Maties clinched a tense 26-14 victory over Wits in Stellenbosch, while there were also wins for Pukke, Shimlas and UCT in round two of the Varsity Cup on Monday.
Maties were firm favourites coming into their clash with Wits, but they were made to work hard for the win, with flyhalf Ernst Stapelberg’s 14-point haul coming to the team’s rescue.
Wits held an early 5-3 lead thanks to a try by No 8 Jethro de Lange, but Stapelberg nailed his second penalty to put Maties 6-5 up at the break.
Maties seized control of the match after the break with two quick scores, but Wits refused to quit and closed the gap to six points when scrumhalf Ruan Cloete succeeded with two penalties and a drop goal. But their chances of a complete comeback were smothered when Stapelberg kicked two late penalties to seal the win for Maties.
Meanwhile, defending champions Pukke made it two wins from two games as they eased to a comfortable 37-7 triumph over NMMU. Pukke captain Jeandre Rudolph scored a brace.
Shimlas claimed a resounding 47-29 bonus-point win over UJ in Johannesburg. The game ended on a sour note, as ill-discipline saw Shimlas reduced to 11 players after conceding four yellow cards.
In Cape Town, UCT fired late to record a 21-12 win over CUT at the Green Mile. The hosts raced out to a 12-point lead early on, but CUT clawed their way back to square it up at 12-12, before a seven-point try and the resultant conversion in the last five minutes secured the victory for Ikeys.
Varsity Cup results (Round 2):
Maties (26) – Tries: Craig Corbett, Kyle Steyn. Conversion: Ernst Stapelberg. Penalties: Stapelberg (4).
Wits (14) – Try: Jethro de Lange. Penalties: Ruan Cloete (2). Drop goal: Cloete.
Pukke (37) – Tries: Jeandre Rudolph (2), Wilmar Arnoldi, Elden Schoeman. Conversions: Schalk Hugo (4). Penalties: Hugo (3).
NMMU (7) – Try: Xandre Vos. Conversion: Simon Bolze.
UJ (29) – Tries: Ronald Brown, Jo-Hanco de Villiers, Johan Esterhuizen, Penalty try. Conversions: Divan Nel, Ewan Adams.
Shimlas (47) – Tries: Neil Claassen, Stephan Janse van Rensburg, TBC (4). Conversions: Frederick Mason (4). Penalty: Mason.
UCT (21) – Tries: Cuan Hablutzel, Joel Smith, Rico Lategan. Conversion: Lohan Lubbe (2).
CUT (12) – Tries: Darren Adonis (2). Conversion: Martin Jacobs.
Photo: Varsity Rugby
