VARSITY CUP: Tuks edge Pukke in thrilling opener

ROUND ONE WRAP: UP-Tuks started their 2020 Varsity Cup campaign on a winning note following their hard-fought 42-40 victory against NWU-Pukke on Monday.

The win sees the new coach Nico Luus starting his reign on a winning note. The home team got the first points of the match, with flyhalf Theo Boshoff getting six points from his boot.

In Cape Town, a crowd of 15800 fans saw the Maties demolish the visiting Shimlas 67-16.

A rock-solid first-half performance made sure Wits record a 38-10 win over UWC.

While UCT travelled to Johannesburg and picked up a 25-16 win over UJ.

UP-Tuks 42-40 NWU-Pukke

NWU registered the first try of the competition, with skipper Edmund Rheede dotting over the line with the referee having had to rely on TMO to confirm the first maximum points of the game.

The Potchefstroom-based outfit continued with their good form and a great interception saw Evardt Boshoff running over the white line to extend his side's lead. However, the home team regrouped, and a great team build-up saw Theo Boshoff scoring the first try for the home team to reduce the visitor's lead.

Nico Luus' charges failure to keep their concentration level intact, saw the vistoris extend their lead, thanks to a try from Maarten Holtzhausen.

Moments after that, a solo effort saw Tuks' Werner Fourie dotting over the line to hand the host a narrow 22-21 lead in the 33rd minute.

UP-Tuks lead was, short-lived with Holtzhausen getting his second try which handed Pukke a 26-22 lead going into the break.

The Pretoria boys looked like they got strong words from their coach, as the team came back strong in the second stanza with Fourie getting his double to reduce the score to 31-26 after five minutes of the restart. The host pressured with their attack and a rolling maul saw Fourie dotting over the line once more, with Boshoff adding the extra points from his boots to take the score to 36-26.

Tuks' pivot Boshoff continued with his good form with a boot, as he added extra points to increase the home team's lead with 8 points.

In the dying minutes the drama unfolded, Eugene Hare thought he broke the hearts of the Tuks' faithful, with a concerted try for the 40-39 lead.

However, Boshoff scored a late penalty to narrowly give his side a 42-40 win at home.

The Scorers:

For UP-Tuks:

Tries: Boshoff, Fourie 2

Con: Boshoff

Pen: Boshoff

For NWU:

Tries: Rheede, Boshoff, Durandt, Holtzhausen, Hare

Con: Holtzhausen

Pen: Holtzhausen

UP-Tuks: 15 Lionel April, 14 Marco Labuschagne, 13 Sango Xamlashe, 12 Wian van Niekerk, 11 Irvin Ali, 10 Theo Boshoff, 9 Raegan Oranje, 8 Jaco Bezuidenhout, 7 Hanru Sirgel, 6 Jacobus Smit, 5 Marius Verwey (captain), 4 Marcell Barnard, 3 Jean-Pierre Smith, 2 Werner Fourie, 1 Andre van der Merwe

Replacements: 16 Keano Hendricks, 17 Ethan Burger, 18 Kgetho Mabokela, 19 Eward Potgieter, 20 Keenan Opperman, 21 Cornelius Korff, 22 Zandre Kruger, 23 Kabelo Mokoena

NWU-Pukke: 15 Heinrich Botha, 14 Eugene Hare, 13 Evardi Boshoff, 12 Nkululeko Mcuma, 11 Lincoln Daniels, 10 Maarten Holtzhausen, 9 Riaan Genis, 8 Edmund Rheeder (captain), 7 Muziwandile Mazibuko, 6 Morne Piater, 5 Jan du Plooy, 4 Malembe Mpofu, 3 Matimu Manganyi, 2 Gustav du Rand, 1 Ruben du Plessis

Replacements: 16 Stefanus Mare, 17 Jason Jansen, 18 Ruan Swiegers, 19 Jeandre Leonard, 20 Wihan Nel, 21 Caleb Louw, 22 AK Nela, 23 Lungelo Gosa

Maties 67-16 Shimlas

The crowd had barely settled down as Maties took an early lead with two tries thanks to captain Ben-Jason Dixon and Munier Hartzenberg.

