Maties slip to defeat, as Ikeys are thumped in Ravensmead

THE TORRENTIAL rain that drenched the Highveld yesterday threatened to spoil what was expected to be a cracker of a game between arch rivals Tuks and Maties, but all it did was lay the platform for a tightly-contested affair that the Pretoria-based side won 13-9.

True to the adage that rain is the great leveller, it took one decisive moment in the dying minutes of the game to decide the winner when Tuks flyhalf Tinus de Beer crashed over in what was the only meaningful attack the hosts were able to engineer in the second half.

De Beer’s dart of desperation to the left had seemed to be the wrong decision, but the sheer determination of the young pivot saw him carve a congested Maties defence into pieces on the slippery Loftus turf before managing to dot the ball down in the heap of Maties players who had tried to deny him and the hosts’ victory.

For the better part of the second half, the home side were on the back foot and forced to defend their line from the endless waves of attack by the visitors.

The Tuks defence stood firm and they were duly aided by the slippery conditions that saw Maties spill the ball at crucial times during the game, and mostly when they lay siege to the Tuks tryline.

Because of the trying conditions and unrelenting attitude both sides brought to the party, it had looked like the boot of De Beer or Ernst Stapelberg would decide this energy-sapping encounter.

On the hour mark, Maties would have thought they had done enough to walk away with victory when Stapelberg slotted over his third penalty to give them a slender one point lead at 9-8.

But the spoils would go to De Beer, who had been yellow carded in the eighth minute of the game, and the Tuks side who were rewarded for being clinical when it mattered most.

Tuks scored two tries with No 8 Chris Massyn crashing over from a rolling maul in the 27th minute, before De Beer’s moment of brave brilliance that earned the home side the bragging rights and the required start to their campaign.

In Johannesburg, defending champions Pukke were also made to toil hard for a narrow 16-12 win against UJ.

In matches played earlier in the day, 2015 champions Shimlas had to fight hard for a 26-21 victory against newbies Wits in Johannesburg.

Meanwhile, at Florida Park in Ravensmead, Ikeys got their campaign off to the worst possible start by suffering a heavy 36-8 defeat at the hands of the Madibaz.

Playing away from their traditional home of the Green Mile because of examinations currently under way, UCT seemingly struggled to use their home-ground advantage and conceded defeat to the Port Elizabeth-based Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University who are playing all their games away from home this season because of renovations under way at their home stadium.