Kovsies rain on NWU’s parade while UWC remain unbeaten in Round Six of the 2017 Varsity 7s tournament in Durban.
UKZN 5-29 UP-Tuks
The men from KZN hit first with an unconverted try but WJ Strydom hit back just before the break to hand UP-Tuks a two-point lead at half-time.
UP-Tuks took full advantage of the Power Play in the opening exchanges of the second half as PJ Uys powered over while Strydom scored two more tries to bag a hat-trick which saw UP-Tuks win 29-5.
Kovsies 21-0 NWU
It was the men from Bloemfontein that scored first through Vuyani Maqina as they shut out a rampant NWU in the opening minutes of the first half.
Maqina was on hand to score Kovsies’ second just before half-time as NWU struggled to find their feet in their first match of Day Two.
NWU had no answer for Kovsies as Janco Cloete scored their third try to give them a 21-point buffer. Kovsies opted to defend their lead which they did so emphatically and saw out the match with the score unchanged.
UCT 12-12 Madibaz
The offloads during the 2017 edition of the Varsity 7s have been sensational and it was no different on Day Two as two chicken wing passes setup a try for Liam Furniss as UCT took the lead.
UCT’s Ferhard Ahmed made it look like scoring tries comes naturally to him as he raced in untouched just before half-time. Nicholas Zille was sent to the bin shortly after the match resumed for a dangerous tackle and Madibaz capitalised on the one-man advantage with Siphumelele Msutwana running in a converted try.
UCT’s ill-discipline cost them another yellow card for dangerous play as Tristan Mouton was sent off just before the power play but he was joined by the Madibaz Simon Bolze.
Luvo Claassen secured a draw for the Madibaz at the death and UCT had to settle for sharing the spoils.
CUT 14-22 UWC
CUT made UWC pay for their yellow card as Ruan Smit scored in the corner. The try gifted CUT a surge of confidence as they continued to run hard at UWC during the first half.
UWC tried to break through CUT’s wall but the Free Staters did well to keep them out. CUT struck first in the second half as Nicholas Scheepers dotted down for a try but Kurt-Lee Arendse gave the lead to UWC with a power play try.
Arendse rounded off the match as he crossed for his second try to allow UWC to end the match with a 22-14 win.
UJ 14-21 Maties
UJ made it difficult for Maties to get in the match but the Maroon Machine eventually scored a converted try but UJ pulled back a try through Ronald Brown just before the break.
Jacquin Marthinus made UJ pay for a handling error as Maties put the pressure on UJ in the opening minutes of the second half. Martin van Wyk levelled the scores with his converted try but Angus van Niekerk intercepted a wayward pass to hand Maties a 21-14 win.
By Dan Lombard
