Tuks win fifth Young Guns title
UP-Tuks Young Guns clinched their fifth Varsity Cup Young Guns title in six attempts when they held off a determined Junior Maties outfit to beat the Stellenbosch Under-20 team 37-42 in what can only be described as a pulsating North-South final.
The Tuks Young Guns managed to retain their Varsity Cup Young Guns title, seeing off a strong Junior Maties team comeback to win 42-37 in Cape Town earlier this week.
After a cagey start to the game, it was Tuks Young Guns who found an early lead through winger Zandre Kruger. The winger found space down the line after a mistimed pass fell fortuitously in his path and he ran the ball over to score.
Maties were unfortunate to see themselves a man down early in the game after Daniel Froneman was sent to the sin bin for an infringement on an opponent.
The numerical disadvantage did not deter the men from Stellenbosch who found a quick response just five minutes after going a man down. Troy Payne capped off a great move as he crossed over the whitewash to give Maties an 8-5 lead going into the first strategy break.
Immediately after the break Tuks found a breakthrough when Ettiene Janeke crossed the try line. The try was converted to restore the lead for the Pretorians.
Halfway through the first half it promised to be a high scoring affair as both teams were looking sharp in attack. Maties were not to be outdone by their counterparts and were matching them pound for pound. Scrum half Matt Dahl scored for the boys from Stellenbosch in the 28th minute to put his side ahead again.
Hooker Shane Farmer also got into the thick of things with a try of his own that saw Maties take a 21-13 lead.
However, Tuks found energy in the final minute of the first half and Earl Douwrie restored parity in Cape Town as his try took the scores to 21-21 at the half-time break.
The boys from Pretoria were quick off the starting blocks in the second half and winger Litha Nkula added his name to the score sheet with a try that took his team’s lead to 26-21.
Then followed a penalty try after great pressure from Tuks made the Maties defence crumble. Tuks extend their lead to 34 – 21.
At that stage it looked as though Tuks were running away with the contest but their opponents were not taking it lying down. Winger Brad Kiewitz scored a try and with the conversion of Pierre du Toit the score was reduced to 29-34.
However, every time Maties got close, Tuks kept pulling away from them and they did so again after left wing Litha Nkula got his second try of the game to propel his side to a 42-29 lead after 56 minutes.
A match is never over until the final whistle and that seemed like the spirit the Stellenbosch boys had. JP Duvenhage pulled one back to bring for Maties to narrow the scores down to 37-42. That try made for a nervous last couple of minutes as a converted try would have given Maties the lead, but Tuks managed to hold off the comeback and were deservedly crowned 2017 Young Guns champions.
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