A few minutes later a break by Van der Bank down the touchline saw the ball go through the hands and burly centre David Brits, who dive over acrobatically and claim a seven-point try. Van der Bank added the extras and suddenly the Maties only needed one more try to claim a bonus point.

Nonetheless, pocket-rocket Mike Mavovana obliged shortly thereafter when he showed the would-be Shimlas a clean pair of heels on his way to the tryline to rack up the second seven-point try of the afternoon. The Van der Bank conversion saw Maties lead 30-0.

Veteran hooker HJ Luus rounded out the scoring in the first half with his try and at 37-0 the signs were ominous for the men from Bloemfontein.

It was a strong run and some slick hands by Luus that saw the nippy number 9 Remu Malan go over after the break before a strong run down the touchline by Brits saw him grab his second seven-point try of the evening and the Maties lift the bat as they went past the fifty point margin!

In the second-half, the hosts' scoring subsided and superb solo skills shown by Shimlas outside-centre JP Duvenhage opened the visitors' account. A comedy of errors saw Duvenhage bagged a double for the Shimlas.

Maties went back to basics thereafter as the mauled the Shimlas over the try-line. Flyhalf Fortuin had taken over the kicking duties and made no mistake. The final try of the match belonged to eightman Marcel Theunissen and the conversion by Fortuin made it 67-16 at the final whistle.

The Scorers:

For Maties:

Tries: Ben-Jason Dixon, Munier Hartzenberg, David Brits, Mike Mavovana, HJ Luus, Remu Malan, Schalk Erasmus, Marcel Theunissen.

Cons: Adriaan van der Bank 6, Reinhardt Fortuin 2

For Shimlas:

Tries: JP Duvenhage 2

Cons: Duvenhage 2

Maties: 15 Adriaan van der Bank, 14 Munier Hartzenberg, 13 David Brits, 12 Waqar Solaan, 11 Mike Mavovana, 10 Reinhardt Fortuin, 9 Remu Malan, 8 Marcel Theunissen, 7 Driaan Bester, 6 Geor Malan, 5 Ben-Jason Dixon (captain), 4 Gerrit Huisamen, 3 Leon Lyons, 2 HJ Luus, 1 Dian Bleuler.

Replacements:16 Schalk Erasmus, 17 Ricky Nwagbara, 18 Christian Hamman, 19 Albert Liebenberg, 20 Gift Dlamini, 21 Luciano Elias, 22 Anton du Toit, 23 Lynn-Jay Hendricks.

Shimlas:15 Cham Zondeki, 14 Francois Agenbag, 13 JP Duvenage, 12 William Eybers (captain), 11 Charl Pretorius, 10 Tiaan Schutte, 9 Rewan Kruger, 8 Bertie de Bod, 7 Mihlali Peter, 6 Janco Cloete, 5 Keanan Murray, 4 Sibabalo Qoma, 3 Gerrit Visser, 2 Hanno Snyman, 1 Bhekinkosi Qaba.

Replacements: 16 Wihan Marais, 17 Danie Wessels, 18 Jan Meades, 19 Rholane Ncubuka, 20 Kamohelo Chabana, 21 Chadd Adams, 22 Keegan Haman, 23 Siyana Cele.

UWC 10-38 Wits

Two quick tries in the opening 20 minutes lead to the visitors jumping to a 14-3 lead which included tries from Travis Gordon and Justin Brandon. Kurt Webster was in fine form off the tee, the flyhalf converted both opening tries.

Former UWC pivot Aidynn Cupido was in fine form for his new team, playing in a new-look inside centre position, Cupidi led the visiting side's attack and was influential in every single Wits try.

Just before the break last season Wits captain, Constant Beckerling went over for his team's third try and established a 21-10 halftime lead.

The second stanza, UWC put in a valiant display, however, failed to deliver and Wits' Brandon added his second try of the match.

Wits added insult to injury when they added two late tries via replacement front row Dandré Degenaar and wing Kwanele Ngema. Webster managed to convert one try and sealed the win for the visitors.

