Tuks fight back to claim stunning draw

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Tuks scored 26 unanswered second-half points to draw 26-26 with UCT, while there were also Varsity Cup wins for Maties, NWU and Wits on Monday.

The Pretoria team, who had rested a couple of first-choice players for the match, needed a win to stand any chance of holding on to top spot, with their bye coming in the final round next week.

However, the decision to rest a few players came back to bite them as the Ikey Tigers ran in three tries to take a 26-0 half-time lead.

At that stage, things were looking bleak for Nollis Marais’ men, but a much-improved second half saw Tuks claw their way back into the match as No 8 Denzil Hill and centre Erich Cronje scored to set up a grandstand finish.

While replacement prop Bart le Roux scored a third try and flyhalf Tinus de Beer levelled matters with a penalty in the final two minutes, Tuks were unable to find a crucial winning score and relinquished first place to Maties, who thrashed Shimlas 59-14.

In the day’s other results, both NWU and Wits got bonus-point wins to set things up for a massive finish in the race for the remaining playoff places.

NWU bounced back from their loss to Tuks last week to hammer CUT 60-7 and bring the Bloemfontein side back down to earth. Wing Pienaar van Niekerk scored a brace of tries, while centre AK Nela and flank Johan Retief were also among the NWU try scorers.

Meanwhile, UWC also faced a harsh return to reality following their first Varsity Cup win by conceding nine tries to slump to a 74-40 loss to Wits in Johannesburg.

Following the round’s action, all of Shimlas, Wits, Ikeys and CUT stand a chance of finishing fourth.

Round 8 results:

Tuks (26) – Tries: Denzel Hill, Erich Cronje, Bart le Roux. Conversions: Tinus de Beer (3). Penalty: De Beer.
UCT (26) – Tries: Rayno Mapoe, Jonty Bredell, Cuan Hablutzel. Conversions: Jonty Bredell. Penalties: Bredell (3).

CUT (7) – Try:Karabo Maqeba. Conversion: Marc Morrison.
NWU (60) – Tries: Pienaar van Niekerk (2) AK Nela, Johan Retief, Chuiner Van Rooyen, Lugelo Gosa, Keagan Tait, Lincoln Daniels. Conversions: Schalk Hugo (8).

Wits (74) – Tries: Sicelo Champion, CJ Conradie, Jared Fuller, Runaldo Pedro, Daniel Kasende, Conor Brockschmidt, Philip Krause(2), Sipho Siboza, Constant Beckerling. Conversions: Chris Humphries (9).
UWC (40) – Tries: Tristan Leyds, Andre Cameron Manuel (3), Reece Bocks. Conversions:  Keegan Fortune (4). Penalties: Fortune .

Shimlas (14) – Tries: Kurt Eybers, Charl Pretorius. Conversions: Lubabalo Dobela (2).
Maties (59) – Tries: Johann van Niekerk, Daniel Jooste, Chris Massyn, Pieter-Louw Strauss, Jordan Chait (2) Brendon Nell, Munier Hartzenberg. Conversions: Chait (5). Penalty: Chait.

Photo: Catherine Kotze/SASPA

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Dylan Jack