Varsity Cup heats up in round two

Rugby that Rocks in round two.

February 14, 2019

Annette van Schalkwyk 4 minutes read

HIGH RANKING: Edwin Jaansen of UJ jumps in the line-out during the Varsity Cup match between FNB UJ and FNB UP-Tuks at UJ Stadium on February 12. Photo:Varsity Sport

FNB UJ schooled as FNB Tuks hand them a rugby lesson

The University of Johannesburg (FNB UJ) succumbed to their second defeat in as many matches when they were outplayed and outclassed by their Gauteng rivals, University of Pretoria (FNB UP-Tuks), in the 2019 Varsity Cup on February 12.

Due to load-shedding, which hit the Johannesburg Stadium on Monday, the Gauteng derby was abandoned and the fixture played out on Tuesday afternoon.

With the match being played behind closed doors, the Orange Army were without their partisan crowd.

The game started at a frantic pace, and it was FNB UJ that got out of the blocks first with sustained pressure. However, the home side couldn’t put any points on the board, and FNB UP-Tuks grew into the game. They were duly rewarded as Wian van Niekerk scored a good FNB UP-Tuks try that came after a series of phases that eventually saw them touch down. Tinus De Beer made no mistake with the penalty and it was 7-0 after 10 minutes.

The home side got their first points of the game with Jeanluc Cilliers scoring a penalty. FNB UJ were knocking hard on the door and it eventually opened as FNB UJ lock Khanya Ncusane scored a well-worked try and fly half Jeanluc Cilliers made no mistake with the conversion on the stroke of half-time.

But the side from Pretoria were not to be undone, and following a ruthless maul from FNB UP-Tuks that saw them gain some ground, forward Frederick Potgieter latched on to a superb pass and scored a try on the cusp of half-time. Tinus De Beer scored the resulting penalty and FNB UP-Tuks went into half-time with a 14-10 lead.

The match was perfectly poised for an FNB UJ comeback, but FNB UP-Tuks were just too composed and powered through against the run of play courtesy of a well-orchestrated try by substitute Johannes Eloff, putting FNB UP-Tuks 21-10 ahead after 50 minutes.

The game went from bad to worse for the home side as FNB UP-Tuks were having a ball with the ball, which eventually saw centre Enrich Cronje score and the team from Pretoria were running away with it at 28-10.

The three-time champions were playing some dazzling rugby and were blowing FNB UJ away in their own backyard. Frederick Potgieter this time was on a brace as he scored and Tinus De Beer made the conversion. The game was getting embarrassingly bad for FNB UJ with the score at 35-10.

The mercurial Tinus De Beer then got a try of his own and the score was slowly moving to a big one, nearing half a century. With just 10 minutes remaining, FNB UJ were trailing 40-10 in a totally dominant second-half performance by their peers. But FNB UJ managed to score a consolation try as fullback Odwa Nkunjana put a little bit of respect on the scoreboard to make it 40-19.

FNB Wits weather the FNB CUT storm

The FNB Varsity Cup swiftly moved to Round Two, with the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) notching up their first win of 2019 by beating Central University of Technology (FNB CUT) 25-15 under wet conditions at the Wits Rugby Stadium in Johannesburg.

The game was also paused midway through the second half, with the threat of lightning on the horizon. However, that could not stop the hosts powering to their first victory of the campaign after suffering defeat at the hands of champions, the FNB Maties, in Stellenbosch in Round One.

The match got underway with both sides having to take unique approaches to their game plans. The rain was bucketing down right from the start, making it really difficult to hold on to the ball. However, it took FNB Wits just 10 minutes to cross the whitewash, after winger Kwanele Ngema received a cross kick on the right-hand side of the pitch, to beat a few FNB CUT defenders on his way to dotting down.

FNB Wits fly half Chris Humphries unfortunately failed to add the extra two points and the Witsies led 5-0. The rest of the half saw the kickers trade kicks, with FNB CUT’s inside centre Heinrich Bitzi slotting two penalties, whilst FNB Wits’ Humphries put away one to see the hosts lead 8-6 at the break.

The second half saw the rain continue to give the surface extra grease, with handling errors causing a headache for the referee, who often had to blow his whistle, breaking the game’s continuity. FNB CUT did hit out first in the half, again through a penalty slotted by Bitzi’s boot, to see the men from Bloemfontein take the lead for the very first time in the match, with the score at 8-9.

FNB Wits hit back very quickly, just under a minute later, through the silky movement of speedster Kapepulo Kasende, who from close range wormed his way past a stern FNB CUT defence to dash over in the corner, taking the score to 13-9. FNB CUT replied in quick succession through the boot of Heinrich Bitzi, who sent through two penalty attempts, giving the men from the Free State the lead once again at 15-13.

Play was then halted for a few moments, with the thunderstorm threatening to kill off the game as the players had to be pulled off the pitch for safety. When play did eventually resume moments later, speedster Kwanele Ngema made it a brace with another unconverted try for the Witsies. The game ended with FNB Wits getting a bonus-point try, but this time it was a penalty try, seeing the hosts run out 25-15 winners, and scoring four tries in the process.

The other results in round two of the Varsity Cup are as follows:

University of the Free State (Shimlas) handed FNB Varsity Cup newcomers University of the Western Cape ( FNB UWC) their second consecutive defeat, 25-47, at the FNB UWC Rugby Stadium in Bellville on Monday.

In what can only be described as a hammering in one of the biggest clashes of the FNB Varsity Cup calendar, the University of Stellenbosch (FNB Maties) travelled to the Green Mile to dismantle the University of Cape Town (FNB UCT) team 66-5.

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