Coastal sides make their move

 

There were important wins for UCT, NMMU and Maties in an enthralling penultimate round of matches before the play-offs, leaving the competition wide open heading into the final week of league action.

 

The Ikey Tigers ran in four tries against UFS-Shimlas to secure their first victory at home on the Green Mile this season and move into second place, just four log points behind pace-setters NWU-Pukke.

 

The Cape team scored three tries playing into the wind in the first half and then went on to claim the bonus point after half-time as they romped to a 25-5 victory. This result leaves UFS-Shimlas down in sixth place after starting the round in third position.

 

Torrential rain in the northern part of the country had a big say in the other three matches, as UJ and UP-Tuks slumped to defeats at home, whilst NWU-Pukke were forced to work hard for their victory over Wits in Potchefstroom.

 

Defending champions UP-Tuks suffered their second consecutive defeat at home, as the Madibaz ground out a crucial 19-9 win which saw them move past the Pretoria side into third place on the standings. It was NMMU's second big scalp of 2014, having beaten the Maties back in Round One.

 

UP-Tuks are now level on log points with three-time champions Maties who ended UJ's hopes of making the semifinals this season with a comfortable 24-8 victory.

 

Points difference is all that separates Maties and UP-Tuks on the log, which sets up their showdown in Stellenbosch next week perfectly.

 

NWU-Pukke were able to maintain their position at the top of the standings, but they were made to work hard for their 16-8 win by a determined Wits side that is still looking for their first victory in the competition.

 

Next week will see the final round of league action take place in the 2014 Varsity Cup – without doubt the most open competition since the inaugural event in 2008.

 

UFS-Shimlas will take on NMMU, Maties will host UP-Tuks, NWU-Pukke will entertain UJ and UCT will face Wits away on March 17 as just ten points separate the top six teams ahead of the semifinals, with home-ground advantage and play-off qualification on the line.

 

In the Varsity Shield two-time champions CUT travelled to Alice where they earned a bonus-point 28-18 victory over Fort Hare who are the only team to have beaten them since 2012.

 

Peter de Villiers' UWC secured a vital 24-17 win over the TUT Vikings in Pretoria to move up to third place, just one log point behind the second-placed UKZN Impi who had a bye.

 

The Varsity Young Guns showdown between defending champions UP-Tuks and NWU-Pukke had to be postponed until Wednesday due to the unplayable conditions, whilst in the other match  UJ notched a dramatic last-minute 28-24 win over the Steinhoff Maties Juniors.

 

In the Koshuisrugby Championship UFS champions Heimat scored five tries on their way to a 37-0 demolition of the Purple Cobras in Cape Town to consolidate their spot at the top of the pool.

 

In the pool Patria from NWU-Pukke edged the Medies Rebels 24-22 in Potchefstroom and the clash between Onderstepoort and  Oppidani had to be postponed due to an unplayable pitch in Pretoria.

 

 

 

 

Try: Botha

Con:  Schmidt

 

Tries: De Klerk,  De Villiers 2

Cons: Du Preez 3

 

 

UJ: 15 Marais Schmidt, 14 PJ Walters, 13 Jacques Nel, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 Michael Haznar, 10 Jaco van der Walt, 9 Jacques Pretorius (captain), 8 Dylan Peterson, 7 Victor Sekekete, 6 Kobus Porter, 5 David Antonites, 4 Shane Kirkwood, 3 Van Zyl Botha, 2 Jannes Snyman, 1 Devon Marthinus.

Replacements: 16 Qinisile Siphato, 17 Wiseman Kamanga, 18 Fabian Booysen, 19 JP Swanepoel, 20 Lukas van Zyl, 21 Juan Kotze, 22 Pieter Morton, 23 Hendrik Bredenkamp.

 

Maties: 15 Craig Barry, 14 Clearance Khumalo, 13 Mark Hodgskiss, 12 Jacobus Loubser, 11 Caleb Smith, 10 Robert du Preez, 9 Jean Nel, 8 Tertius Daniller (captain), 7 Justin Benn, 6 Beyers de Villiers, 5 Wilhelm van der Sluys, 4 Jan de Klerk, 3 Nicol Heyns, 2 Charl de Villiers, 1 Niel Oelofse.

Replacements: 16 Neethling Gericke, 17 Wesley Adonis, 18 Ian Groenewald, 19 Helmut Lehmann, 20 Bjorn Bernardo, 21 Chris Smith, 22 John Durr, 23 Liam Hendricks.

