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Cape Town - Two former Western Province schools stars were the heroes for Wits on Monday night as they stunned defending Varsity Cup champions NWU-Pukke in Potchefstroom.
Flyhalf Gianni Lombard and centre Manuel Rass played prominent roles in Western Province’s victorious 2016 Craven Week campaign, and on Monday night they proved their worth in the Varsity Cup as Wits won 22-13 (half-time 7-13).
The SA Schools stars were bought by the Golden Lions last year and their first crack at senior rugby is for their university in the Varsity Cup.
Lombard contributed 12 points, including a try, while Rass came off the bench to score a try as Wits claimed a famous win.
Scorers:
NWU-Pukke
Tries: Louis van der Westhuizen (five-pointer), Jimmy Mpailane (five-pointer)
Penalty: Julian Delicado
Yellow card: Louis van der Westhuizen, Wilmar Arnold
Wits
Tries: Gianni Lombard (five-pointer), Constant Beckerling (five-pointer), Manuel Rass (five-pointer)
Conversions: Gianni Lombard (2)
Penalty: Lombard
Teams:
NWU-Pukke
15 Tapiwa Mafura, 14 Jimmy Mpailane, 13 Elden Schoeman, 12 Jacob Pienaar, 11 Lungelo Gosa, 10 Julian Delicado, 9 Chriswill September, 8 Jeandre Rudolph (captain), 7 Marno Redelinghuys, 6 Wandile Mazibuko, 5 Walt Steenkamp, 4 Loftus Morrison, 3 Morné Strydom, 2 Louis van der Westhuizen, 1 Rudolph van Deventer
Substitutes: 16 Wilmar Arnoldi, 17 Dewald Dekker, 18 Matimu Manganyi, 19 Jan Venter, 20 Marcel Henn, 21 Caleb Louw, 22 Nkululeko Mcuma, 23 Dean Stokes.
Wits
15 Luxolo Ntsepe, 14 Kwanele Ngema, 13 Wandisile Simelane, 12 Brandan Hewitt, 11 Joshua Jarvis, 10 Gianni Lombard, 9 Ruan Cloete, 8 Jethro de Lange, 7 Conor Brockschmidt, 6 Constant Beckerling (captain), 5 Rhyno Herbst, 4 Graham Logan, 3 Luvuyo Pupuma, 2 CJ Conradie, 1 CJ Greeff
Substitutes: 16 Justin Brandon, 17 Brandon Palmer, 18 Pascal Snyman, 19 Michael Renwick, 20 Karl Erasmus, 21 Manuel Rass, 22 AJ van Blerk, 23 Ameer Williams
Varsity Rugby results on Monday night:
Varsity Cup
UP-Tuks 100-0 CUT
NWU-Pukke 13-22 Wits
NMMU Madibaz 28-38 UJ
Shimlas 12-58 Maties
Varsity Shield
UFH 28-16 TUT
WSU 20-15 CPUT
UKZN 5-53 UWC
