Maties make it four from four

The University of Stellenbosch (FNB Maties) retained their unbeaten record with an emphatic 31-10 win over their Potchefstroom rivals (FNB Pukke) in their Varsity Cup Round Four match at the Danie Craven Stadium on Monday.

Waiting till deep into injury time before scoring the bonus-point try, the defending champions in the FNB Varsity Cup presented by Steinhoff International remained on course for home ground advantage in the play-offs next month.

The visitors tried bravely, but their were never able to keep up with the blistering pace set by the Maties and also did not control their possession well enough to build up any pressure on the home team.

However, as Pukke captain Willem van der Wal said, if the Potchefstroom outfit win all their remaining games, they can also still make the play-offs.

However, this time the day belonged to an impressive Maties outfit, who showed a willingness to play an exciting, expansive brand of rugby from the outset – obviously aiming to avoid getting involved in an arm-wrestle with a Pukke team short on genuine pace and skill.

Pukke did launch a few impressive attacks, but those simply did not have the same venom as their opponents’ efforts.

The Maties scrum was also too strong and Pukke did not get enough quality ball to play with.

The home team got off to a flying start when flyhalf Coenie Van Wyk scored the first try inside 50 seconds – coming after a dropped pass inside the Maties half gave the Stellenbosch students a chance to counter. Good hands and a neat touch with the boot set up the try for Van Wyk try. Donald Stevens added the conversion for a 7-0 lead.

Pukke bounced right back and had the home team under pressure – with a penalty following a scrum infringement and Teuns Kotzé slotted the kick to narrow the  gap to 3-7.

But the helter-skelter nature of the game continued and the Stellenbosch team was soon back on the attack. Another neat grubber and some great pressure saw Van Wyk go over in the corner for his second try – with Stevens adding a second conversion to make it 14-3 after nine minutes.

From the restart Stellenbosch conceded another penalty, but this time the shot by Teuns Kotzé was wide of the mark.

In the 22nd minute Paul Bosch came close to scoring the Maties’ third try, but the TMO ruled that Pukke got a hand to the ball first.

The relentless waves of maroon attacks continued and only a handling error stopped the Stellenbosch students from yet another score.

The try didn’t come, but with five minutes to go to the half the home team was rewarded when flyhalf Coenie van Wyk slotted a well-time drop-goal to make it 17-3.

They have a chance to go further ahead right on half-time, but Stevens’s penalty shot drifted wide and the Stellenbosch students took a 14-point lead into the break.

It was much the same just after the restart for the second half, as a penalty shot at goal by Stevens hit the upright and bounced back into play.

While the Pukke tried to give the ball more air in an attempt to close the gap, they clearly lacked the outright pace of the Maties team and more errors crept into the game of the visitors.

It was indeed the Maties that scored first after the break, when – from a line-out – the ball went wide and right wing Morné Jooste bust through a very ordinary attempt at a tackle to score his team’s third try. Stevens added the conversion to make it 24-3 after 51 minutes.

The Maties opened the back door for the visitors ever so slightly when No.8 Morné Hanekom was yellow carded in the 54th minute for a late shoulder charge.

And almost immediately Pukke made their numerical advantage count as they scored their first try when flyhalf Dewan Eckard burst over from close range. Kotzé added the conversion to narrow the gap to 24-10.

Despite the initial burst, Maties quickly settled down and held off a number of Pukke raids as they awaited the return of Hanekom.

Maties kept on attacking, in search of that fourth try for a bonus point, and it did eventually come – almost two minutes into injury time – as lock Jaco Nepgen went over after numerous phases and a couple of penalties. To add insult to injury Stevens added the conversion for a 31-10 win.

The scorers:

For FNB Maties:
Tries: Van Wyk 2, Jooste, Nepgen
Cons: Stevens 4
DG: Van Wyk

For FNB Pukke:
Try: Eckard
Con: Kotzé
Pen: Kotzé

Yellow card: Morné Hanekom (Maties, 54 – foul play, late shoulder charge)

Teams:

FNB Maties: 15 Adnaan Osman, 14 Morné Jooste, 13 Morgan Newman, 12 Paul Bosch, 11 Hayden Groepes, 10 Coenie Van Wyk, 9 Donald Stevens, 8 Morné Hanekom, 7 JP Mostert, 6 Wesley Wilkens (captain), 5 Jaco Nepgen, 4 Marinus Pretorius, 3 Lourens Adriaanse, 2 JP Koster, 1 Johan Roets.
Replacements: 16 Matthew Dobson, 17 Andrew Crausaz, 18 Jéan Rossouw, 19 Erich Laubscher , 20 Jonathan Andendorf, 21 Koos Eksteen, 22 Jéan Stemmet.

FNB NWU-Pukke: 15 Willem Barnard, 14 Randall April, 13 Jacques de Kock, 12 Wouter Watermeyer, 11 Lola Waka, 10 Dewan Eckard, 9 Teuns Kotzé, 8 Willem van der Wal (captain), 7 Thabo Molete, 6 Savvas Nel, 5 Markus Fourie, 4 Grant le Roux, 3 Stephan Bezuidenhout, 2 Stoffel Duvenhage, 1 Jaco Koch.
Replacements: 16 Lourens Botes, 17 BG Uys, 18 Victor Kruger, 19 Jaco Lotter, 20 Andries Mahoney, 21 Wenstley Scott, 22 Andrew van Wyk.