UWC too strong for Fort Hare - again

UWC were once again too strong for Fort Hare in their annual Varsity Cup curtain-raiser, with the Cape side winning 33-6 at a windy Xerox NMMU Stadium in Port Elizabeth on Monday afternoon.

The wind blew hard and the referee blew harder. The two conspired to kill a lot of the game - a contest which UWC won by a similar scoreline of 31-6 last year.

There were 47 penalties in the game as well as things like free-kicks, scrums and lineouts. That the players managed to get some play in was miraculous.

UWC were bigger, Fort Hare nippier. Fort Hare played with the strong wind in the first half, which ended 0-0 though Fort Hare came close when flyhalf Qondani Katywa dummied and broke but was caught on the line by Warrick Rhode.

In the second half, Charl van Vollenhoven started the scoring with two penalties, before replacement Bongani Matutu kicked a penalty into the wind. Van Vollenhoven kicked another two penalties and Matutu one, but there were also tries.

The first came from a turnover that saw Anthony Volminck racing 42 metres down the field for a try behind the posts. The second also came from a long run when Justin McKay got his only touch of the ball from a tapped penalty and scored at the posts.

The third try came when Fort Hare were on the attack and Elmo Thomas intercepted and ran 80 metres to score.

The scorers:

For UWC:
Tries: Volminck, McKay, Thomas
Cons: Van Vollenhoven, Kok 2
Pens: Van Vollenhoven 4

For Fort Hare:
Pens: Matutu 2

The teams:

UWC: 15 Warrick Rhode, 14 Bradwill Human, 13 Justin Mckay, 12 Adrian Hurman, 11 Anthony Volminck, 10 Charl van Vollenhoven, 9 Denzil Willemse (vice-captain), 8 Bradley Fortuin, 7 Arno Johnson, 6 Sechaba Karasi, 5 Calvin Hendricks/Pappas Davids, 4 Reginald Nutt (captain), 3 Kieran James, 2 Ashley Felix, 1 Carlo Jacobs.
Replacements: 16 Ghazees Adams, 17 Shedrick Jacobs, 18 Davids/Siphomandla Made, 19 Ebrahim Gabriels, 20 Gerrad Bailey, 21 Ashley Kok, 22 Eduardo Fourie, 23 Zenaldo Fredericks.

Coaches: Trevor Jasper, Jeffrey Stevens, Oliver Jansen.

Fort Hare: 15 S Mqalo, 14 Z Dumaphi, 13 T Ratyana, 12 L Magele, 11 S Kolanisi, 10 Q Katywa, 9 S Mateza, 8 L Mkwelo (captain), 7 L Currie, 6 T Ndondo, 5 T Senoge, 4 I Mokae, 3 V Mavuso, 2 S Tsholo, 1 X Mapapu.
Replacements: 16 T Damane, 17 C Mataga, 18 S Butelezi, 19 N Nofuma, 20 L Fana, 21 M Sandi, 22 B Matutu.

Coach: Anda Botha