Five tries in the first 40 minutes saw the hosts racing to an impressive 37-7 lead at half time in Bloemfontein, however, they had to service a massive second-half surge by the Ikeys in the second half.

The scoring was opened in the 4th minute when the winger, Cham Zondeki, ran in for a seven-point try which went unconverted.

The Ikeys flanker, Cornelius Otto, struck back for the visitors in the 13th minute with a try under the posts, which Darian Hock, had no trouble in converting.

The Shimlas made the altitude count in their favour and gradually wore their opponents down before shifting gears with a flurry of four tries in the space of 14 minutes.

First, the fleet-footed fullback Ruan Henning went over, followed by the winger, Marnus Boshoff, before Zak Burger scored what could be the try of the season, however, only the small crowd at Shimla Park was able to witness it.

Henning completed his brace on the stroke of half-time with a seven-pointer.

In the second stanza, the side in blue-and-white hoops came out of the tunnel looking a lot better, but it was the Shimlas who scored first when the centre, Tiaan Schutte, dummied beautifully to round off a try created by Henning.

The Ikeys struck when Hock caught the Shimlas defence napping to sneak in for the softest of tries. Two minutes later they were on the board again when James Tedder went over in the right corner in the 50th minute.

Ill-discipline led to the visitors piling the pressure on the Shimlas and this ultimately saw the replacement hooker, Cuan Hablutzel, grounding the ball following a massive lineout drive which involved nearly the entire UCT team.

Michael Brink put real on the hots when he went in for a try in the 66th minute, and it was really now a case of game on!

The nail was driven into the UCT coffin when the winger, Boshoff, completed his brace in the 79th minute. Even a Gary Porter try after the hooter was not enough to help the Ikeys to an upset in the City of Roses.

Scorers:

Shimlas: Tries - Cham Zondeli (7-point), Ruan Henning 2 (five and seven points), Zak Burger Marnus Boshoff 2, Tiaan Schutte Conv. - Lubalao Dobela 5.

Ikeys: Tries – Cornelius Otto, Darian Hock, James Tedder, Cuan Hablutzel, Michael Brink, Gary Porter Conv. – Darian Hock 4 Yellow Card – Cornelius Otto.

@MorganPiek OFM Sport