NMMU Madibaz kept their play-off hopes alive when they beat the 2013 Varsity Cup Champions UP-Tuks 19 - 9 in extremely difficult conditions at the Tuks Rugby Stadium in Pretoria on Monday night.
The rainy conditions made it difficult to play with ball in hand and both teams had to settle with early penalties. Scores were level at 4 all after the first quarter, but it was however the Madibaz that crossed the line for the first and only try of the first half when Tythan Adams went over in the corner. Gavin Hauptfleisch missed the conversion as Madibaz went into the half time break leading 9 - 4.
Madibaz came out strong in the second half, and the pressure paid off when captain Roy Godrey went over for his teams second try. Hauptfleisch was successful with the conversion and gave his team a comfortable 17 - 4 lead.
With just over a quarter left, UP-Tuks narrowed the gap to a converted try when flank, Chris Massyn, crossed the line for his teams first try. The conversion was missed by Tian Schoeman as NMMU held on to a 17 - 9 lead.
As the game approached the final 20 minutes, Man of the Match, Hauptfleisch secured the win for Madibaz as he slotted a final penalty to further their lead to 19 - 9. Tuks came at NMMU hard in the dying minutes, but NMMUs defense held on and they were unable to chance anything on the score board, as the game ended 19 - 9 in favour of NMMU.
The win allowed NMMU to leapfrog Tuks on the log as they moved into 3rd place on 17 points, one point ahead of Tuks and Maties, both on 16.
NMMU will play FNB UFS Shimlas on Monday night at the Xerox Shimlas Park, in a must win game if they want to have any further say in this years Varsity Cup and advance to the play-offs.
“There’s no other way of us getting into the semis apart from winning. We know what we have to do when we get to Bloem on Monday,” said Head coach, David Maidza.
Although sixth-placed Shimlas have trailed Madibaz throughout the tournament, Maidza said they still posed a serious challenge.
“I think Shimlas have been a bit unfortunate in a lot of their games this season and they will definitely have an eye on the semis.”
He said every team was a potential threat; therefore his side would have to ensure that their energy and concentration levels were high and their tactics correct.
“It’s going to be a tough game. We know it’s not going to be easy for us to get through, especially playing away from home.
“Our destiny is in our hands – now we just need to grab it.”
Scorers:
UP-Tuks - Try: Massyn, Pen: Schoeman 2
NMMU Madibaz - Tries: Adams, Godfrey, Con: Hauptfleisch, Pen: Hauptfleisch 3