Pukke hold off spirited Ixias
Pukke held a comfortable 31-10 lead in the second half and although the home side outscored their more-fancied opponents 28-12 in the second half, it was not enough to bag the win. CUT did, however, pick up two bonus points for their effort.
Pukke were on the board as early as the fourth minute when Eldon Schoeman grabbed an unconverted try but CUT's Martin Jacobs hit back with a penalty to reduce the deficit to 3-5 after nine minutes.
Wilmar Arnoldi then extended Pukke's lead when he grabbed a five-pointer. Flyhalf Julian Delicado added the extras to ensure a 12-3 lead after 14 minutes. Pukke were in a dominant mood as they grabbed another unconverted try three minutes later for a 17-3 lead.
With 18 minutes gone, captain Jandré Rudolph bagged the bonus point try with a try of his own. Delicado added the conversion to ensure a 24-3 lead. The visitors were not done yet as they scored their fifth try as the half drew to a close and Delicado's conversion ensured a 31-3 lead.
CUT had the final say of the half though as Ruben Heymans dotted down on the half-time hooter. Jacobs added the conversion to head into the break trailing 10-31.
The home side came out fighting in the second half when Kabous van Schalkwyk crashed his way over for a seven-point try. Jacobs converted to reduce the deficit to 19-31 after 44 minutes. But Pukke hit back with an unconverted five-pointer of their own through Tapiwa Mafura to stretch their lead to 36-19 after 54 minutes.
Van Schalkwyk grabbed a double in the 58th minute when he got himself over the line. Jacobs converted to reduce the deficit to 26-36. But that joy was short lived as Walt Steenkamp grabbed his side's seventh of the match. Delicado converted to ensure a 43-26 lead after 65 minutes.
CUT came back in the final minutes when Kian Skippers crossed for a seven-point try – and his side's bonus point. The conversion was missed though and there was to be no late flourish as Pukke bagged the win.
Scorers:
For CUT:
Tries: Heymans, van Schalkwyk 2, Skippers
Cons: Jacobs 3
Pen: Jacobs
For NWU-Pukke:
Tries: Schoeman, Arnoldi, TBC, Rudolph, TBC, Mafura, Steenkamp
Cons: Delicado 4
Teams:
CUT: 15 Ruan Wasserman, 14 Mosego Toolo, 13 Gert Cronje, 12 Johan Nel (captain), 11 Olwethu Ndakisa, 10 Martin Jacobs, 9 Ruben Heymans, 8 Dean Rossouw, 7 Vincent Maruping, 6 Dian Dry, 5 Brendan Verster, 4 Kian Skippers, 3 Chrisjan du Toit, 2 Henco Smit, 1 Kabous Van Schalkwyk.
Replacements: 16 Stefan Jacobs, 17 Francois du Toit, 18 Kyle Ess, 19 Andre Venter, 20 Stefan Kruger, 21 Dean Jacobs, 22 Waldo Putter, 23 Sylvester Makakole.
NWU-Pukke: 15 Tapiwa Mafura, 14 Jimmy Mpailane, 13 Elden Schoeman, 12 Jacob Pienaar, 11 Lungelo Gosa, 10 Julian Delicado, 9 Chriswill September, 8 Jeandre Rudolph (captain), 7 Marno Redelinghuys, 6 Wandile Mazibuko, 5 Walt Steenkamp, 4 Loftus Morrison, 3 Morné Strydom, 2 Louis van der Westhuizen, 1 Rudolph van Deventer.
Replacements: 16 Wilmar Arnoldi, 17 Dewald Dekker, 18 Matimu Manganyi, 19 Jan Venter, 20 Marcel Henn, 21 Caleb Louw, 22 Nkululeko Mcuma, 23 Dean Stokes.
Referee: Lourens van der Merwe
Assistant referees: Local
