Cape Town - Stellenbosch University (Maties) came from behind at a windy Danie Craven Stadium in Stellenbosch to beat the University of Johannesburg (UJ) 29-8 in the opening Varsity Cup clash of 2013 on Monday.
Although they trailed 8-0 at half-time, Maties scored four unanswered tries in the second half to get their Varsity Cup campaign off to a solid start with a bonus-point win against the powerful Johannesburg outfit.
The visitors were playing with the wind at their backs in the first half, and they took advantage by camping deep in Maties territory.
VIDEO: Maties v UJ, highlights
However, Maties managed to soak up the early pressure, and with both teams battling to find continuity in the tough conditions the match was still scoreless at the first strategy break.
UJ continued to hammer away at the staunch Maties defence and it finally paid off when hooker AJ le Roux powered his way over from short range for the opening try.
Fullback Kobus de Kock curled the conversion over, and UJ took a valuable 8-0 lead into half-time.
The home side hit back early in the second half when the ball was sent wide from an attacking scrum, and the elusive Clearance Khumalo was on hand to race over for the try which was converted by flyhalf JH Potgieter to level the scores at 8-8.
Maties took the lead just after the second strategy break when big lock Reniel Hugo crashed over for a try following some fluent build-up play, and the conversion from Potgieter left UJ trailing 16-8.
They kept the pressure on and after bashing away at the UJ tryline for some time the ball was worked out to left wing JP Lewis who dived over in the corner for the try which stretched their lead to 21-8.
The last ten minutes saw Maties go all-out as they hunted for a bonus point in front of the packed crowd, and they did not have to wait long as Lewis latched on to a great offload from centre Mark Hodgskiss in the UJ 22 to skip over for his second try which wrapped up the 29-8 victory.
Scorers:
Maties:
Tries: Khumalo, Hugo, Lewis 2
Conversions: Potgieter 2, Grant
UJ:
Try: Le Roux
Conversion: De Kock
Teams:
Maties: 15 Ryan Nell, 14 Clearance Khumalo, 13 Mark Hodgskiss, 12 Louis Jordaan, 11 JP Lewis, 10 JH Potgieter, 9 James Alexander, 8 Reuben Johannes, 7 Jurg Streicher, 6 Helmut Lehmann (captain), 5 Reniel Hugo, 4 Wilhelm van der Sluys, 3 Brandon Pitzer, 2 Neethling Gericke, 1 Alistair Vermaak.
Substitutes: 16 Charl de Villiers, 17 Niel Oelofse, 18 Jan de Klerk, 19 Lungelo Chonco, 20 Jean Nel, 21 Dean Grant, 22 Craig Barry, 23 Stephan Hamman.
UJ: 15 Kobus de Kock, 14 Tommy Damba, 13 Bradley Moolman, 12 Divan van Zyl, 11 Chrysander Botha, 10 Guy Cronje, 9 Jacques Pretorius, 8 RJ Liebenberg, 7 Justin Wheeler (captain), 6 Steph de Witt, 5 David Antonites, 4 Shane Kirkwood, 3 Ewald van der Westhuizen, 2 AJ le Roux, 1 Wiseman Kamanga.
Substitutes: 16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Wessel du Rand, 18 Fabian Booysen, 19 Kobus Porter, 20 Lukas van Zyl, 21 Luan Steenkamp, 22 Lincoln Koopman, 23 Njabulo Mkize.
Referee: Matt Kemp
Although they trailed 8-0 at half-time, Maties scored four unanswered tries in the second half to get their Varsity Cup campaign off to a solid start with a bonus-point win against the powerful Johannesburg outfit.
The visitors were playing with the wind at their backs in the first half, and they took advantage by camping deep in Maties territory.
VIDEO: Maties v UJ, highlights
However, Maties managed to soak up the early pressure, and with both teams battling to find continuity in the tough conditions the match was still scoreless at the first strategy break.
UJ continued to hammer away at the staunch Maties defence and it finally paid off when hooker AJ le Roux powered his way over from short range for the opening try.
Fullback Kobus de Kock curled the conversion over, and UJ took a valuable 8-0 lead into half-time.
The home side hit back early in the second half when the ball was sent wide from an attacking scrum, and the elusive Clearance Khumalo was on hand to race over for the try which was converted by flyhalf JH Potgieter to level the scores at 8-8.
Maties took the lead just after the second strategy break when big lock Reniel Hugo crashed over for a try following some fluent build-up play, and the conversion from Potgieter left UJ trailing 16-8.
They kept the pressure on and after bashing away at the UJ tryline for some time the ball was worked out to left wing JP Lewis who dived over in the corner for the try which stretched their lead to 21-8.
The last ten minutes saw Maties go all-out as they hunted for a bonus point in front of the packed crowd, and they did not have to wait long as Lewis latched on to a great offload from centre Mark Hodgskiss in the UJ 22 to skip over for his second try which wrapped up the 29-8 victory.
Scorers:
Maties:
Tries: Khumalo, Hugo, Lewis 2
Conversions: Potgieter 2, Grant
UJ:
Try: Le Roux
Conversion: De Kock
Teams:
Maties: 15 Ryan Nell, 14 Clearance Khumalo, 13 Mark Hodgskiss, 12 Louis Jordaan, 11 JP Lewis, 10 JH Potgieter, 9 James Alexander, 8 Reuben Johannes, 7 Jurg Streicher, 6 Helmut Lehmann (captain), 5 Reniel Hugo, 4 Wilhelm van der Sluys, 3 Brandon Pitzer, 2 Neethling Gericke, 1 Alistair Vermaak.
Substitutes: 16 Charl de Villiers, 17 Niel Oelofse, 18 Jan de Klerk, 19 Lungelo Chonco, 20 Jean Nel, 21 Dean Grant, 22 Craig Barry, 23 Stephan Hamman.
UJ: 15 Kobus de Kock, 14 Tommy Damba, 13 Bradley Moolman, 12 Divan van Zyl, 11 Chrysander Botha, 10 Guy Cronje, 9 Jacques Pretorius, 8 RJ Liebenberg, 7 Justin Wheeler (captain), 6 Steph de Witt, 5 David Antonites, 4 Shane Kirkwood, 3 Ewald van der Westhuizen, 2 AJ le Roux, 1 Wiseman Kamanga.
Substitutes: 16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Wessel du Rand, 18 Fabian Booysen, 19 Kobus Porter, 20 Lukas van Zyl, 21 Luan Steenkamp, 22 Lincoln Koopman, 23 Njabulo Mkize.
Referee: Matt Kemp