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UWC defeat Impi as Wits go top

Aidynn Cupido starred for UWC as he contributed 29 point, including two tries, to keep UWC's hopes alive of reaching the Shield Final for the first time and have a chance of gaining promotion into the Cup competition.

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Wits were in full control against TUT-Vikings, running in seven tries while conceding just one to claim a massive 47-8 victory. The results now mean that Wits are the new log leaders, all be it by points difference – 68 to be exact.

We look at all the Shield action!

UKZN-Impi 16-44 UWC

Conditions favoured running rugby and that's exactly what the Cape students delivered as they ran in five tries to bag a much-needed bonus victory.

Matthew Faught gave UWC the perfect start when he bashed his way over the line in the opening minutes. Aidynn Cupido added the extras before slotting a near 40-metre penalty to hand the Cape side a 10-0 lead.

UWC continued to pile the pressure on the unbeaten Impi and found reward in the 30th minute when Cupido crossed for his brace, thanks entirely to excellent work by his pack of forwards. He picked himself up to slot home the conversion to stretch UWC's lead to 18-0.

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UWC were pinned inside their 22 for the remainder of the half but they stood firm to deny UKZN and held on to their comfortable lead.

Cupido was back in the spotlight after the resumption as he slotted a long range drop goal to stretch the lead to 20 points.

UKZN enjoyed a lengthy spell of possession but seemed flustered and directionless, while UWC remained firm on defence. All the possession finally brought reward when replacement Tristan Blewett split UWC's defence wide open to grab their first points of the match.

Tristan Tedder made light work of the conversion to see his side trail 8-20.

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With 13 minutes remaining in the contest, UWC crossed the try line once again. Brandon Valentyn forcing his way over. Cupido making no mistake with the conversion to restore the 20-point lead.

The Impi grabbed a consolation try when Shayne Makombe grabbed the score. Tedder adding the conversion once again.

Two late converted tries for Cupido and Dean Herbert saw UWC home for the emphatic victory and keep their hopes of reaching the Final alive.

Scorers:

For UKZN-Impi:

Tries: Blewett, Makombe

Cons: Tedder 2

For UWC:

Tries: Faught, Cupido 2, Valentyn, Herbert

Cons: Cupido 5

Pen: Cupido

DG: Cupido

Teams:

UKZN-Impi: 15 Morne Joubert, 14 S'busiso Nkosi, 13 Grant Rattray, 12 Marius Louw, 11 Thobekani Bhuthelezi, 10 Tristan Tedder, 9 Willem Badenhorst, 8 Michael Meyer, 7 Zwela Zondi, 6 Sanele Malwane, 5 Jean Droste, 4 Rikus Zwart, 3 Pierre van der Walt, 2 Mikyle Webster, 1 Lindokuhle Radebe.

Replacements: 16 Kerron van Vuuren, 17 Clive Musasiwa, 18 Adam Wessels, 19 Tristan Blewett, 20 Langelihle Shange, 21 Shayne Makombe, 22 Siphathisene Dube, 23 Ntandoyenkosi Mpofana.

UWC: 15 Darian Hock, 14 Minenhle Mthethwa, 13 Dean Herbert, 12 Lubabalo Faleni, 11 Gordon-Wayne Plaatjes, 10 Aidynn Cupido, 9 Clayton Daniels, 8 Matthew Faught, 7 Matthew le Roux, 6 Philbrey Joseph, 5 Brandon Valentyn, 4 Jose Julies, 3 Tahriq Allen, 2 Peter Wanjiru, 1 Wayron Losper.

Replacements: 16 Keenan Douw, 17 Kelvin de Bruyn, 18 Sabelo Dlamini, 19 Wilbre van Wyk, 20 Jason Marcus, 21 Marcus Kleinbooi, 22 Malikhaya Wana, 23 Robin Paulse.

Referee: Paul Mente

TUT-Vikings 8-47 Wits

Wits went into the game trailing UKZN by five points and knew that a convincing victory would keep them on track to claim a spot in the Shield Final.

It didn't take long for the Johannesburg students to stamp their authority on the match when centre J Jarvis found his way through the TUT defence to hand Wits the lead after 10 minutes of action.

There was no let-up from Wits as prop L Pupuma added his name to the scoresheet before wing K Ngema soon grabbed a try of his own to stretch the lead to 18-0, with only one of the three tries being converted.

The 35th minute saw the Vikings claim their only points of the match when G Letshuma made his way through Wits' defence. L van Zyl added the conversion to reduce the deficit to 10 points and that's how it would stay as the teams headed into the change rooms for the break.

Pupuma was back in the thick of things at the resumption of play when his sublime run cut the Vikings' defence to pieces to grab his brace. There was no stopping Wits from that point as they camped inside TUT's 22 and all the pressure saw them add a further three tries through R Crossman, R MacDonald and A Mdudi.

Wits cruised from that point to claim the emphatic victory.

Scorers:

For TUT-Vikings:

Try: Letshuma

Con: van Zyl

For Wits:

Tries: Jarvis, Pupuma 2, Ngema, Crossman, MacDonald, Mdudi

Cons: van Blerk 2, Weseman, Ntsepe

Teams:

TUT-Vikings: 15 Shaun Jaards, 14 Mfundo Gumede, 13 Ian Truter, 12 Dumsani Mthethwa, 11 Tshepo Nyathi, 10 Lukas van Zyl, 9 Kurt Mackay, 8 Claude Johannes, 7 George Letshuma, 6 Francois de Villiers, 5 William Thompson, 4 Cory van Rooyen, 3 Armand Marshall, 2 Christo Lategan, 1 Stanley Modjadji.

Replacements: 16 Schalk van Niekerk, 17 JJ Nelson, 18 DK Mukendi, 19 Percy Matlhoko, 20 Chestwin Gaffley, 21 Frankie Abrahams, 22 Lisa Banzi, 23 Kevin Ngonyama.

Wits: 15 AJ van Blerk, 14 K Ngema, 13 J Jarvis, 12 W Worthington, 11 L Ntsepe, 10 K Weseman, 9 R Cloete, 8 R Crossman, 7 C Brockschmidt, 6 R MacDonald, 5 R Herbst, 4 G Logan, 3 L Pupuma, 2 C Hume, 1 T Visser.

Replacements: 16 CJ Conradie, 17 A Mdudi, 18 M Fraser, 19 C Farwood, 20 S Champion, 21 W Coetzee, 22 T Marubela, 23 B Palmer.

Referee: Pieter Maritz

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