: Tries: Willemse, Ross, Mbonambi, Short, Orie, Temperman, Adendorff 2, Cons: Du Plessis 3, Pollard
NMMU 20-13 UJ
NMMU: Tries: Godfrey, Ferreira, Gerber, Con: Van Staden, Pen: Van Staden
UJ: Tries: Esterhuizen, Marx, Con: De Kock
UCT 15-37 Maties
UCT: Tries: Bosman, Bax, Con: Jones-Davies, Pen: Jones-Davies
Maties: Tries: Gericke 2, Nell, De Villers, Lewis, Cons: Grant 4
The log:
Maties 23
Tuks 16
UJ 16
NMMU 15
Pukke 14
Shimlas 12
Ikeys 5
Wits 1
