SEMIFINAL WRAP: Eagles host Ikeys in the Final

The North West University Eagles will host the University of Cape Town Tigers in the Final of the 2023 Varsity Cup.

NWU EAGLES 19 MATIES 10

NWU Eagles marched into the 2023 Varsity Cup final with a hard-fought 19-10 victory over Maties in Potchefstroom. The half-time score was 7-3.

The Eagles were the first to score in the 9th minute when Tino Swanepoel received a good pass from Sylvester Hassien following a brilliant piece of play. Zinedine Robinson landed the conversion.

It was a tight, physical game between the two former champions at the Fanie du Toit Sports Ground for much of the first half. The only other points came from a drop goal by Maties’
Jurie Matthee.

A fast start to the second half by the Eagles saw Swanepoel go over for his second try, a superb solo effort after evading the Maties defence. Robinson was once again successful in adding the extra two.

The Maroon Machine fought back with a try from Aydon Topley after a driving maul while Matthee converted to make it 14-10 in favour of the home side.

Things couldn’t get worse for Maties when Marco Van Rhyn was sent to the sin bin with 10 minutes left. The Eagles capitalised on this with Jandre de Beer diving over for his try after a driving maul to claim the victory.

Scorers

For NWU Eagles
Tries: Swanepoel 2, De Beer
Cons: Robinson 2

For Maties
Try: Topley
Con: Matthee
DG: Matthee

Player That Rocks: Tino Swanepoel (NWU Eagles)

Teams

NWU Eagles: 15 Tino Santino Swanepoel, 14 Keano Ricardo Windvogel, 13 Theunis Gerhardus Pretorius, 12 Vincent Phatudi Phatudi, 11 Naiden Jaarts, 10 Zinedine Robinson, 9 Sylvester Hassien, 8 Gustav Zacharias Erlank, 7 Karl-Heinz Henlein Bertram, 6 Chris Vermaak, 5 Wihan Nel, 4 Stephan Krugel, 3 Ruan Swiegers, 2 Vernon Paulo, 1 Ruben du Plessis.

Maties: 15 Cade Croy, 14 Aydon Topley, 13 Grant de Jager, 12 Waqar Solaan, 11 Marcqiewn Titus, 10 Jurie Matthee, 9 Mckyle Volmoer, 8 De Wet Marais, 7 Louw Nel, 6 Gift Dlamini, 5 Juan Beukes, 4 Matthys Kitshoff, 3 Corné Weilbach, 2 Siaybonga Ngubelanga, 1 Vernon Matonga

UCT IKEYS 65 UFS SHIMLAS 30

UCT Ikeys stormed into the Varsity Cup final with a convincing 65-30 victory over UFS Shimlas in the first semi-final in Bloemfontein. The half-time score was 37-7.

This is the second time in three years the Ikeys achieved this feat. For UFS, it was the second year running they were halted in a home semi-final at Shimla Park after stumbling to UP-Tuks last year.

Long-distance tries by Laro Delport and Reynhardt Crous saw the Ikeys race to a 16-0 lead after just eight minutes on the clock. Then it was the turn of Ntokozo Makhaza, Keagan Blanckenberg and Rethabile Louw to put the game well out of reach of the hosts. A try on the stroke of halftime by Litha Nkula finally got Shimlas on the board, much to the delight of the passionate home fans.

Duran Koevort struck with a brace early in the second half while David Hayes also crossed the whitewash to bring Ikeys’ try tally to seven. Shimlas claimed back some pride with tries through Chadd Adams, Javier Farmer and Asanda Kunene. Lezane Davis drove the final nail in the coffin for the Shimlas when he went over just before the final whistle.

For Shimlas it is no doubt heartbreak again after rebounding during the second half of the round-robin matches to put themselves in the position to host the final.

For Ikeys it’s on to the final and the possibility of a third Varsity Cup title after they went through the competition almost unnoticed.

Scorers

For UFS Shimlas
Tries: Nkula, Adams, Farmer, Kunene
Cons: Wentzel 3

For UCT Ikeys
Tries: Delport, Crous, Makhaza, Blanckenberg, Koevort 2, Hayes, Davis
Cons: Makhaza 5
Pens: Makhaza 2

Player That Rocks: David Hayes (UCT Ikeys)

Teams

UFS Shimlas: 1 Avuyile5 Mabece, 14 Siviwe Zondani, 13 Michael Kurt Annies, 12 Ethan Wentzel, 11 Asanda Sihle Kunene, 10 Litha Siyasanga Nkula, 9 Chadd Gabby Adams, 8 Kwezi Dlamini, 7 Thabang Mahlasi, 6 Lourens Oosthuizen, 5 Dylan Sjöblom, 4 Pierre-Raymond Uys, 3 Reis Francisco Dos, 2 William John Moffat, 1 Johan Danie Schutte.

UCT Ikeys: 15 Duran Ryan Koevort, 14 Rethabile Donovan Louw, 13 Joshua Michael Boulle, 12 Kyle Graeme Lamb, 11 Ntokozo Sibusiso Makhaza, 10 David Robert Hayes, Asad9 Moos, 8 Laro Delport, 7 Kyle Enos Ndiao, 6 Siphumezo Dyonase, 5 George van der Westhuizen, 4 Reynhardt Wouter Crous, 3 Bryan Justin le Roux, 2 Keagan Jordan Blanckenberg, 1 Luthando Solomon Woji.