Cape Town - One of the slogans of the Varsity Cup is “Rugby That Rocks”, but that was certainly not the case on Monday between the UCT Ikey Tigers and Shimlas.
Defending champions Shimlas from the University of Free State will be the happier of the two sides after claiming a 23-17 victory on a typically windy evening at the Green Mile in Rondebosch.
But the rugby dished up was desperately disappointing as a combination of the howling wind and the fact that it was the season-opener leading to multiple handling errors from both sides.
Shimlas had the dominant pack and enjoyed a considerable amount of front-foot ball as the likes of props Teunis Nieuwoudt and Chase Morison had the upperhand in the scrums, while the loose trio of Albertus Erasmus, captain Neil Claassen and Refuoe Rampeta won the breakdown battle and carried the ball strongly into contact.
Openside flank Rampeta was the Man of the Match for his high work-rate and turnovers on the ground as his speed and tenacity troubled the Ikey Tigers throughout.
The Bloemfontein side appeared to be fitter and stronger in every respect, and new coach and former Springbok flank Hendro Scholtz would’ve been pleased with the organisation and execution from his pack of forwards.
But the same couldn’t be said of the backs, with flyhalf Pieter-Steyn de Wet kicking too much ball away, and many of his teammates were also guilty of overusing the grubber kick into the wind in the first half.
Centres Arthur Williams and Stephan Janse van Rensburg also didn’t look for gaps and tried to steamroller the opposition, but the UCT defence held firm most of the time. The “crash-ball” tactic did pay off once in the first half for the visitors, though, as Williams burst through the tackle of the much smaller Ikeys flyhalf Rob Anderson off a five-metre scrum to open the scoring.
But the rugby was of such a low quality that following the first touchdown after eight minutes, the next points were only scored in the second half as up to 17 knock-ons at one stage turned the game into a stop-start affair.
UCT coach and ex-Springbok hooker Hanyani Shimange must’ve had harsh words for his team at the break as the Ikeys seemed to play with great purpose after halftime, with powerful number eight and captain Guy Alexander, tighthead prop Michael Kumburai and outside centre Lihleli Xoli getting over the advantage line.
The try came six minutes into the second half for UCT when fullback Khanyo Ngcukana – who had had one or two exciting runs up to that point – produced a cool finish from Alexander’s strong surge off the back of a retreating scrum inside the Shimlas 22 to bring the home side within two points of the lead after Anderson missed the conversion.
But Scholtz must’ve also have read the riot act to his backline at halftime as the Shimlas held on to the ball more often in the second half, and they placed the Ikeys defence under tremendous pressure.
UCT’s dam wall eventually broke when big Shimlas number eight Nardus Williams crashed over after a massive push at a five-metre scrum by the pack, which put the visitors 12-5 ahead.
They secured the victory a few minutes later with the only nine-point try of the game – meaning that the move started inside Shimlas’ half – when right wing Mosolwa Mafuma dummied one way and step to the other to cut the line and dot down under the posts.
There were some nervy moments right at the end after UCT replacement wing Nathan Nel scored a seven-point try – the move started between the halfway line and Shimlas’ 22-metre line – and replacement flyhalf Hilio de Abreu slotted the conversion and a late penalty to bring the home side within six points.
But a promising attack that lasted a few phases broke down when UCT centre Lategan – and you guessed it –knocked the ball on to end the game.
* Meanwhile in Stellenbosch on Monday, Maties made a perfect start to their 2016 Varsity Cup campaign under new coach Hawies Fourie with a 40-0 hammering of the Central University of Technology (CUT) from Bloemfontein.
Points-Scorers(number in brackets next to try-scorer indicates points for that try)
UCT – Tries: Khanyo Ngcukana (5), Nathan Nel (7). Conversion: Hilio de Abreu. Penalty: De Abreu.
Shimlas – Tries: Arthur Williams (5), Nardus Erasmus (5), Mosolwa Mafuma (9). Conversions: Stephan Janse van Rensburg (2).
Monday’s Results
UCT 17 Shimlas 23, Maties 40 CUT 0, UJ 19 NMMU 12, Tuks 15 Pukke 38.