Ikeys triumph in Taljaard Trophy clash
The University of Cape Town (FNB Ikeys) secured a 36-17 bonus point win over the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (FNB NMMU) to claim the Monte Taljaard Trophy in Port Elizabeth on Monday.
The teams lined up for a moment's silence before kick-off in honour of late UCT flanker Taljaard, who passed away in a car accident last September.
Ikeys' victory included five tries to NMMU's two to move into second place on the FNB Varsity Cup presented by Steinhoff International standings.
After making 11 changes for the Port Elizabeth clash, the Ikeys certainly did not lack cohesion, showing slick skills despite a swirling wind which made kicking and lineouts a bit of a lottery.
Burly UCT centre Sean van Tonder was a handful on attack, creating plenty of headaches for the 'Madibas' defence, and he crashed over for the visitors' first try with less than 10 minutes gone.
The hosts missed 24 tackles in the first half alone and they struggled to match the Ikeys' intensity in the opening period as the visitors raced to a 19-0 lead after Therlow Pietersen and Dane Johnson also crossed the whitewash.
NMMU hit back with two late first half tries through loose forwards Jaco Swanepoel and Andre Goosen, to reduce the deficit to five points at the half-time break which put them back in the game.
NMMU went into the second half with their tails up and received a further boost when UCT were down to 14 men after lock Michael Passaportis was red-carded for punching.
But the 'Madibas' were unable to capitalise on Passaportis' departure and the Ikeys secured their bonus point shortly after through a long-range try by outside centre Pieter Engelbrecht.
Pietersen converted to extend the lead to 12 points, but Willem Laubscher pulled it back to 17-26 after the visitors were penalised for an infringement at the breakdown.
Johnson then grabbed his second five-pointer as the Ikey Tigers managed to create an overlap, despite being one man down. Pietersen then added the extras and kicked a late penalty to give the Ikeys a convincing 36-17 victory.
The scorers:
For NMMU:
Tries: Swanepoel, Goosen
Con: Laubscher 2
Pen: Laubscher
For UCT:
Tries: van Tonder, Pietersen, Engelbrecht, Johnson 2
Con: Pietersen 4
Pen: Pietersen
Red card: Passaportis (41 minutes, punching)
The teams:
FNB NMMU: 15 Jade Barkhysen, 14 Wade Roos, 13 Daniel Howitz, 12 Devon Melville, 11 Aluzant Munnik, 10 Willem Laubscher, 9 Lusu Booi, 8 Jaco Swanepoel, 7 Andre Goosen, 6 Morne van der Westhuyzen (captain), 5 Jacques Naude, 4 Luke Beling, 3 Pierre Hammond, 2 Allistiar Langson, 1 Tyron Williams.
Replacements: 16 Shaun Slabbert, 17 Frans van der Walt, 18 Jannie Dourie, 19 January Siyabulela, 20 Neil Weitz, 21 Lalendle Ayabonga, 22 Marius Muller.
FNB UCT: 15 Therlow Pietersen, 14 Dane Johnson, 13 Pieter Engelbrecht, 12 Sean van Tonder, 11 Marvin Christians, 10 Michael Nel, 9 JP Robert, 8 JJ Gagiano (captain), 7 Kuselo Moyake, 6 Nick Fenton-Wells, 5 Don Armand, 4 Michael Passaportis, 3 Shane Meier, 2 Mark Goosen, 1 Ashley Wells.
Replacements: 16 Dayne Jans, 17 Dylan Rogers, 18 Dane Galley, 19 Michael Morris, 20 Stu Commins, 21 Marcello Sampson, 22 Pete Haw.
Referee: Dilbert November