NWU make it five from five but UWC are held by UP-Tuks in the final round of matches on Day One of the 2017 Varsity 7s tournament in Durban.
CUT 17-22 UCT
UCT got out the blocks early in the first half as Reitumetse Mogoje crossed the whitewash but CUT’s playmaker Olwethu Ndakisa returned the favour moments later. UCT’s Suwilanji Chibale grabbed the lead as he rolled out of a tackle in midair to allow the men from Cape Town a 12-5 half-time lead.
CUT have slowly grown in confidence throughout Day One with the Central University of Technology backing themselves as the match resumed. Jean Smal handed CUT the lead before Chibale took advantage of the power play to score.
CUT pulled back another try courtesy of Dian Dry but it was not enough to prevent UCT from winning 22-17.
UJ 19-19 Kovsies
The blue wave of Kovsies proved too much for UJ as they scored two quick converted tries. With the wind at their backs and their tails up, Kovsies continued to push hard but Ronald Brown scored a well worked try for UJ.
Brown has proved his weight in gold and a sensational break by the flier opened up the space needed by Devon Mare to score a converted try to level the scores at the break. Marco Mason showed great support as he received the final pass to score Kovsies’ third try as they threw everything at UJ but they could not bury them as UJ hit back through Martin van Wyk.
In the end, there was nothing separating the teams and they had to settle for a 19-19 draw.
Maties 7-19 NWU
It may have taken Maties almost the whole of the first half but their patience paid off as Callie Nel crossed the whitewash but NWU levelled the scores just before the break.
NWU kept their unbeaten status in check as they scored shortly after the match resumed and they followed this up with a try to Diederik Oberholzer which saw NWU remain unbeaten on Day One, winning 19-7.
Madibaz 28-22 UKZN
UKZN had a dream start to their final match of Day One as they scored a try during the Power Play but Josiah Twum-Bofoa cut into the deficit moments later as the Madibaz started to turn the screws on their opponents.
Luvo Claassen blitzed his way through the defence of UKZN to allow NMU to grab the lead but this was overturned by UKZN who scored a converted try. The lead exchanged hands again as Nathan Kemp scored a converted try but UKZN retook the lead with two minutes left on the clock.
It was the Madibaz who had the last laugh as Tristan Fourie scored their fourth try for a well-deserved 28-22 win.
UWC 12-12 UP-Tuks
UWC’s captain and talisman Verno Treu showed his sevens pedigree as he chased down a kick from within his own half to score the opening try.
As sharp as UWC looked, UP-Tuks looked the exact opposite as they just could not find their feet in the opening minutes of the first half. They did manage an unconverted try to make it a two-point ball game.
Ciaran Dayaram gave UP-Tuks the lead with four minutes to go while WJ Strydom knocked over the conversion attempt. The status quo did not last long as Darian Hock pinned his ears back to score in the corner.
The score remained unchanged which saw UP-Tuks putting a dent in UWC’s parade as they settled for a 12-12 draw.
By Dan Lombard