The scorers:

For UWC:

Try: Msenge 5

Con: Fortune

Pen: Fortune

For Wits:

Tries: Brandon 2, Gordon, Beckerling, Dandré Degenaar, Ngema

Cons: Webster 3

UWC: 15 Gilroy Philander, 14 Peter Williams, 13 Darren Jaftha, 12 Lyle Hendricks, 11 Lundi Msenge, 10 Keagan Fortune, 9 Clayton Daniels, 8 Adrian Paarwater, 7 Jaen-Louis de Lange, 6 Tinotenda Mavesere, 5 Curtly Thomas, 4 Matthew le Roux, 3 Justin Theys, 2 Jacques van Zyl, 1 Luvo Bazi

Replacements: 16 Jason Alexander, 17 Dandré Degenaar, 18 Pieter-Steyl Swanepoel, 19 Godfrey Muzanargwo, 20 Branden de Kock, 21 Tiaan Henecke, 22 Hendrik Carstens, 23 Keon Links

Wits: 15 Kapepula Kasende, 14 Kwanele Ngema, 13 Sicelo Champion, 12 Aidynn Cupido, 11 Lwazi Monakali, 10 Kurt Webster, 9 Runaldo Pedro, 8 Travis Gordon, 7 Phillip Krause, 6 Constant Beckerling, 5 Franz Gerber, 4 Kevin du Randt, 3 Keagan Glade, 2 Justin Brandon, 1 Cornelius Greeff

Replacements: 16 Mulalo Sadiki, 17 Jason Cloete, 18 Reynard Cronje, 19 Emmanuel Tshituka, 20 Cal Smid, 21 Hlumelo Ndudula, 22 Christian Humphries, 23 Matt MacDonald.

UJ 16-25 UCT

UCT-Ikeys started off strong, when Liam Greenhalgh scored a try in the 4th minute, which was successfully converted by James Tedder. The first half was a physical battle in the scrum area, as both teams created rucks preventing the opposition from scoring, until UJ found a gap and equalised from a Shaun Williams try, successfully converted by Pieter Steenkamp.

UCT-Ikeys cracked the UJ backs as Divan Henning received a yellow card for an infringement allowing the visitors to extend their lead. The rest of the second half seemed to be the James Tedder show as he continued to score those conversations to make sure that his side walks out with the victory.

UJ fullback, Shaun Williams, was the glimmer of hope for the hosts however his solo efforts were far from enough as the visiting team from extending the lead as Siba Mzanywa wrapped up the show with a wonderful try to end the game.

The Scorers:

For UJ:

Tries: Williams, Fortuin

Con: Steenkamp

UCT-Ikeys:

Tries: Greenhalgh, Porter, Mzanywa

Con: Tedder

Pen: Tedder

UJ:15 Shaun Williams, 14 Siphamandla Matsinya, 13 Musawenkosi Tshabalala, 12 Wynand Botha, 11 Nqubeko Mkwanazi, 10 Pieter (PW) Steenkamp, 9 Divan Henning, 8 Edwin Jansen (captain), 7 Kwagga van Niekerk, 6 Kelvin Kanenungo, 5 Tyler Brown, 4 Andre Meyer, 3 Chergin Fillies, 2 Pierre Rabie, 1 Luke Fortuin

Replacements: 16 Darnell Osuagwu, 17 Nkosikona Masuku, 18 Cohen Kiewit, 19 Siyabonga Masuku, 20 Buhlebenkosi Qaba, 21 Mpho Kubheka, 22 Shaun Baxter, 23 Siphesihle Radebe

UCT-Ikeys: 15 Athi Gazi, 14 Gerard Pieterse, 13 Sebastian Roodt, 12 James MacDonald, 11 Rayno Mapoe, 10 James Tedder, 9 Kyle Bowman, 8 Liam Greenhalgh (captain), 7 Busanda Mabena, 6 Nama Xaba, 5 Gary Porter, 4 Byron Bowes, 3 Ashwyn Adams, 2 Joshua van Vuuren, 1 Gugu Nelani

Replacements: 16 Devon Arendse, 17 Luthando Woji, 18 Cuan Hablutzel, 19 Byron Cranswick, 20 Neil Otto, 21 Liam Kloosman, 22 Siba Mzanywa, 23 Michael Brink