Defending champions Maties and UJ maintained their perfect start to Varsity Sevens after three rounds of action at Villager FC in Cape Town.
Maties left it late to beat NWU-Pukke in the final movement of their clash, while UJ were too strong for NMMU who suffered their third straight defeat.
There were also wins for Kovsies, UWC and WSU, leaving Fort Hare and the Madibaz as the only teams without wins after three rounds.
Kovsies saw off the threat of UP-Tuks, UWC prevailed in their Cape derby against UCT and WSU came out on top in their Eastern Cape showdown with Fort Hare.
UJ 31-7 NMMU
UJ conceded their first try of the tournament, but were still too strong for the Madibaz as they cantered to a 31-7 victory.
They raced out to a 24-7 lead at the half-time break and scored the only try of the second half to make it three wins from threee games, leaving NMMU still searching for their first win.
Kovsies 36-7 UP-Tuks
Kovsies made the perfect start to their clash with UP-Tuks, calling the powerplay and scoring under the poles to take an early 12-0 lead.
They struck again with a well-worked try in the corner just before the break to take a healthy 17-0 advantage into half-time.
The one-way traffic continued in the second half, and although UP-Tuks eventually managed to find their way over the tryline it was little more than a consolation as Kovsies closed out a big win.
Maties 17-5 NWU-Pukke
NWU-Pukke spent the opening exchanges camped in Maties territory, but they could not take advantage as the Stellenbosch team’s defence held firm under pressure.
Instead it would be Maties to score first as they worked the ball all the way from their 22 to score in the corner thanks to some slick interplay.
Maties took a slender 5-0 lead into the break but found themselves on the back foot once again at the start of the second half, and NWU-Pukke were able to draw level with a try of their own in the corner to set up a tense final three minutes.
NWU-Pukke were reduced to six men in the final stages for a dangerous tackle and Maties were able to take advantage with Louis Jordaan scoring late in extra time to wrap up the win in dramatic style.
UWC 29-7 UCT
UWC made a strong start against their Cape rivals, seizing the initiative with two early tries which left UCT chasing the game from the outset.
Things got even tougher for the Ikeys when they were cut down to six players through a yellow card for an incident off the ball and they went into the break trailing 12-0.
The second half saw UWC continue their dominance, scoring two more tries before they too were shown a yellow card for repeated infringements.
The Ikeys hit back with a try, but UWC responded immediately by charging the length of the field to put the finishing touch on a 29-7 win.
WSU 37-19 UFH
Walter Sisulu struck early from a quick tap following a penalty at the breakdown on the halfway line, and then showed their defensive strength to hold out under pressure as Fort Hare threw everything at them.
WSU doubled their lead with a long-range try, but Fort Hare hit back immediately, with some powerful running out wide resulting in their first try.
Another runaway try just before the break saw WSU take a 15-7 lead into half-time, and they continued their dominance by outscoring Fort Hare by three tries to two in an entertaining second half.
