Eagles, Tuks power to Varsity Cup Final
WRAP: NWU Eagles and UP Tuks recorded hard-fought wins in the semifinals against Maties and UJ, respectively, of the Varsity Cup on Monday evening.
UP Tuks will host the Varsity Cup Final against NWU Eagles at the LC de Villiers Stadium next Monday at 19.00 SAST.
The Eagles’ scrum was the centre of their success, with Maties going backwards on most occasions.
The visitors’ execution on attack was stagnant due to staunch defence by the Eagles.
Maties opened the scoring within the first 10 minutes through prop Janlu Basson, converted by MC van Heerden-Smith.
The hosts replied with a penalty through flyhalf MJ Mostert to reduce the deficit to four points.
The Eagles’ scrum was a nightmare for the maroon machine throughout the match.
Maties conceded a try on their own feed when Ricardo Fourie went over in the 25th minute on their own feed, signalling a long afternoon for the visitors at set piece with Mostert slotting the conversion.
The maroon machine won a penalty almost immediately after the restart, sparked by a turnover by Keanuh Micheals and opted for the line-out, but knocked it on in the carry.
Surprisingly, Maties won a penalty on an Eagles feed in front of the posts and this time the visitors opted for the posts with Van Heerden-Smith levelling matters on the 29-minute mark.
Maties captain Ezekiel Ngobeni was sent to the sinbin in the 37th minute for a dangerous tackle.
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The second half saw flyhalf Van Heerden-Smith attempting a box kick, which backfired as Jordan McLoughlin scored the try, converted by Mostert to take the lead once more in the 44th minute.
The Eagles won a penalty and opted for the line-out. The gamble paid off as Stephan Krugel dotted down in the 49th minute.
The hosts opted for the power play by taking the tap option, but Maties won a breakdown penalty to stem the flow.
Mostert off a 22 metre dropout by Maties nailed a pinpoint crossfield kick to Logan Janeke, who dived in the corner in the 58th minute for the try converted, which Mostert converted.
A loose pass after a turnover by Maties saw Jamaine Dampies seal the deal for the Eagles in the 64th minute, with Mostert slotting the extras.
Replacement scrumhalf Gary Otto put the final nail in the coffin as he sold a dummy off a scrum to run in untouched in the 73rd minute, with Mostert slotting the conversion.
The Maties defence parted like the Red Sea when Janeke grabbed a brace in the 77th minute, with Mostert’s conversion bringing up the half-century on the scoreboard.
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In Pretoria, the Orange Army got off to the perfect start in the third minute through Tholithemba Sibisi to score in the corner.
UJ fullback Jeandre Uithaler was sent to the sinbin for making contact in the air following a high ball in the ninth minute.
Tuks hit back in the 19th minute after sustained attacking pressure through Munashe Dukuswa.
UJ went down to 14 players once more when Coun-Lee Koekman was yellow-carded in the 29th minute for cynically killing the ball after a linebreak.
The visitors, however, managed to slot a penalty in the 36th minute through JT Kapank to reclaim the lead.
Divan Du Toit levelled the score seconds before halftime to send the teams into the sheds with nothing separating them
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UJ captain Kamo Molefe scored two minutes into the second half to hit the front once more, with Kapank adding the extras.
Tuks hit straight back in the 43rd minute through Kobus Janse van Rensburg, beating several would-be UJ defenders in the process for a point of origin try with Du Toit adding the extras.
Things went from bad to worse when Zenkosi Mthiyana was yellow-carded after UJ had been warned about their discipline earlier.
Tuks extended their lead through a line-out maul try through hooker Jean Fourie in the 56th minute.
Du Toit extended Tuks’ lead in the 60th minute with a successful penalty goal.
Tuks took control when Dukuswa dotted down for a brace in the 63rd minute.
Kapank nailed a brilliant 50/22, which in Varsity Cup laws, means a free kick, which UJ used to good use as Koekman took a quick tap and got the pass away to Kapank, who scored and converted his own try in the 65th minute.
Tuks struck back to put some breathing space between themselves and UJ with a try off a rolling maul through Akha Mjawule, who sniped at the breakdown and went over the line in the 68th minute.
