NWU overwhelm struggling UJ
The round five Varsity Cup fixture at the Fanie du Toit Sports Grounds on Monday night was do-or-die for both NWU and UJ, with NWU battling for a semi-final spot and UJ fighting their way from the bottom of the log to avoid relegation.
The home side kicked off the match and took an early lead through Chuiner van Rooyen, with debutant Marco Donges slotting the conversion.
Sharp-shooter PW Steenkamp put UJ on the board when he kicked a penalty to bring the score up to 7-3 in favour of the purple army.
Ruben du Plessis extended NWU’s lead when he snuck his way over the try line, and another successful Donges conversion gave NWU a 14-3 advantage going into half time.
UJ came out firing in the second half, but NWU proved to be a nuisance to the Johannesburg side, forcing handling errors which left them with nothing to show for their efforts.
It was a slower half for NWU, but Evardi Boshoff got fans on their feet when he kicked the ball into space, where Eugene Hare managed the five-pointer.
In the last ten minutes NWU tried to keep their semi-final hopes alive as they continued in pursuit of a bonus-point try, but their attempts proved futile as the UJ defence held a solid line. NWU had however done enough to seal the 19-6 win and walk away with a well deserved four points.
Hare’s brace bagged him the Steers Kinging Moment, awarded to a player who has a moment of brilliance in the game, while Boshoff picked up the Player That Rocks (Man of the Match) award.
Marco Donges, who waited five games to make his debut, said, “It was the biggest privilege ever for me, to stand with the boys and sing the national anthem knowing that I got my chance that I’ve been waiting so long for.”
He was placed straight into action within the first five minutes when he had to kick a conversion.
Talking about the pressure of playing his first game he said, “I was very stressed but after kick off and the first tackle I told myself I needed to forget about the big moment and play my game.”
Malembe Mpofu, who played for UJ from 2017-2019, added, “Playing against UJ brought back a lot of nostalgia but overall it was a nice experience to see how far they’ve come and what it’s like to play against my former teammates.”
Tries: Chuiner van Rooyen, Ruben du Plessis, Eugene Hare.
Conversions: Marco Donges (2).
NWU vs UJ:
15. Chuiner van Rooyen, 14. Lungelo Gosa, 13. Lincoln Daniels. 12. Marco Donges, 11. Eugene Hare, 10. Evardi Boshoff, 9. Riaan Genis, 8. Edmund Rheeder, 7. Wandi Mazibuko, 6. Chris Vermaak, 5. Jeandre Leonard, 4. Malembe Mpofu, 3. Matimu Manganyi. 2. Gustav du Rand, 1. Ruben du Plessis.
Reserves: 16. Fanie Maré, 17. Jason Jansen, 18. Ruan Swiegers, 19. Wihan Nel, 20. André Fouche, 21. Caleb Louw, 22. Curtley Scheepers, 23. Khulu Mcuma.