Maties take the FNB Varsity Cup

The tension was felt by players and fans alike, with a handful of UCT fans being drowned out by the swarms of Maties fanatics at the Danie Craven Stadium.

It was a nervy start from both sides who looked a bit overwhelmed by the high-pressured final. UCT put the first points on the board with flyhalf Doug Mallet getting them off the mark with a well-struck penalty.

The lead was short lived as the Maties No 11, and scoring machine, Tythan Adams put the first points on the scoreboard, thanks to some help from scrumhalf Johan Herbst. Herbst was again the catalyst for some Matiers magic as a chip from the base of a ruck was allowed to bounce and right wing Wilhelm Loock was first to arrive and collect. He fed the ball to lock Hugo Kloppers, with the final pass to Charl Weideman to score. The first half score ended at 12-6 to the Maties.

The second half started slowly, as both sides used their defences as brick walls. But, in the 52nd minute Maties exploded into action. Relentless attacks on the UCT defence had the Maties finally breaking with a try by outside centre Danie Poolman.

After that try by the Maties, UCT threw caution to the wind with strike runners Brache and Marcello Sampson causing havoc on the outside channels, but the final pass seemed always to go wide of the player.

The win made it three out of three for the Maties in the Varsity Cup. Stellenbosch is undoubtedly the best university side.