 

 

 

Try: Massyn

Pens: Schoeman 2

 

Tries: Adams, Godfrey

Con: Hauptfleisch

Pens: Hauptfleisch 3

 

 

UP-Tuks: 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Jade Stighling, 13 Dries Swanepoel, 12 Ryan Nell, 11 Kefentse Mahlo, 10 Tian Schoeman, 9 Carlo Engelbrecht, 8 Reniel Hugo (captain), 7 Rudolph Smith, 6 Chris Massyn, 5 Dennis Visser, 4 Irne Herbst, 3 Basil Short, 2 Corniel Els, 1 Juan Schoeman.

Replacements: 16 Jaco Visagie, 17 Brummer Badenhorst, 18 Jannes Kirsten, 19 Leneve Damens, 20 Emile Temperman, 22 Francois Tredoux, 22 Duncan Matthews, 23 Andrew Beerwinkel.

 

NMMU Madibaz: 15 Jarryd Buys, 14 Tythan Adams, 13 Michael Bernardt, 12 Andile Jho, 11 Yamkela Ngam, 10 Gavin Hauptfleisch, 9 Daniel Acker, 8 Marcel Groenewald, 7 Stefan Willemse, 6  Christopher Cloete, 5 Cameron Lindsay, 4 Louis Fourie, 3 Dexter Fahey, 2 Jody Reyneke, 1 Roy Godfrey (captain).

Replacements: 16 Martin Ferreira, 17 Abongile Mnyaka, 18 Tim Agaba, 19 Wade Elliot, 20 Kayle van Zyl, 21 Devon Lailvaux, 22 Sinakho Mafu, 23 Simon Kerrod.

 

 

 

Tries: Stewart, Klaasen, McDonald, Jones-Davies

Pen: Grant

Con: Grant

 

Try: J du Toit

 

 

UCT: 15 Ross Jones-Davies, 14 Richard Stewart, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Guy Shwikard, 11 Lihleli Xoli, 10 Dean Grant, 9 Liam Slatem (captain), 8 Michael Botha, 7 Vince Jobo, 6 Jason Klaasen, 5 James Kilroe, 4 Shaun McDonald, 3 Digby Webb, 2 Neil Rautenbach, 1 Joel Carew.

Replacements: 16 Chad Solomon, 17 Robin Murray, 18 Guy Alexander, 19 Kyle Kriel, 20 James Alexander, 21 Martin Sauls, 22 Nathan Nel, 23 David Maasch.

 

UFS-Shimlas: 15 Gouws Prinsloo, 14 Maphuta Dolo, 13 Tertius Kruger, 12 Joubert Engelbrecht (captain), 11 Divandre Strydom, 10 Pieter-Steyn de Wet, 9 Kevin Luiters, 8 Gerhard Olivier, 7 Oupa Mohoje, 6 Tienie Burger, 5 Neil Claassen, 4 Armandt Koster, 3 Justin Pappin, 2 Jacques du Toit, 1 Franco van der Merwe.

Replacements: 16 Markus Odendaal, 17 Luan de Bruin, 18 Johan van der Hoogt, 19 Neill Jordaan, 20 Kay-Kay Hlongwane, 21 Francois 

du Toit, 22 Sethu Tom, 23 Gideon Bruwer.

 

 

 

Tries: Vermaak, De Wet

Cons: Engelbrecht 2

 

Try: Nel

Con: Davids

 

Yellow Card: Brent Crossley (Dangerous tackle, 27 mins)

 

 

NWU-Pukke: 15 Sylvain Mahuza, 14 Edmar Marais, 13 Hoffman Maritz, 12 Adriaan Engelbrecht, 11 Luther Obi, 10 Johnny Welthagen, 9 Tiaan Dorfling (captain), 8 Rhyk Welgemoed, 7 Robey Labuschagne, 6 Philip de Wet, 5 Francois Robbertse, 4 Peet van der Walt, 3 Lhlanhla Ngcamu, 2 Jacques Vermaak, 1 Mashudu Mafela.

Replacements: 16 Marius Fourie, 17 Johan Smith, 18 Daniel Jordaan, 19 Jaco Buys, 20 Dillon Smit, 21 Rhyno Smith, 22 Lucian Cupido, 23 Elardus Venter.

 

Wits: 15 Ruhan Nel, 14 Mandla Dube, 13 Divan Ferguson, 12 Brent Crossley, 11 Riaan Arends, 10 Ashlon Davids, 9 Mathew Torrance, 8 Jason Fraser, 7 Senna Esterhuizen, 6 J.P. Jonck, 5 Rendani Ramovha, 4 Devin Montgomery (captain), 3 Gideon Muller, 2 Ashley Kohler, 1 Hannes Ludick.

Replacements: 16 James Marx, 17 Kyle Wood, 18 Conor Brockschmidt, 19 Peter van Biljon, 20 Joshua Jarvis, 21 Ish Nkolo, 22 Joshua Jarvis, 23 Ferdinand Kelly.