Pukke win - and lose
FNB Pukke beat the Ikeys 17-13 in their Round Seven Varsity Cup clash in Potchefstroom on Monday – but it was not enough to get them a home semifinal, which is what they wanted.
The two teams will meet again in the FNB Varsity Cup presented Steinhoff International semifinals next Monday… but this time down at UCT with its windy field.
The match in Potchefstroom was played in ideal, windless conditions and it started off as if getting the win and the bonus point while denying the Ikeys a bonus point was a doddle for the home side. They attacked from the start and scored first.
It was a match of many penalties – 25 in all, 13 against the Pukke and 12 against the Ikeys.
Right at the start the Ikeys went offside twice as the Puke attacked and on the second occasion flyhalf Cecil Dumond goaled to make it 3-0 after five minutes.
Back they came on the attack and Andrew van Wyk was over in the corner. But, lo, he lost the ball; forward in grounding it. Not that this proved the Ikeys’ salvation.
They kicked the ball out and the Pukke put just four men into the line-out. They won it off the top and suddenly, on the Ikeys’ 10-metre line, eighthman Willem van der Wal knifed through between the centres for a straight run at the posts. Dumond converted and after nine minutes Pukke led 10-0. They were in the saddle, it seemed, as the Ikeys were hesitant, looking confident, but it was some 40 minutes before the Pukke scored again and then their score had no elan about it.
Instead the Ikeys started to get some ball and tended to keep it. In fact they were best when they kept it. A penalty at a tackle saw Matthew Rosslee goal from a long way out to make it 10-3. It was a good kick and his conversion an even better one on an afternoon when he missed four kicks at goal.
The try came when they put tall Marvin Christians into the front of the line-out and threw to the front man. Christians came peeling round and raced half the length of the field to score in the corner. It was a tight call as Van Wyk nearly got him. But Christians just squeezed in. Rosslee converted from touch. 10-10.
That was just two minutes before half-time.
Pukke attacked from the start of the second half. They kicked a penalty out for a line-out and mauled. They kicked it out again and mauled. They did it twice more and eventually got a try credited to prop BG Uys. Later in the match they would go through the same routine three times and fail to score a try. It was not really a profitable exercise.
Dumond converted the try and Pukke led 17-10 after 47 minutes. They had 33 minutes to score two more tries for a home semifinal. They did not manage even one.
Ikeys had their attacking moments but they were fleeting as the muscular Pukke did muscular things, dominating the scrums but losing the line-outs. Ikeys’ defence held and then on a raid near the end Pukke were penalised and Rosslee goaled the simplest of kicks.
There were two incidents in the match which belong in rugby’s Strange but True records.
In the first half Dumond was tackled and then penalised for a high tackle. He and the man who stopped him stayed on their feet and Dumond put a headlock on his opponent.
In the second half the match officials called off the wrong player, the outstanding Nick Fenton-Wells when Ikeys wanted Enoch Panya off. The mistake was pointed out but the referee insisted that it stand. My mistake and you suffer!
The scorers:
For Pukke:
Tries: Van der Wal, Uys
Cons: Dumond 2
Pen: Dumond
For UCT:
Try: Christians
Con: Rosslee
Pens: Rosslee 2
The teams:
Pukke: 15 Willem Barnard, 14 Andrew van Wyk, 13 Wenstley Scott, 12 Wouter Watermeyer, 11 Lolo Waka, 10 Cecil Dumond, 9 Andries Mahoney, 8 Willem van der Wal (captain), 7 SS Nel, 6 Jaco Lötter, 5 Markus Fourie, 4 Grant le Roux, 3 Stephan Bezuidenhout, 2 Stoffel Duvenage, 1 BG Uys.
Replacements: 16 Lourens Botes, 17 Dewald Coetzee, 18 Victor Kruger, 19 Thabo Molete, 20 Theuns Kotzé, 21 Dewan Eckard, 22 Randall April.
UCT: 15 Therlow Pietersen, 14 Peter Haw, 13 Tiger Bax, 12 Pieter Engelbrecht, 11 Marvin Christians, 10 Matthew Rosslee, 9 Stuart Commins, 8 JJ Gagiano (captain ), 7 Enoch Panya, 6 Fenton-Wells, 5 Donovan Armand, 4 Michael Passaportis, 3 Shane Meier, 2 Dayne Jans, 1 Dylan Rogers.
Replacements: 16 Mark Goosen, 17 Ashley Wells, 18 Dane Galley, 19 Kuselo Moyake, 20 Kyle Wickins, 21 Michael Nel, 22 Dane Johnson.
Referee: Lourens van der Merwe