Reuven Ferreira was also sent to the sinbin for cynically stopping the maul.
UJ didn’t stop fighting as Francois Prinsloo scored off a rolling maul.
They declined the conversion for a tap and go power play, but Tuks defended it well.
Tuks looked to have sealed the deal through Jacques Oberholzer, who scored in the 75th minute off a high ball. Du Toit added the extras.
However, UJ scored a point of origin try through Sibisi, who grabbed a brace initiated by Kapank and opted for the tap play but knocked the ball on at the breakdown, ending UJ’s hope of a maiden Varisty Cup Final.
A loose pass by UJ gifted Dukuswa a hat-trick with the clock in the red as Du Toit slotted the conversion to send Tuks through to the big dance.
NWU Eagles 50-10 Maties
Scorers
For NWU Eagles:
Tries: Fourie, McLoughlin, Krugel, Janeke 2, Dampies, Otto
Cons: Mostert 6
Pen: Mostert
For Maties:
Try: Basson
Con: Van Heerden-Smith
Pen: Van Heerden-Smith
Yellow card: Ezekiel Ngobeni (Maties, 37′ – Dangerous play: high tackle)
Teams
NWU Eagles: 15 Luan van der Walt, 14 Luyolo Doyi, 13 Matthew Fortuin, 12 Leejay Petersen, 11 Logan Janeke, 10 MJ Mostert, 9 Zack Serfontein, 8 Sean Roulston, 7 Guhan du Bois, 6 Ricardo Fourie, 5 Raniel Turner, 4 Stephan Krugel, 3 Jason Oosthuizen, 2 Jordan McLoughlin, 1 Alethwa Buthelezi
Replacements: 16 Hanro Venter, 17 Bradley Stanfliet, 18 Jaco du Toit, 19 Schalk du Plessis, 20 Zihan Bensch, 21 Gary Otto, 22 Angelo Daniels, 23 Jamaine Dampies
UP Tuks 53-34 UJ
Scorers
For UP Tuks:
Tries: Dukuswa 3, Janse van Rensburg, Fourie, Mjawule, Oberholzer
Cons: Du Toit 5
Pens: Du Toit 2
For UJ:
Tries: Sibisi 2, Molefe, Kapank, Prinsloo
Cons: Kapank 2
Pen: Kapank
Yellow cards: Jeandre Uithaler (UJ, 9′ – Dangerous play: taking a player out in the air), Coun-Lee Koekman (UJ, 29′ – Cynical foul: slowing the ball down after a linebreak), Zenkosi Mthiyana (UJ, 43′ – Repeated offences: offside), Reuven Ferreira (Repeated offences: offside)
Teams
UP Tuks: 15 Hopewell Ntshangase, 14 Andile Myeni, 13 Kobus Janse van Rensburg, 12 Christiaan Vlok, 11 Munashe Dukuswa, 10 Divan du Toit, 9 Akha Mjawule, 8 Dillon Smith, 7 Akhona Kunene, 6 Guvandre Moses, 5 Duncan Blignaut, 4 Ben Jansen van Vuuren, 3 Jayd Austin, 2 Jean Fourie, 1 MJ Nel
Replacements: 16 Gustav van der Merwe, 17 Buhle Mpaka, 18 Barnard Nortje, 19 Jacques Oberholzer, 20 Abel Pretorius, 21 Ighnatius Jantjies, 22 Dennis Obi, 23 Van Reenen Kruger
UJ: 15 Jeandre Uithaler, 14 Zenkosi Mthiyani, 13 Exauce Kevani, 12 Reuven Ferreira, 11 Tholithemba Sibisi, 10 JT Kapank, 9 Coun-Lee Koekman, 8 Toy Engelbert, 7 Josh du Toit, 6 Kamo Molefe, 5 Juan Fourie, 4 Jaythen Orange, 3 Bian Janse van Rensburg, 2 Ryan Marimo, 1 Damian Baker
Replacements: 16 Francois Prinsloo, 17 Katlego Xaba, 18 Marnus Swarts, 19 Vin van Buuren, 20 Thabo Mashigo, 21 Berwyn Bosch, 22 Nicallen Gabrielsen, 23 JT Strydom
Referee: Jonathan Lottering
