Defending Varsity Sevens champions Maties started the Camps Bay tournament in fine style with a 45-0 demolition of NMMU.
The Stellenbosch side ran in six tries in a dominant performance, leaving the Madibaz chasing shadows at the Camps Bay Sports Club.
Maties skipper Rob Ahlers scored a try in the powerplay which was taken in the first half, to double up on the available points, and Kyle Leibrandt kicked five conversions to cap a comprehensive win.
The second game saw NWU-Pukke lock horns with UP-Tuks, and it was the Pretoria side that finished strongest to seal a 31-17 win.
The teams went into the half-time break deadlocked at 10-10 but tries from Andre Warner, Jermaine Kleinsmith and Willie Engelbrecht in the second half saw Tuks pull away.
The third match saw local outfit UWC take on Kovsies in a tough, low scoring encounter which saw the Bloemfontein side clinch a dramatic last-gasp 10-5 win.
The Cape side had taken a 5-0 lead into half-time thanks to an early try from Ruan Mostert, but they had their hearts broken in the dying moments of the game.
With the powerplay in effect, Kovsies replacement Tertius Kruger stepped his way through the tiring UWC defence to score a powerplay try that counted ten points under the poles.
The next match saw UJ face Limpopo, and the Johannesburg side proved far too strong for the northern outfit as they cruised to a 55-0 victory.
UJ’s Leon Potgieter ran in five tries of his own, whilst Andries Oosthuizen, Morne Loubscher and Dominic Kroezen also crossed the whitewash.
In the final match of the opening round ‘home’ side UCT were forced to work hard for their 26-7 victory over TUT who failed to take advantage of a few good opportunities.
Richard Stewart got in for two tries, whilst Josh Jacobsen and Ryan Dougmore also got over the line to hand the Ikeys a valuable bonus point.
Varsity Sevens results:
Maties 45-0 NMMU
NWU-Pukke 17-31 UP Tuks
Kovsies 10-5 UWC
UJ 55-0 Limpopo
UCT 26-7 TUT
