No place like Potch for Pukke

Pace-setters NWU-Pukke were the only home side to secure victory in an exciting second round of action in the Varsity Cup.

The team from Potchefstroom kept their spot at the top of the standings with another bonus-point win against old rivals UFS-Shimlas, on a night which saw the other three home teams all go down.

NMMU Madibaz followed up their big win against Maties last week with a dramatic victory over UJ in Johannesburg, with last week's five-try hero Chris Cloete sealing victory with a try in the last minute from a driving maul.

Defending champions UP-Tuks cruised to a comfortable 53-8 victory over Wits which saw them outscore their hosts by seven tries to one, and in the early game UCT handed three-time champions Maties their second consecutive defeat.

After two bonus-point wins it is NWU-Pukke that set the pace after two rounds, with five tries in the second half seeing them romp to victory over a UFS-Shimlas side that will have to be content with a single bonus point for scoring four tries of their own.

Coach Robert du Preez's team based their win on set-piece dominance in what was always going to be a highly physical encounter between two old foes.

The Madibaz left it to the last possible second to snatch victory over UJ, with Cloete crashing over just seconds before the full-time siren sounded to break UJ hearts in Johannesburg.

The defeat leaves UJ winless after the first two rounds, following their draw with UP-Tuks last week, whilst the win on the road underlines NMMU's title credentials after they started the competition in style with a big win over Maties in Port Elizabeth.

Maties will have to do some serious soul-searching after slumping to their second consecutive defeat which was UCT's second ever win against them in the Varsity Cup and their first in Stellenbosch.

The Ikeys bounced back superbly from their opening defeat to NWU-Pukke, scoring four tries in a dominant display that leaves Maties at an unfamiliar end of the standings.

The woes continued for Wits, who are still yet to win their first game in the competition in their second season, as UP-Tuks steamrolled them with a seven-try performance in Johannesburg.

The visitors took an early lead, but they would not get any more points as UP-Tuks delivered a clinical performance to get their campaign up and running after their stutter against UJ last week.

In the Varsity Shield defending champions CUT defeated Peter de Villiers' UWC 30-8 in a tidy performance in Bloemfontein whilst TUT made it two wins from two games with a 42-34 victory over the Fort Hare Blues in Pretoria.

The Varsity Young Guns competition also kicked off on Monday night, with defending champions UP-Tuks showing why they have yet to lose a game in two years of the Under-20 competition with a resounding 137-2 win over an outclassed Wits.

In the other Young Guns games Steinhoff Maties Juniors swept aside their counterparts from UCT 42-0 and UJ beat NMMU 40-16 in Johannesburg.

All of the teams and scorers:

Maties 16-33 UCT

The scorers:

For Maties:

Try: Kôtze, Du Preez

Cons: Du Preez 2

For UCT:

Tries: Klaasen 2, Xoli, Slatem

Cons: Grant 3

Pens: Grant 2

Maties: 15 Craig Barry, 14 Clearance Khumalo, 13 Mark Hodgskiss, 12 Johnny Kôtze, 11 Caleb Smith, 10 Robert du Preez, 9 Louis Nel, 8 Tertius Daniller (captain), 7 Lungelo Chonco, 6 Beyers de Villiers, 5 Wilhelm van der Sluys, 4 Jan de Klerk, 3 Brendon Pitzer, 2 Freddie Kirsten, 1 Niel Oelofse.

Replacements: 16 Charl de Villiers, 17 Wesley Adonis, 18 Ian Groenewald, 19 Justin Benn, 20 Jean Nel, 21 Chris Smith, 22 Louis Jordaan, 23 Liam Hendricks.

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

Replacements: 16 Chad Solomon, 17 David Maasch, 18 Guy Alexander, 19 Zakeyo Tinetenda, 20 James Alexander, 21 Martin Sauls, 22 David Strachan, 23 Robin Murray.

Yellow card: Beyers de Villiers (Dangerous tackle)

Referees: Daniel Fortuin, Francois Pretorius

TMO: Shaun Veldsman

NWU-Pukke 48-29 UFS-Shimlas

The scorers:

For NWU-Pukke:

Tries: Dorfling, Engelbrecht, Mahuza 2, Welthagen, Marais

Cons: Engelbrecht 6

For UFS-Shimlas:

Tries: Jordaan, Engelbrecht, Claasen, Dolo

Cons: Prinsloo 3

Yellow card: Edmar Marais (FNB NWU-Pukke).

Teams:

NWU-Pukke: 15 Sylvian Mahuza, 14 Edmar Marais, 13 Jaap Pienaar, 12 Adriaan Engelbrecht, 11 Luther Obi, 10 Johnny Welthagen, 9 Tiaan Dorfling (captain), 8 Juan Language, 7 Henro-Pierre Swart, 6 Rhyk Welgemoed, 5 Francois Robbertse, 4 Peet van der Walt, 3 Elardus Venter, 2 Armand van der Merwe, 1 Mashudu Mafela.

