Fleck's UCT outplay Maties to win Varsity Cup title

MATCH REPORT: UCT Ikeys finally broke their long Varsity Cup drought when they outplayed Maties on their way to a 44-21 win in the Final at the Danie Craven Stadium on Monday.

Ntokozo Makhaza was one of the stars of the show as he scored 32 points, which included two tries with one of them being a Point of Origin score.

Meanwhile, 20 of those points came from his accurate boot.

It was a sweet victory for UCT after they were defeated in the last two finals. It was also their first Varsity Cup title since 2014.

Robbie Fleck’s side applied the early pressure and they were rewarded when Makhaza was put into space near the touchline to sprint in for the opening try.

Makhaza also showed his skill with the boot to add the extra two points.

Maties managed to reduce UCT’s lead a couple of minutes later when Christiaan van Heerden Smith turned a penalty into three points.

The home side started to look more dangerous with ball in hand and it was that man Smith who produced a neat offload to Ryan Manuel and the centre raced away for his team’s first try.

However, Maties’ lead didn’t last long as Makhaza scored his second try in the 14th minute after he successfully chased down a loose ball after a couple of grubber kicks.

With the build-up starting in UCT’s half, it turned into Point of Origin try and the visitors gained two points.

Smith reduced UCT’s lead to five points in the 28th minute after landing a straightforward penalty goal.

It was cancelled out a few minutes later when Makhaza kept his team’s tally ticking over with a three-pointer.

Maties thought they had the final say of the first half when Manuel went over for his second try. However, a white card review highlighted a knock-on in the build-up and UCT went into the break 19-11 ahead.

The home side clawed their way back to within five points of UCT after Smith converted a penalty into three points in the 50th minute.

However, a no-arms tackle in the 55th minute resulted in Makhaza restoring UCT’s lead to eight points with another penalty goal.

Things got even better for UCT in the 64th minute when Ryan Koevort pounced on a loose ball to score his team’s third try after some miscommunication by Maties in the 22.

The Maties needed to score next to stay in the Final and they did when some swift passing put Joel Leotlela into space to ease in for a five-pointer.

Van Heerden Smith held his nerve to add the extra two points with the conversion.

With less than nine minutes left on the clock, Makhaza extended UCT’s lead to 11 points with a penalty.

Some scintillating rugby from UCT sealed the victory in the 75th minute when Monray Daars scored a Point of Origin try.

It all started with a neat cross-kick before the ball was moved to the inside to the scrumhalf, who started the celebrations for the visiting side.

After Kian Davis butchered a try-scoring opportunity, Makhaza rubbed salt into Maties’ wounds just before the end with another three-pointer.

The scorers:

For Maties:
Tries: Manuel, Leotlela
Con: Smith
Pens: Smith 3

For UCT:
Tries: Makhaza 2 (1 x Point of Origin Try), Koevort, Daars (Point of Origin try)
Cons: Makhaza 4
Pens: Makhaza 4

Teams:

Maties: 15 Elridge Jack, 14 Joel Leotlela, 13 Ryan Manuel, 12 CJ Marx, 11 Grant de Jager, 10 Christiaan van Heerden Smith, 9 Ezekiel Ngobeni (captain), 8 Ethan Snyman, 7 Luan Botha, 6 Fortune Mpofu, 5 Carel Van Der Merwe, 4 Zuko Poswa, 3 Herman Lubbe, 2 Armand Combrink, 1 Prince Mulea.
Replacements: 16 CJ Erasmus, 17 Janlu Basson, 18 Jason Johnson, 19 Michael Chettoa, 20 Reuben Kruger, 21 Mckyle Volmoer, 22 Samuel Badenhorst, 23 Dylan Miller.

UCT Ikeys: 15 Duran Rayn Koevort, 14 Rethabile Louw, 13 Thomas Nel, 12 Luke Burger, 11 Ntokozo Makhaza, 10 Alex Vermeulen, 9 Monray Daars, 8 Xola Nyali, 7 Connor Jack Gordon, 6 Siphomezo Dyonase (captain), 5 Danio Botha, 4 Enos Ndiao, 3 Zachary Porthen, 2 Keagan Blanckenberg, 1 Matthew Beckett.
Replacements: 16 Johan Lombard, 17 Mhleli Khuzwayo, 18 J.K Okonkwo, 29 Keenan Mills, 20 Aden Da Costa, 21 Josh Miller, 22 Kian Davis, 23 Aidan Norris.

Referee: Sean Muller
Assistant referees: Hanru van Rooyen, Jonathan Lottering
TMO: Egon Seconds