The home side stunned the away side in the opening three minutes as fullback Odwa Nkunjana scored for the Orange Army after some beautiful hands from the backline, Mashudu Raphunga scored the conversion and the score was 7-0.

UJ were playing like a house on fire when winger Shaun William intercepted a misplaced passed and ran almost the whole length of the pitch to give UJ a 14-0 lead with a seven-point try. UJ were playing some dazzling rugby and were unarguably putting on their best performance of the season. Mashudu Raphunga added three points with the boot and UJ were running away with it.

The halftime break saw UJ lead 17-0. The second half was played at a blistering pace as UJ were looking to add more points, while Wits were chasing. It was the former that got the first points of the half, courtesy of the left boot of flyhalf Mashudu Raphunga Wits finally got their first points of the game as centre Adrian van Blerk scored and the conversion was slotted by replacement flyhalf Ruan Cloete.

The game was perfectly poised for a comeback for Wits at 20-7, and boy was it on. Wits winger Kasende Kapepula scored Wits’ second try and the conversion was converted and Wits were within four points as with the score at 20-16. The entertainment on the pitch was as entertaining as off the pitch, as the UJ crowd played their part in an electric atmosphere.

Odwa Nkunjana got his brace when he scored and almost sealed the game with five minutes to play. Evergreen Mashudu Raphunga made sure with his conversion and it was 30-16 and you could almost feel the whole stadium breathe a sigh of relief. UJ captain Adrian Bester put the game to bed and scored a magnificent seven-point try, of course Raphunga made sure with the conversion and the final score was 39-16 to UJ.

Scorers:

UJ: Tries - Odwa Nkunjana (2), Shaun Williams (seven-pointer), Adrian Bester Conv. - Mashudu Raphunga (3) Pen. - Mashudu Raphunga (3)

Wits: Tries - Adrian Van Blerk. Kasende Kapepula (seven-pointer) Conv. - Ruan Cloete (2)

Varsity Cup