Log-leaders Pukke were the only home side to secure victory as the Ikeys powered their way to a first ever away win over Maties in an exciting second round of Varsity Cup action.
On a night which saw the other three home teams all go down, the team from Potchefstroom kept their top spot on the log with another bonus-point win against old rivals Shimlas.
Pukke scored five tries in a rampant second half, while Shimlas will have to be content with a single bonus point for scoring four tries of their own. Coach Robert du Preez’s team based their win on set-piece dominance in what was always going to be a highly physical encounter between two old foes.
In the early game, taken in by a relatively small crowd to begin with, but one that swelled to almost capacity as students were able to get away from late lectures, UCT handed three-time champions Maties their second consecutive defeat
Maties will have to do some serious soul-searching after slumping to their second consecutive defeat which was UCT’s second ever win against them in the Varsity Cup and their first in Stellenbosch.
The Ikeys bounced back superbly from their opening defeat to Pukke, scoring four tries in a dominant display that leaves Maties at an unfamiliar end of the log.
NMMU followed up their big win against Maties last week with a dramatic victory over UJ in Johannesburg, with last week’s five-try hero Chris Cloete sealing victory with a try in the last minute from a driving maul.
The defeat leaves UJ winless after the first two rounds, following their draw with Tuks last week, whilst the win on the road underlines NMMU’s title credentials after starting the tournament in style with a big win over Maties in Port Elizabeth.
Defending champions Tuks cruised to a comfortable 53-8 victory over Wits which saw them outscore their hosts by seven tries to one. The woes continue for Wits, who are still yet to win their first game in the tournament.
The visitors took an early lead, but they would not get any more points as Tuks delivered a clinical performance to get their campaign up and running after their stutter against UJ last week.
The Varsity U20 Young Guns competition kicked off on Monday night with Maties sweeping aside their counterparts from UCT 42-0, and UJ beating NMMU 40-16. Defending champions Tuks showed why they have yet to lose a game in two years of the tournament with a resounding 137-2 win over an outclassed Wits side.
In the Varsity Shield defending champions CUT defeated UWC 30-8 in a tidy performance in Bloemfontein whilst TUT made it two wins from two games with a 42-34 victory over Fort Hare in Pretoria.
The Varsity Cup scorers:
Maties 16-33 Ikeys
Maties:
Try: Kôtze, Du Preez
Cons: Du Preez 2
UCT:
Tries: Klaasen 2, Xoli, Slatem
Cons: Grant 3
Pens: Grant 2
UJ 15-21 NMMU
UJ:
Tries: Haznar, Antonites
Con: Schmidt
Pen: Schmidt
NMMU:
Tries: Ngam, Marais, Cloete
Cons: Hauptfleisch 2
Yellow cards: Michael Haznar (Foul play) Martin Ferreira (Foul play)
Pukke 48-29 Shimlas
Pukke:
Tries: Dorfling, Engelbrecht, Mahuza 2, Welthagen, Marais
Cons: Engelbrecht 6
Shimlas:
Tries: Jordaan, Engelbrecht, Claasen, Dolo
Cons: Prinsloo 3
Yellow card: Edmar Marais (FNB NWU-Pukke).
Wits 8-53 Tuks
Wits:
Try: Torrance
Con: Torrance
Tuks:
Tries: Liebenberg, Swanepoel 3, Hugo, Stighling, Damens
Cons: Schoeman 6
