Both the Madibaz and Pukke made big statements in the opening round of the Varsity Cup by storming to convincing victories over Maties and UCT.
In Port Elizabeth, openside flank Christopher Cloete scored an incredible five tries – with four coming from driving mauls – as the Eastern Cape side gained revenge for their narrow semifinal defeat to Maties in Stellenbosch last year.
However, that comprehensive victory over the three-time champions was not enough to secure top spot on the log, with that honour going to Pukke for their 47-24 demolition of UCT on the Green Mile in Cape Town.
Defending champions Tuks were held to a hard-fought 18-18 draw by Gauteng rivals UJ in Pretoria whilst the Shimlas got their campaign off to a solid start with a 31-15 bonus-point victory over Wits in a wet Bloemfontein.
As per last year, many of the tries were scored from lineout mauls (with only 2 points available for penalty kicks, sides are prone to kick for the corner and use the legalised obstruction that almost guarantees you a try if the lineout ball is secured), with all three winners securing bonus points for scoring four tries or more.
The Madibaz have not lost at home since the 2012 season, and they were simply irresistible in front of a passionate crowd, although Maties did manage to salvage some pride with three late tries handing them a valuable bonus point.
In Cape Town Pukke took a while to get going but eventually tamed the incredibly windy conditions and the Ikey Tigers, who they outscored by seven tries to three in the end, to deservedly take the cake on The Green Mile.
The clash between Tuks and UJ saw all the points coming before half-time as both teams failed to take any of their opportunities in the second half to end deadlocked. Tuks outscored UJ by three tries to two, but it was not enough as both sides had to settle for just two log points for all of their hard work.
Shimlas overcame some slippery conditions in Bloemfontein and a spirited Wits side, scoring two tries in each half to secure a comfortable victory. To their credit Wits refused to throw in the towel and will be disappointed at having no log points to show for their efforts after scoring three tries in the end.
In the Varsity Shield Fort Hare handed UKZN their second consecutive defeat, with flying wing Garth van Rayner scoring a late try to seal a vital 17-12 victory in Durban. While TUT got their campaign off to an encouraging start by securing a morale-boosting 34-31 victory over UWC in Bellville.
The Varsity Cup scorers:
Tuks 18-18 UJ
Tuks:
Tries: R Smith, Gelant, Rohan Janse van Rensburg
Con: Gelant
UJ:
Tries: Antonites, De Bruyn
Cons: Schmidt 2
Pen: Schmidt
Yellow card: Marais Schmidt (UJ, 10 mins)
Tuks: 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Jade Stighling, 13 Dries Swanepoel, 12 Rohan Janse Van Rensburg, 11 Kefentse Mahlo, 10 Francois Tredoux, 9 Carlo Engelbrecht, 8 Jono Janse van Rensburg, 7 Rudolph Smith, 6 Roelof Smit, 5 Reniel Hugo (captain), 4 Dennis Visser, 3 Basil Short, 2 Jaco Visagie, 1 Juan Schoeman.
Replacements: 16 Sidney Tobias, 17 Brummer Badenhorst, 18 Jannes Kirsten, 19 Leneve Damens, 20 Emile Temperman, 21 Tian Schoeman, 22 Jacques Rossouw, 23 Andrew Beerwinkel.
UJ: 15 Marais Schmidt, 14 JR Esterhuizen, 13 Robert de Bruyn, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 Jacques Nel, 10 Jaco van der Walt, 9 Jacques Pretorius (captain), 8 Kobus Porter, 7 Victor Seketekete, 6 Tiaan MacDonald, 5 David Antonites, 4 Shane Kirkwood, 3 Van Zyl Botha, 2 Francois du Toit, 1 Wiseman Kamanga.
Replacements: 16 Jannes Snyman, 17 Devon Martinus, 18 Jeremy Jordaan, 19 Dylan Peterson, 20 Lukas van Zyl, 21 Juan Kotze, 22 PJ Walters, 23 Ryan Plasket.
Referees: Jaco van Heerden, Ben Crouse
TMO: Johan Greeff
Shimlas 31-15 Wits
Shimlas:
Tries: Jordaan, Strydom, Van der Walt, Claasen
Cons: Prinsloo 3
Pen: Prinsloo
Wits:
Tries: Breet, Davids, Ludick
Shimlas: 15 AJ Coertzen, 14 Divandre Strydom, 13 Robbie van Schalkwyk, 12 Joubert Engelbrecht, 11 Sethu Tom, 10 Gouws Prinsloo, 9 Andre van der Walt, 8 Niell Jordaan, 7 Henco Venter, 6 Tienie Burger, 5 Neill Claasen, 4 Oupa Mohoje, 3 Nick Schonert, 2 Elandre Huggett (captain), 1 Dolph Botha.
