The Cape sides made the early running in the Varsity Sevens in Camps Bay on Saturday morning, with UWC handing UP-Tuks their first defeat of the tournament.
The fifth round of fixtures were completed early on Saturday morning at the Camps Bay Sports Club after they were postponed due to extreme wind on Friday evening, and it was action from the word go.
UWC’s victory over Tuks means that Maties move to the top of the table after Round Five, followed by Tuks, Pukke and UJ, with UWC and Kovsies lurking just outside the top four.
The first clash of the day saw old foes Maties and UCT lock horns in what is always a fiercely contested encounter, and this one certainly did not disappoint.
Defending champions Maties ran in two early tries, but the Ikeys hit back well and managed to take a slender 12-10 lead into half-time.
Maties regrouped well after that and took advantage of their powerplay in the second half, with Mike Muller crossing the whitewash twice to hand them a 34-17 victory in the end.
There was more joy for local fans when UWC pulled off a thrilling win against the previously unbeaten Tuks with a late powerplay try by Ruan Mostert.
Tuks had held a 12-7 advantage at half-time, but UWC refused to give in and were rewarded for their hard work with a victory that leaves the tournament wide open.
The other early games on Saturday saw NWU-Pukke steamroll Limpopo 61-0, whilst the NMMU Madibaz cruised to their first victory of the competition against TUT.
Limpopo, who are yet to score a try in Camps Bay this weekend, simply had no answer for the class of Pukke and while they fought hard until the end they were never really in the match.
NMMU had a tough day on Friday, as they faced some of the strongest teams in the tournament, so their comfortable 45-0 victory over TUT will give them plenty of confidence going forward.
Varsity Sevens results:
Kovsies 22-17 UJ
Maties 34-17 UCT
Pukke 61-0 Limpopo
Tuks 19-24 UWC
NMMU 45-0 TUT
