Maties continued their winning ways in Round Two of the 2017 Varsity 7s tournament while NWU beat UCT at the death and UKZN remain winless.

UP-Tuks 12-24 Maties
The two teams tested each other in the opening exchanges of the match but it was Maties who drew first blood as Angus van Niekerk scored for the Maroon Machine. UP-Tuks made significant inroads during the first half but it was Van Niekerk who had the final say before the break as he ran in his second try which he converted for a 12 nil lead.

James Murphy continued Maties’ impressive run as they ran in another try soon after the restart but WJ Strydom took advantage of the Power Play and cut the deficit to five points. Maties secured their four-try bonus point with a minute to go as Callie Nel touched down and converted his efforts to hand Maties a valuable 24-12 win over UP-Tuks.

UKZN 7-38 Kovsies
Kovsies made their intentions known early on as Vuyani Maqina scored within a minute of play. UKZN hit back immediately as Thobekani Buthelezi pulled back a converted try. Kovsies stamped their authority before halftime as they scored two converted tries including a second to Maqina to hand the Free Staters a healthy 21-7 lead at half-time.

UKZN struggled to contain the attacking prowess of Kovsies as Willem Barnard crossed for a try in the power play while Henco Posthumus intercepted moments later to score as Kovsies shut out UKZN with a 38-7 bonus point win.

UCT 10-12 NWU
UCT had to deal with losing a man to foul play in the 16th second but did well to score a try courtesy of Justin Heunis.

NWU just could not get going in the first half as they succumbed to unforced error after unforced error. UCT failed to capitalize on their dominance though and had to settle for a 5 nil lead at the break.

Imraan Andrews made sure to dot down in the opening exchanges of the second half as he was denied a try in the first half as UCT sniffed a win against NWU.

Gerhard Meyer was on hand to give NWU a glimmer of hope with minutes left on the clock as he crossed the whitewash and it proved to be the turning point for NWU as Caleb Louw scored a converted try to snatch the lead and a 12-10 victory.

CUT 12-26 Madibaz
A Power Play was called soon after the first kick-off but neither team could make use of it. Madibaz Siphumelele Msutwana showed great strength to score the opening try. Simon Bolze was the beneficiary of some solid phases of attack by the Madibaz as they stretched CUT’s defence which allowed Bolze to score a converted try. 

Msutwana grabbed his second try with time fast running out to allow the Madibaz to enter half-time with a solid 19-0 lead. CUT hit back through Denver Klue when the match resumed but Madibaz secured their bonus point through Tristan Fourie as he evaded three tackles to scored a converted try.

CUT had the final say of the match as Klue scored his brace which was converted but it was not enough as the Madibaz won 26-12.

UJ 12-19 UWC
UJ started the match on the back foot as their kick-off failed to travel the required 10 metres. UJ pushed hard for their opening try but UWC showed their defensive mettle to deny the men from Johannesburg.

Shane Petersen made easy work of his try as he crossed the line just before the break to hand UWC a seven-point lead at half-time. UJ took the lead early on in the second half as James Campbell scored a fantastic converted try during the power play.

Darian Hock showed his blistering pace as he plucked a loose pass to run in untouched while the conversion handed the lead back to UWC. UWC sealed their win over UJ as Deon Davids gathered a deft grubber to touch down to allow the 2016 losing finalists to claim a hard fought 19-12 

By Dan Lombard