A dramatic final round of Varsity Sevens action in Camps Bay saw UJ and Kovsies set up Cup semifinals against Maties and UP-Tuks.
The final standings went right down to the last match, keeping the crowd in Camps Bay on the edge of their seats throughout.
In the end defending champions Maties topped the table, having lost just one match so far this weekend, and they will face UJ in their Cup semifinal.
The second semifinal will see Tuks lock horns with Kovsies who secured thir position on the log with a victory over TUT in the final match of the league phase of the competition.
UWC fell just short of claiming a vital bonus point that would have seen them through and will face NMMU in their Plate semifinal, whilst Pukke also had their hearts broken at the final hurdle and will take on UCT in their Plate semifinal.
In the opening match of the final round UP-Tuks saw off the challenge of UCT, with their bonus-point 24-14 victory temporarily moving them to the top of the standings.
The Pretoria side scored three tries in the first half but also conceded two to hold a slender 17-14 lead at half-time.
Max Carlitz, Karl Schuld an Andre Warner crossed for Tuks, but UCT responded with tries from stalwarts Brad Bosman and Richard Stewart.
The second half was a tense affair, but Tuks wrapped up the bonus point with a late try from Jacques Rossouw.
UWC finished the league phase of the tournament with a 19-12 victory over the NMMU Madibaz, but were unable to get the bonus point which would have sent them into the Cup play-offs.
A hat-trick from the prolific Quade Langeveldt saw the Cape side home, but NMMU refused to give in and were rewared when a late try from Jaco Bernardo earned them a bonus point.
Maties sealed top spot on the standings with a handsome 60-0 victory over Limpopo wich saw them run in 10 tries.
Limpopo have shown real improvement this weekend and even managed to threaten the Maties tryline at times, but their focus will now shift to their Wooden Spoon play-off with TUT.
The pivotal match in the final round saw UJ and Pukke go head-to-head, and there was little separating the teams as they scored a try each in a tense first half.
It was more of the same in the second half, as they traded tries to lock it up at 12-12. There was more late drama as both teams scored powerplay tries to end deadlocked at 24-24.
That result saw the end of Pukke’s hopes of making the Cup semifinals, and set up a Plate semifinal with UCT, whilst UJ did just enough to sneak into the top four.
In the final match of the round robin phase of the tournament Kovsies eased past TUT to move into third position and a mouth-watering semifinal clash with Tuks.
TUT ended in ninth place, with their only victory coming against Limpopo who they will face in the Wooden Spoon play-off.
Varsity Sevens results:
UP-Tuks 24-14 UCT
NMMU 12-19 UWC
Maties 60-0 Limpopo
NWU-Pukke 24-24 UJ
Kovsies 40-5 TUT
Varsity Sevens Cup semifinals:
Maties v UJ 14.40
UP-Tuks v Kovsies 15.00
Varsity Sevens Plate semifinals:
UWC v NMMU 14.00
UCT v Pukke 14.20
Wooden Spoon play-off:
TUT v Limpopo 15.20
