The FNB Varsity Cup has commenced on February 3 in all earnest and will continue for the next few months on Monday evenings.
A rock solid first-half performance led to FNB Wits outclassing a rather lacklustre and error-prone FNB UWC side 38-10 in Bellville on Monday in the opening round of the Varsity Cup.
The half-time score was UWC 10, Wits 21.
Two quick tries in the opening 20 minutes led to the visitors jumping to a 14-3 lead, which included tries from Travis Gordon and Justin Brandon. Kurt Webster was in fine form off the tee, the fly half converted both opening tries.
Former UWC pivot Aidynn Cupido was in fine form for his new team, playing in inside centre position. He made telling runs, breaking the advantage line regularly.
An error-ridden passage of play from UWC allowed the visitors to remain ahead even in times when the home side were devastating on attack.
Wits captain Constant Beckerling went over for the visiting team’s third try and established a 21-10 half-time lead.
Not surprising that Cupido was at the centre (pun intended) of the Wits attacking plan, the midfielder led the visiting side’s attack and was influential in every single Wits try.
Despite not being able to break the last line of defence, Wits were relentless on attack and opted for the same attacking pattern to which UWC stepped up brilliantly.
Brandon scored his second try of the match following a consistent passage of play which saw Wits seal the game with just over 10 minutes left in the match.
Webster missed the conversion, the score read Wits 26, UWC 10.
Wits added insult to injury when they added two late tries via replacement front Dandré Degenaar and right winger Kwanele Ngema.
Webster converted the Ngema try. The final score for the opening match in Bellville was 38-10 to Wits.
The other match on Monday saw FNB UJ being defeated at home after FNB UCT-Ikeys beat them 25-16 at the UJ Stadium.
UCT-Ikeys started off strong when Liam Greenhalgh scored a try in the fourth minute, which was successfully converted by James Tedder.
The first half was a physical battle in the scrum area, as both teams created rucks preventing the opposition from scoring, until UJ found a gap and equalised from a Shaun Williams try, successfully converted by Pieter Steenkamp.
UCT-Ikeys cracked the UJ backs as Divan Henning received a yellow card for an infringement, allowing the visitors to extend their lead.
The rest of the second half seemed to be the Tedder show as he continued to score to make sure that his side walks out with the victory.
UJ full back Shaun Williams was the difference for the host team, and was awarded the Steers Kinging Moment Award after a wonderful performance to cheer up the fans, but that did not stop the visiting team from extending the lead, as Siba Mzanywa wrapped up the show with a wonderful try to end the game.
In the other matches the results were as follows:
FNB UP-Tuks started their 2020 Varsity Cup campaign on a winning note following their hard-fought 42-40 victory against FNB NWU at Tuks Rugby Stadium.
A crowd of 15 800 fans saw the FNB Maties demolish the visiting FNB Shimlas 60-16 to indicate it would take something special to beat the men in maroon during the 2020 FNB Varsity Cup.