Replacements: 16 Marius Fourie, 17 Johan Smith, 18 Daniel Jordaan, 19 Robey Labuschagne, 20 Dillon Smit, 21 Rhyno Smith, 22 Lucian Cupido, 23 Lhlanhla Ngoama.

UFS-Shimlas: 15 AJ Coertzen, 14 Maphutha Dolo, 13 Robbie van Schalkwyk, 12 Joubert Engelbrecht, 11 Sethu Tom, 10 Gouws Prinsloo, 9 Kevin Luiters, 8 Neill Jordaan, 7 Oupa Mohoje, 6 Tienie Burger, 5 Neil Claasen, 4 Fanie van der Walt, 3 Nick Schonert, 2 Elandré Huggett (captain), 1 Rudolf Botha.

Replacements: 16 Jacques du Toit, 17 Gideon Bruwer, 18 Johan van der Hoogt, 19 Gerhard Oivier, 20 Kay-Kay Hlongwane, 21 Pieter-Steyn de Wet, 22 Divandré Strydom, 23 Justin Pappin.

Referees: Oregopotse Rametsi, Stefan Geldenhuys

TMO: Willie Vos

Wits 8-53 UP-Tuks

The scorers:

For Wits:

Try: Torrance

Con: Torrance

For UP-Tuks:

Tries: Liebenberg, Swanepoel 3, Hugo, Stighling, Damens

Cons: Schoeman 6

Wits: 15 Ruhan Nel, 14 Wilton Petersen, 13 Divan Ferguson, 12 Mandla Dube, 11 Joshua Jarvis, 10 Ashlon Davids, 9 Matt Torrance, 8 Jason Fraser, 7 JJ Breet, 6 JP Jonck, 5 Rinus Bothma, 4 Devin Montgomery (captain), 3 Gideon Muller, 2 Ashley Kohler, 1 Kyle Wood.

Replacements: 16 Peter van Biljon, 17 James Marx, 18 Rendani Ramovha, 19 Thato Mavundla, 20 Senna Esterhuizen, 21 Nkuli Gamede, 22 Ish Nkolo, 23 Ferdinand Kelly.

UP-Tuks: 15 Warrick Gelant; 14 Jade Stighling, 13 Dries Swanepoel, 12 Ryan Nell, 11 Kefentse Mahlo; 10 Tian Schoeman, 9 Carlo Engelbrecht; 8 Rudolph Smith, 7 Wiaan Liebenberg, 6 Roelof Smit, 5 Reniel Hugo (captain), 4 Dennis Visser, 3 Basil Short, 2 Sidney Tobias, 1 Juan Schoeman.

Replacements: 16 Corniel Els; 17 Brummer Badenhorst, 18 Jannes Kirsten, 19 Leneve Damens, 20 Emile Temperman; 22 Francois Tredoux, 22 Jacques Rossouw, 23 Andrew Beerwinkel.

Referees: Tahla Ntshakaza, Jaco Kotze

UJ 15-21 NMMU

The scorers:

For UJ:

Tries: Haznar, Antonites

Con: Schmidt

Pen: Schmidt

For NMMU Madibaz:

Tries: Ngam, Marais, Cloete

Cons: Hauptfleisch 2

Yellow cards: Michael Haznar (Foul play) Martin Ferreira (Foul play)

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 Kobus Porter, 7 Victor Seketekete, 6 Tiaan MacDonald, 5 David Antonites, 4 Shane Kirkwood, 3 Van Zyl Botha, 2 Francois du Toit, 1 Wiseman Kamanga.

Replacements: 16 Jannes Snyman, 17 Devon Martinus, 18 Fabian Booysen, 19 Dylan Peterson, 20 Lukas van Zyl, 21 Juan Kotze, 22 Peter Morton, 23 Hendrik Bredenkamp.

NMMU Madibaz: 15 Donovan Marais, 14 Tythan Adams, 13 Michael Bernardt, 12 Andile Jho, 11 Yamkela Ngam, 10 Gavin Hauptfleisch, 9 Daniel Acker, 8 Timothy Agaba, 7 Marcel Groenewald, 6  Christopher Cloete, 5 Cameron Lindsay, 4 Stefan Willemse, 3 Dexter Fahey, 2 Martin Ferreira, 1 Roy Godfrey (captain).

Replacements: 16 Greg Bauer, 17 Nicolas Roebech, 18 Louis Fourie, 19 Wade Elliot, 20 Ivan Ludick, 21 Stefanus Booysen, 22 Ayabula Dlepu, 23 Simon Kerrod.

Referees: Jaco van Heerden, Ben Crouse