Pukke's turn to sneak in

A penalty goal with four minutes to go gave the Pukke a thrilling 19-17 victory over the University of Cape Town in the first semifinal of the 2009 FNB Varsity Cup presented by Steinhoff International. They go into the final next Monday.

Three tries to one should be enough to win a match but it was not enough for the Ikeys. All their points came from tries; Pukke got one try but four penalty goals.

The Ikeys will probably rue crucial errors while the Pukke, playing in conditions unusual for them as the powerful wind blew from the south straight down the Groote Schuur field, grabbed their chances. Above all, it was the boot of flyhalf Cecil Dumond that accepted the opportunities. Mind you none of his kicks at goal was difficult.

The Ikeys played with that strong wind in the first half but had just two kicks at goal – long ones from difficult angles and they missed both. In the second half the Pukke had four kicks at goal, everyone slap in front at a kind distance and Dumond goaled each one.

In the first half the Pukke ran with the ball and dominated possession; in the second half the Ikeys ran with the ball and had the better  of possession. Though the Pukke had more possession in the first half, the Ikeys’ scored 12 points. And in the second half the Pukke scored 19 points, scoring on most of their raids into UCT territory.

In the first half UCT had their chances, twice getting within five metres of the line. Then from an attacking scrum on their right UCT attacked the line with Dane Johnson coming off his wing. Quick ball went further left and Marcello Sampson had an overlap and an easy little run to the line. Matthew Rosslee converted from far out. 7-0 after 25 minutes.

UCT’s second try of the half was an interesting one. They threw into aline-out but Pukke slapped it back. In the mess UCT won a turnover and Stuart Commins went blind on the left. As he was tackled he gave to lock Michael Passaportis who had an easy passage to the line. The wind blew the conversion awry. 12-0 after 32 minutes.

The second half was a wore of attrition as the Pukke gradually wore away the UCT lead. Rosslee kicked into the wind and the grateful Pukke attacked. UCT were offside and Dumond goaled the simple kick. 12-3 after 43 minutes.

UCT attacked from the kick-off but a knock-on gave Pukke a chance to break out. Two penalties gave them two five-metre line-outs which they mauled but UCT were firm and stout. Offside again made the score 12-6 after 52 minutes.

UCT’s third try was startling. From an untidy line-out Tiger Bax, now playing flyhalf, ran at the Pukke and suddenly quick ball was going left. Prop Dylan Rogers ploughed ahead and as he was driven towards touch, he flicked the ball infield to Sampson who passed inside to replacement hooker Dayne Jans who scored. Again the wind blew the conversion away.

A scrum penalty was marched 10 metres when UCT were silly and Dumond goaled. 17-9 after 60 minutes. 20 minutes to play.

Then came the Pukke’s decisive moment. The Ikeys were on the attack but Sean van Tonder knocked on and the next thing Dumond was bursting down the midfield. The ball went left to centre Wenstley Scott who stepped through a tackle and went racing down the field. Drawing the last Ikey he gave to Lolo Waka who had an easy 25 metres to run in for the try at the posts. Dumond converted and now it was a one-point game. 17-16 with 16 minutes to play.

Twice Pukke kicked themselves into attacking positions on the Ikeys’ left. First it was Wouter Watermeyer, then livewire scrumhalf Andries Mahoney. From a line-out the Pukke attacked but Ikeys brought them down. A ruck formed. The referee called ruck but a replacement Ikey lock went on picking up the ball. The result was a simple penalty which Dumond goaled.

There were four minutes to play and the Ikeys threw everything at the Pukke but without ever coming close. In 2008, a last-gasp penalty had given the Ikeys a narrow victory; this time the boot was on somebody else’s foot.

The scorers:

For Pukke:
Try: Waka
Con: Dumond
Pens: Dumond 4

For UCT:
Tries: Sampson, Passaportis, Jans
Con: Rosslee

The teams:

FNB UCT: 15 Therlow Pietersen, 14 Dane Johnson, 13 Tiger Bax, 12 Pieter Engelbrecht, 11 Marcello Sampson, 10 Matt Rosslee, 9 Stuart Commins (vice-captain), 8 JJ Gagiano (captain), 7 Enoch Panya, 6 Nick Fenton-Wells, 5 Donovan Armand, 4 Michael Passaportis, 3 Shane Meier, 2 Mark Goosen, 1 Dylan Rogers.
Replacements: 16 Dayne Jans, 17 Ashley Wells, 18 Dane Galley, 19 Mzoi Simani, 20 JP Robert, 21 Sean van Tonder, 22 Marvin Christians.

Head coach: John Dobson
Assistant coach: Robbie Fleck

FNB 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 Savvas Nel, 6 Jaco Lötter, 5 Markus Fourie, 4 Grant le Roux, 3 Stephan Bezuidenhout, 2 Stoffel Duvenage, 1 BG Uys.
Replacements: 16 Dewald Coetzee, 17 Lourens Botes, 18 Victor Kruger, 19 Thabo Molete, 20 Theuns Kotzé, 21 Marcel du Toit, 22 Randall April.

Head coach: Rudy Joubert
Assistant coaches: Attie Strauss, Mervyn Taylor

Referee: Ben Crouse (Blue Bulls)