Rugby
CUT win the Varsity Shield in a thriller─── 18:37 Mon, 01 Apr 2013
Morgan Piek
Bloemfontein – The CUT Ixias beat UWC 29-19 at CUT Park to win the Varsity Shield for the second time in the tournaments three year existence. The final has been played on CUT Park each time. Last year the men from Bloemfontein failed to defend their title when they went down to Wits who were eventually promoted to the Varsity Cup.
CUT were first on the board via the boot of their flyhalf Noël Marx. In the opening exchanges, UWC couldn’t find the touchline with the boot and this put them under pressure each time when the Ixias used the missed opportunities to counter attack.
UWC’s discipline let them down early in the game and Mthethelei Fuzani got carded from not retreating 10 meters at a CUT penalty. Ixias capitalised on the one man advantage and sent Leon Pretorius over for the games first try.
The Ixias had their tails up after the Strategic Time-out and they started playing that typical Free State brand of rugby – good running rugby. Following great interlinking work between Kholo Ramashala and Charlie Hitchcock, UWC were on the back foot and the Ixias captain Inus Kritzinger dove over for his sides’ second try.
The UWC displayed their attacking power when they were afforded just the slightest bit of space and their 8th man Heinrich Marcus went flying over for their first try. Shortly after their try, they were once again given a little space and could have so easily scored their second try in the space of as many minutes had it not been for poor handling skills.
UWC ended the first half strongly as their confidence was up and they were able to penetrate the Ixias strong defence. However, had it not been for poor discipline they could have crossed the whitewash on more than one occasion. The first half ended at 12-5 in favour of the home side.
Peter de Villiers’ men narrowed lead early in the second half via the boot of UWC’s Baby Bok Freddie Muller who converted two penalties.
Leon Pretorius went over for his second try of the evening, when he snatched up the ball from a lucky bounce. UWC managed to pick up another try when Samuel Borsah went crashing over the CUT line. Muller converted the try and the scores were levelled at 17-17.
With 10 minutes remaining on the clock, the score was at 21-19 in favour of the Ixias. The Ixias then took at 10 point lead when replacement winger Alec Mahlango went over for a converted try.
The score remained at 29-19 .
CUT were crowned worthy Champions after becoming the only team in the tournaments history to end a season undeafted.
Scorers:
CUT: Tries – Leon Pretorius 2, Inus Kritzinger, Alec Mahlango Conv. – Noël Marx 1. Pen. Noël Marx 3.
UWC: Tries – Heinrich Marcus. Conv. – Freddie Muller 1. Pen. – Freddie Muller 2, Warrick Rhoda 1.
Bloemfontein – The CUT Ixias beat UWC 29-19 at CUT Park to win the Varsity Shield for the second time in the tournaments three year existence. The final has been played on CUT Park each time. Last year the men from Bloemfontein failed to defend their title when they went down to Wits who were eventually promoted to the Varsity Cup.
CUT were first on the board via the boot of their flyhalf Noël Marx. In the opening exchanges, UWC couldn’t find the touchline with the boot and this put them under pressure each time when the Ixias used the missed opportunities to counter attack.
UWC’s discipline let them down early in the game and Mthethelei Fuzani got carded from not retreating 10 meters at a CUT penalty. Ixias capitalised on the one man advantage and sent Leon Pretorius over for the games first try.
The Ixias had their tails up after the Strategic Time-out and they started playing that typical Free State brand of rugby – good running rugby. Following great interlinking work between Kholo Ramashala and Charlie Hitchcock, UWC were on the back foot and the Ixias captain Inus Kritzinger dove over for his sides’ second try.
The UWC displayed their attacking power when they were afforded just the slightest bit of space and their 8th man Heinrich Marcus went flying over for their first try. Shortly after their try, they were once again given a little space and could have so easily scored their second try in the space of as many minutes had it not been for poor handling skills.
UWC ended the first half strongly as their confidence was up and they were able to penetrate the Ixias strong defence. However, had it not been for poor discipline they could have crossed the whitewash on more than one occasion. The first half ended at 12-5 in favour of the home side.
Peter de Villiers’ men narrowed lead early in the second half via the boot of UWC’s Baby Bok Freddie Muller who converted two penalties.
Leon Pretorius went over for his second try of the evening, when he snatched up the ball from a lucky bounce. UWC managed to pick up another try when Samuel Borsah went crashing over the CUT line. Muller converted the try and the scores were levelled at 17-17.
With 10 minutes remaining on the clock, the score was at 21-19 in favour of the Ixias. The Ixias then took at 10 point lead when replacement winger Alec Mahlango went over for a converted try.
The score remained at 29-19 .
CUT were crowned worthy Champions after becoming the only team in the tournaments history to end a season undeafted.
Scorers:
CUT: Tries – Leon Pretorius 2, Inus Kritzinger, Alec Mahlango Conv. – Noël Marx 1. Pen. Noël Marx 3.
UWC: Tries – Heinrich Marcus. Conv. – Freddie Muller 1. Pen. – Freddie Muller 2, Warrick Rhoda 1.
