Van der Merwe shines in Maties win
The Maties ran in eight tries to Shimlas' two in what was a top of the table clash.
Shimlas had a frantic start and never truly found their way during the match.
The home team struggled to keep up with the relentless onslaught of the visitors and soon went down to 14 men after Armand Pretorius was given a yellow card within 7 minutes of play.
The home side's troubles grew minutes later when speedster Edwill van Merwe visited the whitewash for Maties, 7-0.
It did not get any easier for Shimlas as Maties' centre Chris Smith and Stephan Streicher added their names to the scoresheet, respectively.
However, just after the strategic break, Shimlas broke their duck with a try of their own thanks to Arrie Pretorius. The home side failed to add the extras and trailed, 5-21 after 23 minutes of play.
Maties just looked the better side on the evening and after 34 minutes of play, the right wing Duncan Saal got in on the action as he scored a seven-point try, 30-5.
Just before the half-time break, Shimlas managed to pull one back as Stephan Janse van Rensburg dived over the chalk for a try to narrow the gap to 12-30.
The second half started in a similar fashion as Maties started to take control of proceedings. And just before the hour mark wing, Van Der Merwe got his hat-trick, 44-12.
Maties ended the game in spectacular fashion, first Johan van Niekerk scored a seven-point and Craig Barry rounded off the scoring with a try of his own to secure the victory.
The scorers:
For Shimlas:
Tries: Pretorius, Janse van Rensburg
Con: Mason
For Maties:
Tries: Van der Merwe 3, Streicher, Smith, Berry, Van Niekerk, Saal
Cons: Smith 6
Teams:
Shimlas: 15 Sechaba Matsoele, 14 Vuyani Maqina, 13 Carel Wynand Coetzee, 12 Lihleli Xoli, 11 Marco Mason, 10 Stephan Janse Van Rensburg, 9 Armand Pretorius, 8 Nardus Erasmus, 7 Phumzile Maqondwana, 6 Daniel Maartens, 5 Raymond Woest, 4 Nicolaas Immelman, 3 Ruan Kramer, 2 Francois Steyn, 1 Johan Kotze.
Replacements: 16 Anrich Alberts, 17 Abram Venter, 18 Kwenzokuhle Blose, 19 Ruben Schoeman, 20 Musa Mahlasela, 21 Dian Badenhorst, 22 Rayhaan Lombaard, 23 Wilandre Kotzenberg.
Maties: 15 Craig Barry, 14 Duncan Saal, 13 Kyle Steyn, 12 Chris (Barend) Smit, 11 Edwill Van Der Merwe, 10 Chris Smith, 9 Brendon Nell, 8 Devon Nash, 7 Kobus Van Dyk, 6 Mitchell Carstens, 5 Johan Momsen, 4 Ernst Van Rhyn, 3 Jacobus Van Der Merwe, 2 Craig Corbett, 1 Niel Oelofse.
Replacements: 16 Hendrik Luus, 17 Wesley Adonis, 18 Roux Swart, 19 Saud Abrahams, 20 Stephan Streicher, 21 Paul De Wet, 22 Reinhardt Fortuin, 23 Michal Haznar.
Referee: Stuart Berry
Assistant referees: Local
TMO: JJ Wagner
