Ikeys the comeback kings
31 Mar 2008
UCT scored 22 unanswered points to beat Pukke 32-31 in a thrilling match, sneaking into the final of the Varsity Cup.
NWU-Pukke stormed into a 31-10 lead with 16 minutes of the match remaining, but three tries from Ikeys and a last-minute 45m penalty from flyhalf Matthew Rosslee gave them a thrilling win. UCT looked dead and buried early in the second half but the quick pace of the game played into their hands as they grew stronger and stronger throughout the match.
Pukke scored two tries in the opening five minutes from wing Lolo Waka as they flew to a 14-0 lead. UCT replied with a try of their own through wing Mathew Turner with their first phases of possession, but the rest of the half was dominated by the visitors from Potch. Fullback Jean Tiedt kicked four penalties either side of penalty – all won through Pukke’s dominance at the ruck – and scored a try to give them what seemed an unassailable 21 point lead.
But Ikeys virtually had all the ball in the final quarter and they loosened up the game to their advantage, and tries from replacement hooker Mark Goosen, wing Marcello Sampson and Turner made the dream comeback a possibility. Rosslee then stepped up to kick the penalty with final kick of the game, and it never looked like missing from the time it left his boot.
UCT will either face Maties or Tukkies in Cape Town next Monday and they will need to work on their defence as well as securing the ball at the breakdown if they wish to claim the inaugural Varsity Cup.
UCT – Tries: Mathew Turner (2), Marcello Sampson, Mark Goosen. Penalties: Matthew Rosslee (2). Conversions: Rosslee (3).
Pukke – Tries: Lolo Waka (2), Jean Tiedt. Penalties: Tiedt (4). Conversions: Tiedt (2)
In another high-scoring thriller, Stellenbosch beat Tukkies 47-44 after 20 minutes of extra-time.
Maties ensured the final will be a Western province derby with a Henoe Stoffberg penalty in the 98th minute of playing time. Tukkies had earlier forced the game into extra-time with a try from winger Oscar Mfundise and conversion from scrumhalf Joey Mongalo in the last minute of regulation time, but at the end this proved insufficient. They also outscored Maties by five tries to two in the second half which would have been enough for a place in the final according to the competition rules, but the controversial late penalty sealed their fate.
Maties – Tries: Jean Stemmett, Sarel Potgieter, Jonathan Adendorf, Wilhelm Koch, Henoe Stoffberg. Penalties: Stoffberg (4). Conversions Stoffberg (5).
Tukkies – Tries: Gert Lubbe, Kruger van Heerden (2), Gerhard van den Heever (2), Oscar Mfundise. Penalties: Chandre Boshoff (2). Conversions: Boshoff (3), Joey Mongalo (1).
By Grant Ball
37 Comments
31 Mar 2008, 17:40 pm
Go Ikeys!!!!!!!
Go Maties!!!!!!!!
31 Mar 2008, 17:43 pm
Yeah Ikeys!!!!! Go boys go!
31 Mar 2008, 17:46 pm
UCT were lucky in the end. Definitely the better team but they weren’t at their best today. Perhaps some complaceny, but great spirit and determination to win at the death after looking down and out at 10-31.
31 Mar 2008, 17:51 pm
robbie fleck is doing great work with that backline! Rock on Capetonians!
31 Mar 2008, 17:56 pm
no comment
31 Mar 2008, 18:00 pm
Lolo Waka on the wing?
Okay then.
31 Mar 2008, 18:14 pm
The winning penalty came in the 88th minute. Was the timekeeper from UCT or did SuperSport forget to stop the clock?
31 Mar 2008, 18:14 pm
IKEYS!!!
31 Mar 2008, 18:20 pm
Ag donner.
31 Mar 2008, 18:32 pm
Mickey
Good one!
Left it a bit late though.
But it is in the ‘woolshack’, so what the hell.
Now for Maties…
31 Mar 2008, 18:49 pm
Now for Maties to beat Tukkies…
31 Mar 2008, 18:52 pm
Spencer King was the timekeeper
31 Mar 2008, 19:09 pm
#11 yeah right
31 Mar 2008, 19:49 pm
Where did Spencer King go to?
Before him Otto Langenegger – before him Andrew Lourens
31 Mar 2008, 20:33 pm
They didn’t ever stop the clock in the TV coverage. Everyone at the ground was well aware of how much time was left at each stage.
In Stellenbosch it’s gone down to extra time, 44-44 after 80 minutes…
31 Mar 2008, 20:38 pm
#13
“yeah right”
44-44 – down to extra time.
Bigmouth.
