The FNB Maties secure back to back trophies in the Varsity Cup
Maties celebrate their 2019 Varsity Cup championship. PHOTO: Luke Thorrold
For the second consecutive year running, Maties were crowned Varsity Cup champions at the illustrious Danie Craven Stadium on Monday night after beating rivals Tuks, 34-12.
Maties, who had gone unbeaten all season, came out guns blazing against the UP-Tuks who seemed unsettled and overwhelmed by the 20 000-sea-of-maroon spectators cheering on the home side.
The men from Stellenbosch opened their account in the first five minutes, outmuscling the Tuks defence. Johann van Niekerk slammed over the line to clinch the games opener, putting Maties 5-0 to the good.
In what was a stop-start, broken display of errors, the next phase of the championship match was dominated by the visitors. A resilient and well organized Maties backline prevented the men from Gauteng to reach the home side’s try line.
Maties used a turnover ball to good effect when a cross kick from the player of the tournament, Chris Smit, floated into the safe hands of Munier Hartzenberg, who stepped inside his man to dive over the try line, prompting the crowd into a frenzy. Jordan Chait made no mistake to add the extras, leaving Maties with a 12 point lead at the break.
Edwill van der Merwe, Maties winger. PHOTO: Luke Thorrold.
Against the run of play, Maties number 6, Van Niekerk, bulldozed his way to claim a brace, with the conversion making it 19 points to Tuks’ zero. The visitors, starting to worry, threw in some replacements who gave them more options going forward and gained extended possession inside the Maties’ 22.
Finally, in the 54th minute, benefiting from a tenacious offensive display, Tuks’ wing, Dewald Naude, got his side onto the scoresheet. Naude found the flag in the other corner just minutes later, closing the gap to a reachable 9 points.
However, just moments after gaining some momentum, in a lapse of concentration, full back Vaughen Isaacs put his side further on the back-foot when he was sent off in the 65th minute after his high tackle was deemed worthy of a red card.
Tuks, who had to play the rest of the game with 14 men, did not look like competing when they gave away a sloppy penalty in the 66th, making the tie unreachable for the men in white.
The final nail into the coffin was emphatically hammered down when Hartzernberg collected the ball out wide, chipped into space and dashed passed his defender with blistering pace to seal what was a very convincing display by the five-time Varsity Cup champions.
With ten minutes to go, an accurate Chait added an extra two for good measure bringing the totals to 34-12 in favour of the Maroon Machine.
After a phenomenal season Maties captain Chris Massyn said: “We’ve been working hard since last year and all we’ve tried to do, is to be consistent, and it’s paid off.”
Reinhardt Fortuin, Maties Full-back. PHOTO: Luke Thorrold.