Replacements: 16 Jacques du Toit, 17 Gideon Bruwer, 18 Fanie van der Walt, 19 Sihle Ngxabi, 20 Kevin Luiters, 21 Franna du Toit, 22 Maphutha Dolo, 23 Justin Pappin.
Wits: 15 Ruhan Nel, 14 Joshua Jarvis, 13 Mandla Dube, 12 Brent Crossley, 11 Divan Ferguson, 10 Ashlon Davids, 9 Matt Torrance, 8 Jason Fraser, 7 JJ Breet, 6 JP Jonck, 5 Rendani Ramova, 4 Devin Montgomery (captain), 3 Gideon Muller, 2 Ashley Kohler, 1 Hannes Ludick.
Replacements: 16 James Marx, 17 Kyle Wood, 18 Senna Esterhuizen, 19 Thato Mavundla, 20 Nkuli Gamede, 21 Wilton Pietersen, 22 Pieter van Biljoen, 23 Ferdinand Kelly.
Referees: Lourens van der Merwe, Jaco Kotze
NMMU 45-29 Maties
NMMU:
Tries: Cloete 5, Agaba
Cons: Hauptfleisch 5
Maties:
Tries: Hodgskiss 2, Khumalo, Ehlers
Cons: Smith, Du Preez 2
Yellow card: Lungelo Chonco (62 mins, professional foul) Ivan Ludick (77 mins, deliberate infringement)
Teams:
NMMU: 15 Jarryd Buys, 14 Ayabula Dlepu, 13 Michael Bernardt, 12 Andile Jho, 11 Tythan Adams, 10 Gavin Hauptfleisch, 9 Daniel Acker, 8 Timothy Agaba, 7 Marcel Groenewald, 6 Christopher Cloete, 5 Cameron Lindsay, 4 Stefan Willemse, 3 Dexter Fahey, 2 Martin Ferreira, 1 Roy Godfrey (captain).
Replacements: 16 Greg Bauer, 17 Nicolas Roebech, 18 Louis Fourie, 19 Wade Elliot, 20 Ivan Ludick, 21 Stefanus Booysen, 22 Donovan Marais, 23 Enoch Mnyaka.
Maties: 15 Craig Barry, 14 Clearance Khumalo, 13 Mark Hodgskiss, 12 Louis Jordaan, 11 Caleb Smith, 10 Chris Smith, 9 Jean Nel, 8 Tertius Daniller (captain), 7 Jurg Streicher, 6 Beyers de Villiers, 5 Wilhelm van der Sluys, 4 Jan de Klerk, 3 Brendon Pitzer, 2 Freddie Kirsten, 1 Wesley Adonis.
Replacements: 16 Charl de Villiers, 17 Boeta Kleinhans, 18 Renier Ehlers, 19 Lungelo Chonco, 20 Gerhard Jordaan, 21 Robert du Preez, 22 Johnny Kôtze, 23 Liam Hendricks.
Referees: Christie du Preez, Rodney Boneparte
TMO: Deon van Blommestein
UCT 24-47 Pukke
UCT:
Tries: Jones-Davies 2, McDonald
Cons: Grant 3
Pukke:
Tries: Language, Mahuza 2, Obi, De Wet, Robbertse, Jordaan
Cons: Dorfling 4
Yellow card: Jason Klaasen
Teams:
UCT: 15 Ross Jones-Davies, 14 Richard Stewart, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Guy Schwikkard, 11 Lihleli Xoli, 10 Dean Grant, 9 Liam Slatem (captain), 8 Guy Alexander, 7 Vince Jobo, 6 Shaun McDonald, 5 Jan Uys, 4 James Kilroe, 3 Digby Webb, 2 Neil Rautenbach, 1 Joel Carew.
Replacements: 16 Chad Solomon, 17 David Maasch, 18 Kyle Kriel, 19 Jason Klaasen, 20 James Alexander, 21 Suwilanji Chibale, 22 Martin Sauls, 23 Robin Murray.
Pukke: 15 Sylvian Mahuza, 14 Edmar Marais, 13 Jaap Pienaar, 12 Adriaan Engelbrecht, 11 Luther Obi, 10 Johnny Welthagen, 9 Tiaan Dorfling (captain), 8 Juan Language, 7 Henro-Pierre Swart, 6 Rhyk Welgemoed, 5 Francois Robbertse, 4 Peet van Der Walt, 3 Elardus Venter, 2 Armand van Der Merwe, 1 Mashudu Mafela.
Replacements: 16 Marius Fourie, 17 Johan Smith, 18 Daniel Jordaan, 19 Philip de Wet, 20 Dillon Smit, 21 Rhyno Smith, 22 Lucian Cupido, 23 Lhlanhla Ngoama.
Referees: Daniel Fortuin, Quinton Immelman