31 Mar 2008, 21:04 pm
So it’s Ikeys vs. Maties on the mountain next Monday. Sweet.
31 Mar 2008, 21:08 pm
Maties win 47-44!!!
31 Mar 2008, 21:16 pm
G13G will probably hide away again now.
Shame, G13G, it’s really tough, isn’t it? First the Spears fail to get off the ground (Despatch), then your beloved NTvl/Bulls perform pitifully, and now Tukkies (Pretoria) loses out to your sworn enemy, Maties (yip, those CT ladyboys).
Where did it all go wrong?
31 Mar 2008, 21:34 pm
i know UCT deserves a home final but its kinda a ****** venue… it has a great view of cape town but apart from that the field there is ****. you kick a ball too far and you can collect it off the M6. very litte seating. Check how good the Danie Craven Stadium looked full of Maties, it wont be the same next week and the final will prob be a bit of a damp squib.
31 Mar 2008, 21:38 pm
Yeah, stofjas, I tend to agree, but as a proud Maties oldboy I might be accused of bias!
31 Mar 2008, 22:00 pm
That makes two of us… was at the game tonight… helluva tense… I actually stopped looking at the girls walking around in their skimpy tops in the last 20 minutes or so of the game…
31 Mar 2008, 22:30 pm
is Jean Tiedt related to Jaco Tiedt? Did the latter recover from his cancer?
31 Mar 2008, 22:59 pm
Great stuff Ikeys.
Agree on the field though. Often lost balls on the motorway, gives new meaning to the phrase…….”don’t kick away posession”
31 Mar 2008, 23:04 pm
#23
Jaco’s surname was spelled Taute
1 Apr 2008, 00:00 am
Aaahhhhh, the rugby power is back home where they its supposed to be…
I will open a bottle of Nederburgh Auction wine to celebrate an all Cape final in the Varsity Cup…
1 Apr 2008, 00:26 am
apparently Rob Wagner wants them to play the final at Newlands.
dead right about playing at UCT – M6 motorists needs to be wide awake
1 Apr 2008, 01:43 am
#18
full credit to the winning side.
re: Jaco Taute
this was Bok Christiaan Scholtz best centre partner.
1 Apr 2008, 02:53 am
The Cup is coming to CT, it is no ‘April Fools’ joke!
Maties/Ikeys, may the best team win, I support you both.
C’mon Stormers, go get the S14 as well…
1 Apr 2008, 06:54 am
Hell – how good was that Tukkies game?? Killer conversion to send it into extra time, and then a last minute penalty to win the game.
Tukkies should have done better though in the end, and worked the penalty or a drop goal to win the game (by drawing it).
Excellent standard of rugby. Lovely to watch.
1 Apr 2008, 08:00 am
YEsterdays rugby made for cracking viewing.
Hoping Ikeys take the final but either way im happy.
1 Apr 2008, 08:06 am
Yes, Cheetha, good to watch if you were a neutral, but hell, I nearly had a heart attack. Poor tackling by Maties. The stupid lock having a penalty turned around. That incompetent reserve hooker who can’t through in straight. I don’t think Chaen Roux is such a great coach. There is excellent talent in the Maties team, but they seem to fade in all the big matches.
Still I really hope this compo pulled TV ratings and it continues. I would still like to see a measure of intelligence brought into rugby by players going through university before they hit the big time
1 Apr 2008, 08:46 am
Great comeback, but that was some loooooooooooooooonnnnnnnggggggggg extra time
1 Apr 2008, 08:54 am
Well done IKEYS!!!!!!!!! It was good to see the Springbok coach taking a look at the youngsters and i’m sure he’s got one or two players that interested him. So well as much as we won the game, i still feel that towards the end….we had a little bit of favour from the ref….i was keeping time and realised that the 2nd half was actually played for 44mins 39sec. When the ref indicated during the last line out that there were 2minns to go, the ball went out after 42secs and he still carried. A bit of mother luck……..But at the end of the day….the youngsters deserved to be in the Finals condidering their fine run throughout the tournament…….
1 Apr 2008, 10:54 am
Two great games – full of mistakes but hey its not international rugby! FNB must be over the moon with the coverage they are getting. The game is to be played at Maties because the venue is better for television which makes sense but if I was UCT i would ask for the game to be played at Newlands as home ground advantage in this final will be massive!!!
1 Apr 2008, 14:15 pm
So who is the idiot that came up with the “Number of SECOND HALF tries” rule in the case of a draw? Surely (with rugby being a game of two halves) it would only be fair to rule that the team that scored the most tries in the WHOLE game goes through.
1 Apr 2008, 18:54 pm
Being an old matie ,I say may the best team win.
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