Tuks romped to a 53-8 victory over Maties in their third round Varsity Cup match in Pretoria on Monday.
The hosts were in the ascendancy from start to finish and reduced Maties to bystanders at times, as the Tuks forwards dominated the collisions, while the backs ran the visitors' defence ragged from all parts of the field.
Maties wing JP Lewis cancelled out Johannes Kirsten's early try for Tuks, but Maties had no answer to the onslaught that followed. A walkover try by flank Wiaan Liebenberg, another by former Maties captain Reniel Hugo and a fourth by Rudolph Smith handed Tuks a comfortable 29-8 half-time lead.
But the assault on the Maties line didn't end there. With his first touch of the ball, replacement fullback Dewald Human cut the Maties defence to shreds with a fend and two steps to score his side's fifth within 50 seconds of the restart. Maties just couldn't get into the game with an aggressive Tuks defensive line stopping any momentum they tried to build.
As the pressure mounted so did the handling errors from the Stellenbosch-based team, whose discipline also let them down at crucial times during the contest.
Tuks took full advantage and added two more scores through wing Jermaine Kleinsmith and front rower Nqobisiswe Mxoli to get them over the half-century mark. Young flyhalf Joshua Stander added six of his seven conversion attempts, to complete the rout, as Tuks clinched a mammoth yet surprising victory in front of an enthusiastic crowd.
Elsewhere, Shimlas claimed bragging rights with a 57-0 thrashing of neighbours CUT in Bloemfontein, hosts UCT recorded a 40-13 bonus-point victory against NMMU on the Green Mile to retain the Monte Taljaard Trophy, and UJ handed Pukke their first defeat of the season with a narrow 10-8 win in Johannesburg.
In the Varsity Shield, UKZN outscored UFH three tries to two to claim a 21-13 win in Alice, while Wits and UWC scored five tries apiece to draw 37-37 in Johannesburg.
Varsity Cup
Tuks (53) – Tries: Johannes Kirsten, Wiaan Liebenberg, Reniel Hugo, Rudolph Smith, Dewald Human, Jermaine Kleinsmith, Nqobisiswe Mxoli. Conversions: Joshua Stander (6).
Maties (8) – Tries: JP Lewis. Conversion: Brandon Thompson.
UCT (40) – Tries: Warren Seals, James Alexander, Guy Alexander, Jason Klaasen, Luke Stringer. Conversions: Seals (5).
NMMU (8) – Try: Penalty try. Conversion: Ruan Allerston.
UJ (10)– Try: Dylan Peterson. Conversion: Jaco Fourie. Penalty: Fourie.
Pukke (8) – Try: Rhyno Smith. Conversion: Smith.
CUT (0)
Shimlas (57) – Tries: Arthur Williams, Gerhard Olivier (2), Marco Klopper, Vuyani Maqina (2), Daniel Maartens (2), Niell Jordaan. Conversions: Niel Marais (4).
Varsity Shield
UFH (13) – Tries: Athenkosi Manentsa, Siviwe Bisset. Conversion: Saneliso Getye.
UKZN (21) – Tries: Innocent Radebe, Retief Marais (2). Conversions: Radebe (2).
Wits (37) – Tries: Luvuyo Pupuma, Luxulo Ntsepe, Ameer Williams, Tommy Damba, Constant Beckerling. Conversions: Brandan Hewitt (4).
UWC (37) – Tries: Quaid Langeveldt, James Verity-Amm (3), Stuart Austin. Conversions: Damien Stevens (2), Langeveldt (2).
Photo: Varsity Cup
