Defending champions Maties won all of their matches on Saturday to top the Varsity Sevens log heading into the final round before the play-offs.
The Stellenbosch side saw off the challenge of UWC in a thrilling Cape derby that had the crowd in Camps Bay on the edge of their seats.
UWC pushed them all the way, but Maties did enough to hold on for a tense 12-5 victory, which was UWC’s only loss of the day after seeing off UP-Tuks, NWU-Pukke and Limpopo.
Tuks bounced back from their loss to Maties earlier in the day by beating the NMMU Madibaz 26-12 to secure second place on the standings.
The teams had been deadlocked at 12-12 at half-time, but Tuks turned on the class in the second half as a double from Marcel Steyn-Scholtz saw them claim a vital bonus-point victory.
Kovsies were unbeaten on Saturday, and ended the day in emphatic style with an 81-0 demolition of Limpopo, which is the biggest win of the weekend so far.
That result saw the Bloemfontein side move up to third position on the log, just ahead of UJ on points difference.
UJ finished off with a 24-10 victory over UCT which puts them just one log point ahead of UWC who are looking to challenge for a place in the Cup competition on Sunday.
The final match of the day saw Pukke tear into TUT on their way to a convincing 50-0 victory. The Potchefstroom side ended the day in sixth place, but they are still very much in the running for a spot in the top four.
The league phase of the competition will be concluded on Sunday morning, with the final round kicking off at 11.20.
Thereafter the competition will be split into the Cup and Plate with the top four contesting the Cup, the next four playing for the Plate and the last two teams battling it out for the Wooden Spoon.
Varsity Sevens results:
NMMU 12-26 Tuks
UJ 24-10 UCT
Maties 12-5 UWC
Kovsies 81-0 Limpopo
Pukke 50-0 TUT
