STELLENBOSCH – After trailing 11-5 at the break, Maties scored four second-half tries to beat the Madibaz 35-16 in the Varsity Cup at a very windy Danie Craven Stadium on Monday night.
Madibaz played with the wind in the first half and put Maties under severe pressure, especially at scrum-time.
They were rewarded for their efforts by scoring just before halftime, through Wynand Grassmann. That came after Maties took the lead through a try by Niel Oelofse.
Maties immediately used the wind to their advantage at the start of the second half when Ian Groenewald crashed over.
That was followed by tries by Brendon Nell, Craig Barry and Michal Haznar as Maties pulled away in the final 10 minutes.
The Madibaz were dealt a massive blow in those 10 minutes when they had Stephanus Nieuwoudt and Henry Brown yellow-carded, which meant they finished the match with 13 men. That ultimately led to Maties scoring two tries in the final three minutes.
* It was the NWU-Pukke’s night as they made a comeback in round four against the Ikeys with a 20-13 win at the Fanie du Toit Stadium.
The Pukke opened the scoreboard in the third minute of the encounter against the Ikeys as Elden Schoeman went over the tryline. Schalk Hugo successfully converted the try to put the home team on top at 7-0.
It was the kicking boot of Hugo in rainy conditions who successfully converted a penalty for the Pukke in the seventh minute to keep the score ticking as they were 10-0 ahead.
Another penalty from Hugo for the Pukke in the 16th minute put them 13-0 up.
The Ikeys struggled in slippery conditions as they tried to gain momentum. But it was the boot of the Ikeys’ Lohan Lubbe who managed to get the visitors on the board with a three-pointer as they headed into halftime.
As the Ikeys entered the second half they were already on the back foot as the Pukke secured field territory.
It was the yellow card given to Pukke’s Justin Newman that set the Ikeys up for a penalty to narrow the deficit to 13-6.
A penalty advantage for the Pukke led to a try for Estehan Visagie as he went over the line.
In the 81st minute, the Ikeys’ Gary Porter narrowed the lead with a penalty to clinch a losing bonus point.
* UJ got their season up and running when they recorded their first win of the season in a nail-biting 18-17 win over rivals UP-Tuks at the Johannesburg Stadium.
The home side put pressure early on and got on to the score-sheet when flyhalf Divan Nel converted an early penalty for UJ.
But wing Godfrey Ramaboea was sent to the sin bin early on and UJ were down 14 men, and Tuks made use of the man advantage with a penalty from flyhalf Tinus de Beer to make it 3-3 going into the first strategy break.
De Beer continued where he left off and scored another penalty to put Tuks 6-3 ahead.
Nel converted his second penalty to make it 6-6 at the end of the first stanza, and slotted another early on in the second half to make it 9-6 to the home side.
UJ were gaining confidence and Nel stretched the lead to 12-6 from inside his own half.
Tuks hit back almost immediately to keep themselves within sight as De Beer scored his third penalty to make it 12-9.
Nel was running the show and scored his sixth penalty as UJ went up 18-12 going into the last 10 minutes.
The final phase of the match saw UJ reduced to 14 men again as Wian Conradie was sent to the sin bin.
Tuks would eventually score and made it a nail-biting finish as Denzel Hill scored a late try, but the conversion was missed and UJ won the match by a single point.
* The match between CUT and Shimlas has been postponed until Tuesday due to heavy rainfall causing a waterlogged field at the CUT Stadium. A venue will be confirmed on the day.