Varsity Cup heartbreak for local teams
Both UJ and Wits suffered losses against opponents on home soil in dramatic matches for spectators.
UJ and Wits failed to beat their rivals in the Varsity Cup rugby competition but will regroup before their next clashes.
FNB Maties narrowly beat FNB Wits 56–54.
It went down to the wire, but in the end, Maties secured the important victory over Wits in Johannesburg with flyhalf Jurie Matthee kicking the match-winning penalty in the final seconds.
The first half saw Wits registering the first score through flanker Mark Snyman, before Maties took a 10–7 lead courtesy of a penalty and a try from Matthew van Schalkwyk. Then the visitors ran Wits ragged to race to a 40–19 lead at the break.
A lack of discipline let Wits down with unnecessary penalties during crucial parts of the game resulting in the loss.
The FNB Player That Rocks was named as Grant de Jager from Maties.
The Central University of Technology (CUT) and UJ went head to head in a nail biting match where Cut thrashed their opponents 54–12.
It was the Orange Army who scored the first try of the game giving UJ an early 7–0 lead.
The visitors fought back strongly and managed to score three tries before the end of the first half. Zachary Bester was the star of the show for the visitors, scoring two tries from long range. Ricoman Titus also got on the scoresheet with a team effort, giving the visitors a 30–12 lead at halftime.
The second half started in a similar fashion, with CUT extending their lead through a penalty. And then the tries started raining, first Matthew Sekele, followed by Jacobus Cloete and Titus who dotted down for his hat-trick.
It was a disappointing result for UJ, who will need to work on their defence ahead of their next game.
The FNB Player That Rocks was named as Jacobus Johannes Cloete from the visiting team.
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