Despite the cool conditions at Villager FC early on Saturday, there was plenty of hot Varsity Sevens rugby, with three of the first five games complete shut-outs.
NWU-Pukke, UJ and UWC all won their games comfortably without conceding a point, while there were also early victories for UCT who had to come from behind to beat WSU and defending champions Maties who edged Kovsies in a replay of last year’s final.
NWU-Pukke scored four unanswered tries against NMMU in the opening game to lay down a strong marker, and UJ did the same in their Gauteng showdown with UP-Tuks who went down 17-0.
UWC also got their campaign off to a flying start with a convincing victory over Fort Hare, but the next two matches were far more competitive with UCT forced to work hard for their 39-21 win against WSU and Maties holding on for a 19-14 win against Kovsies.
Walter Sisulu Univesity made a storming start to their match against local side UCT, scoring two early tries to take control of the game. The Ikeys finally opened their account just before half-time to leave them trailing 14-5 at the break.
The second half saw the two sides trade tries in a competitive clash, but UCT struck the decisive blow when a powerplay try gave them the lead from the first time in the match and there was no stopping them from there.
Maties had all the early possession against Kovsies but it was Free State side who scored first through a runanawy try. The Maroon Machine came roaring back and levelled things up at 14-14 at half-time before scoring the only points of the second half with a try from Craig Barry to clinch victory.
Varsity Sevens results:
NWU-Pukke 31-0 NMMU
UJ 21-0 UP-Tuks
UWC 32-0 UFH
WSU 21-46 UCT
Maties 19-14 Kovsies
