In a fixture that always goes down to the wire, it was Pieter Bergh’s chargers that were much more disciplined on the night, and one can also argue that they were the more hungry of the two teams.

Ixias opened the scoring in the 19th minute with the captain, Hardus Nel, crashing over a try which was converted by Heinrich Bitzi.

The Shimlas struck back almost immediately with the flanker, Janco Cloete, rounding off a seven-point try, and what was the first of his two.

Five minutes later Cloete crossed the white-wash again, but this time from a lineout drive to complete his brace and had this visitors the lead.

A brilliant piece of individual brilliance saw the fleet-footed fullback, Cohen Jasper, flying over in the right corner to keep the Ixias within range of the 2015 champions.

The centre Tiaan Schutte ran in for a 40m try to put the Shimlas firmly in the lead, however, the Ixias still were to have the last laugh in the opening forty minutes.

Another piece of individual brilliance by Jasper say Dimitrio Tieties going over on the stroke of half time to level the game at 21-21.

The lock Rayno Nel put the Ixias back in the lead 8 minutes into the second stanza, and it was a lead that the hosts would not relinquish. The flyhalf Heinrich Bitzi landed a penalty, to put the game out of reach of the Shimlas.

It was, however, a 73rd minute try by Jaco Wilkinson that sealed the deal for the Ixias, and this despite a late try by the Shimlas replacement, Bakkies Rossouw, and a seven-pointer by Schutte.

The historic win means that the Ixias have won their third match in the 2019 edition of the Varsity Cup.

Scorers:

Ixias: Tries – Hardus Nel, Cohen Jasper, Dimitrio Tieties, Rayno Nel, Jaco Wilkinson Conv. – Heinrich Bitzi 3 Pen. – Bitzi

Shimlas: Tries – Janco Cloete 2, Tiaan Schutte 2, Bakkies Rossouw Conv. - Lubabalo Dobela 2 Yellow Cards - Oli Losaba, Wian Marais.

@MorganPiek OFM Sport