Varsity Cup: It's Maties v Ikeys

The first ever FNB Varsity Cup Final will be an all-Cape affair, after first the University of Cape Town (UCT) and then Stellenbosch (Maties) won their matches in dramatic fashion in the semifinals on Monday.

UCT, or Ikey Tigers as their are affectionately known, produced one of the most dramatic comebacks seen in years to beat Pukke-NWU (Potchefstroom) 32-31 in Cape Town, after flyhalf Matthew Rosslee kicked the winning kick in the dying seconds to help his side qualify for the Final.

Later on in Stellenbosch, about an hour up the N1 from Cape Town, Maties won the game in very similar conditions – with a penalty by Henoe Stoffberg in the last minute of extra time.

UCT 32 Pukke-NWU 31

Pukke started like a house on fire and took a 17-0 lead inside the first 12 minutes, with flying wing Lolo Waka scoring twice to give his team the perfect start.

Ikeys hit back with a piece of brilliance of their own, but Pukke continued to dominate the first half and stretched their lead to 23-7 at the break.

The first 10 minutes of the second half also belonged to the students from Potchefstroom, as they raced into a seemingly unassailable 31-10 lead.

However, the Cape Town side then produced one of the most remarkable comebacks and three tries in the last 15 minutes that saw them claw their way back – to narrow the gap to just two points, 31-29.

But this was a game scripted to produce drama and with time officially up on the clock the Ikeys were awarded a penalty.

Rosslee, one of the star performers in a very young Ikeys side, had an angled shot from 45 metres out. Having earlier missed a conversion attempt from closer in, he slotted the kick to send the local students into celebrations of wild delirium

Scorers:

UCT:
Tries: Matthew Turner 2, Marcello Sampson, Mark Goosen
Cons: Matthew Rosslee 3
Pens: Rosslee 2

Pukke:
Tries: Lolo Waka 2, Jean Tiedt
Cons: Jean Tiedt 2
Pens: Jean Tiedt 4

Maties 47 Tukkies 44 (in extra time, 44-all in regulation time)

The University of Stellenbosch (Maties) won their FNB Varsity Cup semifinal against their Pretoria rivals (Tukkies) in equally dramatic fashion in Stellenbosch – with an extra-time penalty required to break the deadlock.

The scores were 44-all at the end of regulation time.

Maties and Tukkies certainly made it a day to remember, after they again ended the match level (44-all) after regulation time in an 11-try thriller.

They also played to a dramatic draw in the opening round, only this time it was the play-offs and unfortunately there had to be a winner and the game went into overtime.

It was a pity that there had to be a loser in an encounter in which bot teams produced rugby of the highest calibre and performances worthy of being finalists.

It was an exciting game of traditional rugby between two of the big university teams in the country and to the credit of both teams, they were willing to throw the ball around and play an entertaining brand of rugby.

Spectacular tries were scored on both sides and to highlight any of the 11 would be a travesty.

In the end it came down to a penalty by Henoe Stoffberg, in the last minute of extra time.

Scorers:

Maties:
Tries: Jonathan Adendorff, Henoe Stoffberg, Jean Stemmet, Sarel Potgieter, Wilhelm Koch
Cons: Henoe Stoffberg 5
Pens: Henoe Stoffberg 4

Tukkies:
Tries: Maphiwe Mfundise, Gerhard van den Heever 2, Gert Lubbe, Kruger van Heerden 2
Cons: Chandré Boshoff 3, Joey Mongalo
Pens: Chandré Boshoff 2