The final showdown will be contested by UJ and UP-Tuks as they powered their way to the Cup final at the 2018 Varsity 7s at the Pirates Club in Johannesburg on a beautiful Spring Day.
Wits v WSU (Bowl SF)
The men from the Eastern Cape powered into an early lead as they scored two tries of which one was a power play before Wits touched down to score a converted try to cut the half time deficit to 17-7. The Clever Boys were the first to score as the action resumed on a beautiful day in Johannesburg before Athenkosi Ndzenene dotted down to inflate WSU’s lead to 24-12 with time fast running out.
It was Wits who had the final say as speedster Christopher Sikiwe raced in for unconverted try but it was not enough as WSU held out to claim a hard fought 24-17 win to advance to the Shield final.
UCT v UKZN (Bowl SF)
The men from Cape Town came out firing in the second Shield semi-final as they opened the scoring with a converted try before UKZN cut the deficit to two points with a try of their own after thwarting a UCT attacking play deep within their half.
Pieter Schoonraad was the man to further UCT’s lead just before the break as they went to sheds 12-5 up.
The UCT train continued to rumble forward as they made good use of a powerplay to score double points with Darian Hock going over for the try while they added another five pointer to walk away with a 29-5 win.
Madibaz v UJ (Cup SF)
The men in orange did well to weather the Madibaz storm and turned defence into attack as Odwa Nkunjana burst through the line to run in untouched during a power play which was followed up by Vuyo Shongwe who crossed in the corner from close range to hand UJ a 29-0 advantage.
UJ were just too strong in the first half as Devon Mare snuck in for a converted try which saw them carry a 29-0 lead into the break.
The Madibaz were galvanized into action when the match resumed as they crossed for two tries including one to Luvo Claassen but UJ cancelled their efforts as they crossed for a powerplay try to march into the Cup final with a 38-12 victory.
UWC v UP-Tuks (Cup SF)
UWC bolted out the blocks as Kurt-Lee Arendse injected some pace into their attack as he crossed in the left-hand corner before Dewald Naudé pulled back a try for UP-Tuks which saw the fleet footed winger evade four tackles to score.
The Stripe Generation attacked well as the first half progress with Zandré Kruger dotted down just before the break to hand UP-Tuks the lead.
The men from Pretoria dominated the second half as Mihle Nelani crossed the whitewash twice and Lorenzo Cloete added his name to the scoresheet while they restricted UWC to a solitary try to walk away with a 38-12 win to advance to the Cup final.
CPUT v Kovsies (Plate SF)
The new boys pounced on the first opportunity to score the opening try but Kovsies hit back with a converted try which was followed up by Willem Barnard who crossed the chalk during a powerplay to score double points.
Lucan Kirchner has enjoyed a great run at the 2018 Varsity 7s and he scored yet another try after intercepting within his half to cut the half time deficit to 19-12.
The men from Bloemfontein were in red hot form and used their dominance to great effect as Barnard crossed for his second try of the match before Kirchner intercepted for a second time and had too much pace to score.
The blazing sun beat down on the players but it did not stop them from running hard with Kovsies dotting down once more to secure a vital 31-19 win which saw them advance to the Shield final.
NWU v Maties (Plate SF)
The men in purple showed their intent early on as Wessel Kuhn powered over for the opening try but this only seemed to wake up Maties who responded moments later through Morne Taljaard who converted his effort to level the scores.
The two teams faced each other on Day One and their second meeting was characterized by hard hits and scintillating moments on attack with Maties bringing the curtain down on the first half as Lynn-Jay Hendricks scored in the corner to make it 12-7 in favour of the Maroon Machine.
NWU wasted little time in bouncing back as Berno Engelbrecht scored within seconds of the restart which was followed up by a five pointer to Eddy van Rooyen.
The men from Stellenbosch levelled the scores with two minutes to go and consolidated their lead with Carlisle van Zyl scoring a powerplay try before Eloff Scheepers touched down for a try but it was not enough to affect the score as Maties held out for a 31-24 triumph.
By Dan Lombard
