Pukke beat Shimlas 37-21 at Cape Town Stadium on Monday, while there were also wins for Tuks, CUT and UJ in round seven of the Varsity Cup.
Shimlas were dumped out of the competition as Pukke won a match that became a 'quarter-final' after Tuks humiliated UCT 100-25 earlier in the day.
Maties will play Tuks in the semi-finals next week with UJ hosting Pukke.
Pukke winger Lucian Cupido opened the scoring in the third minute after a good attacking move by the backline. Sylvian Mahuza and Cupido were then both denied before No 8 and captain Jeandré Rudolph crossed for Pukke’s second try.
Shimlas hit back through centre Arthur Williams, but tries from hooker Wilmar Arnoldi and Rudolph gave Pukke a 24-point lead at half-time.
Shimlas scored the first points of the second half through hooker Elandré Hugget, who dotted down after a strong driving maul. Williams scored his second try for Shimlas late in the match, but it was not enough as the reigning champions bowed out.
In Monday’s other matches, Duhan van der Merwe scored five tries as Tuks crushed UCT to book their place in the semi-finals, CUT came from behind to beat NMMU 35-26 to finish sixth on the table, while UJ beat Maties 42-16 to hand the log-leaders their first defeat in the competition and book themselves a home semi-final.
In the Varsity Shield, Wits secured their place in the final with a 60-13 win over UWC, while TUT beat UFH 45-40 with a last-minute try for their first win of the competition.
Varsity Cup results (round 7):
Tuks (100) – Tries: Duhan van der Merwe (5), TBC. Conversions: Joshua Stander (4).
UCT (25) – Tries: TBC, Thomas Bednall.
CUT (35) – Tries: Jasper Wiese (2), Mauro Bucachane, Len Noort, Meyer van Tonder. Conversions: Van Tonder.
NMMU (26) – Tries: Riaan Esterhuizen, Nicolaas Oosthuizen, Tyler Paul. Conversions: Simon Bolze (2). Penalty: Thomas Kean.
Shimlas (21) – Tries: Arthur Williams (2), Elandré Hugget, Marco Klopper. Conversions: Marco Mason, Pieter-Steyn de Wet (2).
Pukke (37) – Tries: Lucian Cupido, Jeandré Rudolph (2), Wilmar Arnoldi. Conversions: Rhyno Smith. Penalty: Smith, Barend Janse van Rensburg (2).
UJ (42) – Tries: Ronald Brown, Jakobus Porter, Caswell Khoza, Divan Nel. Conversions: Nel (3). Penalties: Nel (3).
Maties (16) – Tries: Brandon Asher-Wood, Carlisel Nel.
Varsity Shield results (round 10):
UWC (13) – Tries: Wayron Losper, Jose Julies. Conversion: Aidynn Cupido.
Wits (60) – Tries: Sicelo Champion, Joshua Jarvis (2), Wade Worthington, Kwanele Ngema, Warren Gilbert. Conversions: Gilbert (5). Drop Goal: Gilbert.
TUT (45) – TBC
UFH (40) – TBC
Photo: Thys Lombard/SASPA
