The maroon team of Stellenbosch University (Maties) met Johannesburg team, (Wits) of Witwatersrand University, last night at Coetzenburg stadium, securing a victory after their loss to Preria’s Tuks last week. Maties fans showed up in their numbers to support their team.
The warm weather and “gees” made for a good atmosphere and excellent start to the week as Maties worked well together to ensure a victory. Despite the strong Wits defence, Maties were still able to score a try at the start of the first half. By half time, the score was a tight 6-5 to Maties.
The second half was even more tense and exciting than the first. The Stellenbosch team were at a disadvantage, when Janco Venter, their flanker, was given a red card, following two yellow cards as warnings. This setback gave Wits an upper hand and chance at victory. Scrumhalf Ruan Cloete of Wits scored a try and by the second strategy break, Maties were leading 20-14.
Crowd favourite, Ernst Stapelberg, converted two penalties to give Maties a comfortable, 12-point victory. Despite their blow, earlier in the second half, the Maties men pushed through until the end and secured their first win at Varsity Cup.
Final score: Maties 26-14 Wits
Player That Rocks: Kobus van Dyk (Maties)
Maties XV: 15 Craig Barry, 14 Duncan Saal, 13 Kyle Steyn, 12 Braam Venter, 11 Edwill van der Merwe, 10 Ernst Stapelberg, 9 Paul de Wet, 8 Kobus van Dyk, 7 Janco Venter, 6 Mitchell Carstens, 5 Ernst van Reyn, 4 Ian Groenewald, 3 Christiaan Hamman, 2 Craig Corbett, 1 Niël Oelofse
Substitutes: 16. HJ Luus, 17 Jake Blew, 18 Wikus Groenewald, 19 Saud Abrahams, 20 Devon Nash, 21 Logan Boonzaaier, 22 Chris Smith, 23 Michal Haznar
Wits XV: 15 Luxolo Ntsepe, 14 Peabo Ngema, 13 Johannes van Blerk, 12 Benjamin Hewitt, 11 Christian Jarvis, 10 James Gilbert, 9 Ruan Cloete, 8 Jeathro de Lange, 7 Constant Beckerling, 6 Ruan Macdonald, 5 Rhyno Herbst, 4 Johan Logan, 3 Phindile Pupuma, 2 CJ Conradie, 1 Jacobus Greeff
Substitutes: 16 Carl Brandon, 17 James Palmer, 18 Ludwig Snyman, 19 Conor-Terrah Brockschmidt, 20 Jarred Branco, 21 Lwazi Monakali, 22 Themba Mpemvu, 21 Ameer Williams.
Written by: Tess Vengadajellum
