The Ikey Tigers won their first match of the 2015 Varsity Cup season on Monday night (February 23), but fellow Cape side, the Maties, went down heavily to UP-Tuks in Pretoria.
Tuks scored a 53-8 win over the Maties to retain their place at the top of the standings, leaving them one log point ahead of FNB UFS-Shimlas who are the only other unbeaten side left in the competition after Round Three.
The Ikeys, meanwhile, recorded a big 40-13 win over the Madibaz at the Green Mile to open their 2015 account after a Round One draw (with the Maties) and a Round Two defeat to Tuks.
In other action, UFS-Shimlas ran riot in the first-ever Varsity Cup Bloemfontein derby, handing local rivals FNB CUT a big 57-0 defeat in terrible conditions at the CUT Rugby Stadium and FNB UJ moved past FNB NWU-Pukke into third place after earning a hard-fought 10-8 win against the selfsame Pukke in Johannesburg.
It was the first defeat of the season for NWU-Pukke, who fought back well but had to be content with a bonus point against UJ, who showed plenty of heart to hang on for the win under pressure and bounce back from defeat to UFS-Shimlas at home last week.
In Bloemfontein the only thing standing in UFS-Shimlas’ way was the inclement weather, with play briefly suspended at the start of the second half due to a thunderstorm, but even that could not stop them from running in nine tries against their cross-town rivals CUT.
Conditions also played a big role in Cape Town, with the notorious wind on the Green Mile making things tricky in the coastal clash between UCT and NMMU, but the Ikeys were in a different class on the night – outscoring the Madibaz by five tries to two in the end.
That leaves the defending champions UCT in fifth position, just one log point behind NWU-Pukke whose bonus point in Johannesburg was enough to see them stay in the top four with both teams picking up a win, a draw and a loss from their first three games.
In the final match of the night UP-Tuks handed Maties their first defeat of the season following consecutive draws against UCT and NWU-Pukke, leaving the Stellenbosch side down in seventh place behind NMMU on points difference.
In the Varsity Shield, FNB UWC fought back bravely to salvage a thrilling 37-37 draw with the unbeaten FNB Wits, and FNB UKZN proved too strong for FNB Fort Hare, picking up a 21-13 win in Alice.
The first round of the FNB Varsity Young Guns competition saw UFS notch a big 44-8 win against CUT, while in Pretoria two-time champions UP-Tuks beat the UCT Trojans 45-20 and in Johannesburg NWU-Pukke registered a 37-29 win against UJ.
The Steinhoff Koshuisrugby Championship also got underway on Monday, with Steinhoff Vishuis from UFS beating Bleomfontein rivals Steinhoff Tigers 36-12, Steinhoff Bastion from UJ earning a 12-7 win against Steinhoff Cobras on the Green Mile and Steinhoff Mopanie picking up a valuable 44-34 win against Steinhoff Medies in Pretoria.
