Tuks lost their first Varsity Cup game of the season on Monday night on a wet field in the UJ Stadium when the University of Johannesburg (UJ) beat them 18-17 in a game that was played in difficult circumstances in more than one way.

Although Tuks dominated most of the statistics in the game, poor ball retention on the wet field and strange decisions from the referee robbed them of a lot of momentum.

The home side put pressure early on and saw themselves get on the scoresheet, when fly half Divan Nel converted a penalty to set the tone early on in the match, 3-0 to UJ.

Adversity, however, hit the home team when winger Godfrey Ramaboea was sent to the sin bin and they were down to 14 men.

Tuks made use of the advantage and clawed back into the match with a penalty from fly half 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 ahead 3-6.

It was a half of the fly halves as Divan Nel converted his second penalty to make it 6-6 at the end of the first forty minutes.

In the second half, the two fly halves kept the scoreboard running with penalties. After six successful chances at goal from Divan Nel and four from Tinus de Beer, it was 18-12 going into the last 10 minutes.

The final phase of the match saw UJ reduced to 14 men again, as flanker Wian Conradie was sent to the sin bin and the home side had it all to do to retain their lead. Tuks’ loose forward Denzel Hill would eventually score a try and made it a nail biting finish but the conversion was missed and UJ won the match by a single point.

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