UCT claimed a bonus-point 33-16 win over Cape rivals Maties in Stellenbosch on Monday.
It was UCT’s second-ever Varsity Cup win against Maties, and their first in Stellenbosch, leaving the three-time champions winless after two rounds, following their defeat against the NMMU Madibaz last week.
The first half saw Maties score after a swift counter-attack that resulted in centre Johnny Kôtze diving over for the try. UCT's Jason Klaasen responded shortly after, crashing over the line to put UCT on the board and former Maties flyhalf Dean Grant also added a tough conversion. They followed that up with another try soon afterwards as some slick handling saw wing Lihleli Xoli dive over in the corner, and Grant added a penalty to make it 15-8 at half-time.
Things got even worse for Maties when Klaasen went over for his second try as the second half kicked off and UCT captain Liam Slatem took the chance to kick for goal to extend their lead to a commanding 25-8 at the second strategy break.
That put them more than two converted tries ahead, and the desperate Maties threw everything at them as they looked for a response, which came from flyhalf Robert du Preez, who floated through a gap to score.
The home side needed to score twice in the last five minutes to take a dramatic comeback victory, but Slatem had the final say as he scrambled over for a try after a great break from centre Huw Jones.
Maties – Tries: Johnny Kôtze, Robert du Preez. Conversions: Du Preez (2).
UCT – Tries: Jason Klaasen (2), Liheli Xoli, Liam Slatem. Conversions: Dean Grant (3). Penalties: Grant (2).
Maties – 15 Craig Barry, 14 Clearance Khumalo, 13 Mark Hodgskiss, 12 Johnny Kôtze, 11 Caleb Smith, 10 Robert du Preez, 9 Louis Nel, 8 Tertius Daniller (c), 7 Lungelo Chonco, 6 Beyers de Villiers, 5 Wilhelm van der Sluys, 4 Jan de Klerk, 3 Brendon Pitzer, 2 Freddie Kirsten, 1 Niel Oelofse.
Subs: 16 Charl de Villiers, 17 Wesley Adonis, 18 Ian Groenewald, 19 Justin Benn, 20 Jean Nel, 21 Chris Smith, 22 Louis Jordaan, 23 Liam Hendricks.
UCT – 15 Ross Jones-Davies, 14 Richard Stewart, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Guy Schwikkard, 11 Lihleli Xoli, 10 Dean Grant, 9 Liam Slatem (c), 8 Vince Jobo, 7 Shaun McDonald, 6 Jason Klaasen, 5 James Kilroe, 4 Jan Uys, 3 Digby Webb, 2 Neil Rautenbach, 1 Joel Carew.
Subs: 16 Chad Solomon, 17 David Maasch, 18 Guy Alexander, 19 Zakeyo Tinetenda, 20 James Alexander, 21 Martin Sauls, 22 David Strachan, 23 Robin Murray.
Other results
NWU-Pukke 48 UFS-Shimlas 29
NWU-Pukke scored five second-half tries to romp to an impressive 48-29 bonus-point win over UFS-Shimlas in Potchefstroom. Tiaan Dorfling, Adriaan Engelbrecht, Sylvian Mahuza (2), Johnny Welthagen, and Edmar Marais were all try-scorers.
UJ 15 NMMU Madibaz 21
A last-minute try from flank Chris Cloete, last week's five-try hero, saw the Madibaz take a dramatic 21-15 victory in Johannesburg. In addition to Cloete's try, Madibaz's try-scorers included Yamkhela Ngam and Donovan Marais.
Wits 8 UP-Tuks 53
Defending champions UP-Tuks scored seven tries in a demolition of Wits in Johannesburg. Tuks' tries were scored by Wiaan Liebenberg, Reniel Hugo, Jade Stighling, Leneve Damens, and a hat-trick by Dries Swanepoel.
Varsity Shield results
UWC 8 CUT 30
TUT 42 UFH 34
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