The University of the Free State Shimlas returned to winning ways in the Varsity Cup on Monday night by grinding to a 34-21 victory against the Orange Army in Johannesburg.

It was a thrilling game to say the least and the heavy rain during the first half which forced the players to leave the field just added to the drama and certainly once again proved to be the great leveller.

The Shimlas managed to clinch a bonus point with Michael Annies, Pierre Uys, Frank Dos Reis, Siyambuka Ningiza and Siviwe Zondani all scoring tries in the victory which saw them jumping up to third on the log.

Prince Nkabinde scored a brace of tries for UJ, while Marius Coetzee, Likhona Finca and Benjamin Moya dotted down as they too managed to secure a bonus point.

The big ball-carrying Shimlas centre, Jooste Nel, told OFM Sport that he is proud of the grit shown by his team.

“For us winning in the wet, coming back from being down more than one try is a really big win for us,” said Nel.

“We'll take it and we take confidence in coming back from behind. I think that's what good teams do - they can come back when they are down.

“I'm really proud of the team and how we got stuck in and got the job done.

“Now it's time to recover and then we've got Pukke (NWU Eagles) on home soil next week.”

Staying in Johannesburg, Wits, managed to retain the number one spot on the log by beating the Central University of Technology Ixias 34-17 after trailing 14-8 at half time.

This was the first defeat of the season for the team from Bloemfontein after they managed to edge UJ last week.

Over in Potchefstroom, the defending champions, the North West University Eagles remained up beaten as they beat UWC 49-15, while at the Green Mile in Cape Town, Maties earned their first win of the campaign by beating the UCT Ikeys 15-10.

Morgan Piek OFM Sport