Clinical champs simply too powerful

The FNB Maties kicked on from their Round One mauling of NMMU with a dominant 62-0 win over an out-muscled and outclassed TUT Vikings side, in the final game of Round Two of the 2010 FNB Varsity Cup presented by Steinhoff International on Monday evening.

Although the Maties struggled for rhythm in the opening quarter, two tries either side of half-time by the Men in Maroon was enough to put the result beyond any doubt long before the final whistle blew.

The Vikings had their moments in the opening exchanges and, in fact, it was the Men from Tshwane who had the first opportunity to get on the board after several Maties players were caught offside from a box-kick by scrumhalf Conrad Hoffmann.

Unfortunately for the visitors, Jacques Venter missed the chance to take a fourth-minute lead as he pushed his attempt wide.

From then on Maties looked most likely to score, as their forwards showed tremendous power and technique to carry a rolling maul 20 metres before being held up just inches short of the TUT line.

The defending champions showed early attacking intent - opting to knock a penalty chance into the corner, instead of going for goal. The resultant lineout was well controlled and after a continued assault at close quarters, stocky No.2 Mathew Dobson forced his way over for the opening score of the match.

Hoffmann slotted a superb conversion from the corner, to make it 7-0 to the home side after 11 minutes. The young Western Province star was lethal off the kicking tee all evening, successful with seven of his nine attempts at goal.

On the other end of the spectrum, TUT's goal-kickers were woeful - as two further attempts were missed by Venter and No.13 Jaco Oosthuizen.

Those misses seemed to sap any resistance from the visitors and from that point on it was one-way traffic. As well as being wasteful with the boot, TUT struggled at the set-piece and it was a mistake at a lineout that led to the Maties' next try.

A long throw went to ground and was pounced on by Maties No.10 Hayden Groepes, beginning a slick passing movement that ended with pacy winger Tythan Adams evading a last-ditch cover tackle to dive over in the corner.

Adams, along with the increasingly impressive Hoffmann, was one of the best players on the park and his speed and nimble footwork was a constant threat to the TUT defensive line.

An earlier penalty from Man of the Match Hoffmann and Adams's 21st-minute try effectively ended the match as a contest and the last hour was a matter of a potent Maties attack against a sometimes brave, but often fragile, TUT defence.

Centre Dabeon Draghoender - who scored four tries last week - was next on the scoresheet after a strong surge sent him over for his side's third score. Minutes later it was Groepes who went over, finishing a scintillating move which began with Adams bursting free on the left-hand touchline.

That made it 31-0 at half-time, a score that would be doubled in a second half completely dominated by the home side.

Draghoender grabbed his second immediately after the break and further tries by flank Jonathan Adendorf, substitute Stephan van der Merwe, right-wing Danie Poolman and lock Andrew Prior put the finishing touches on a fine display from the double defending champions.

The tournament is still in its early stages, but it is clear to see why the Maties are odds-on favourite to win their third consecutive Varsity Cup crown.

The scorers:

For FNB Maties:
Tries: Dobson, Adams, Groepes, Draghoender 2, Adendorf, Van der Merwe, Poolman, Prior
Cons: Hoffmann 6, van der Merwe
Pens: Hoffmann

The teams:

Maties: 15 Jurgen Visser, 14 Danie Poolman, 13 Stokkies Hanekom, 12 Dabeon Draghoender, 11 Tythan Adams, 10 Hayden Groepes, 9 Conrad Hoffmann, 8 Tertius Daniller, 7 Jonathan Adendorf, 6 Sam Mabombo, 5 Hugo Kloppers, 4 Andrew Prior, 3 Lourens Adriaanse (captain), 2 Matthew Dobson, 1 Johan Roets.
Replacements: 16 Andrew Crausaz, 17 Mike De Neuilly-Rice, 18 Marinus Pretorius, 19 Josh Strauss, 20 Johan Herbst, 21 Stephan van der Merwe, 22 Jonathan Francke, 23 Buhle Mxunuywa.

TUT Vikings: 15 Hansie Graaff, 14 Johan Swartz, 13 Jaco Oosthuizen, 12 Lutho Nyeka, 11 Thabo Motau, 10 Jacques Venter, 9 Nico van Zyl, 8 Wikus Botes, 7 Emile Verster (captain), 6 Alfred Khoza, 5 Werner Lourens, 4 Johan Steenkamp, 3 Braam van der Merwe, 2 Dean Muir, 1 Jacques van Rooyen.
Replacements: 16 Eugene Cunha, 17 Juan Pike, 18 Dewald van Deventer, 19 Ryno Lopes, 20 Manny Raposo, 21 Felix Godlo, 22 Henk de Ridder, 23 Johann Visser.

Referee: Matt Kemp

By Tim Human