WSU stun Madibaz to go top of the log

Determined Walter Sisulu Uiversity (WSU) shocked hosts FNB Madibaz beating them 1914 in the Eastern Cape Varsity Shield rugby derby at Madibaz Stadium in Port Elizabeth on Friday night.

This victory puts WSU on top of the FNB Varsity Shield log after two games.

WSU applied early pressure, camping in the Madibaz half for the first five minutes of the game.

Even though the Blues kept the pressure on, Litha Nkula missed a fifth-minute penalty.

This however did not slow down the WSU train as they kept coming at the Madibaz defence.

The Madibaz were clearly having a tough time with their opponents physicality and struggled to get out of their own half.

It looked inevitable that the deadlock would be broken, and two yellow cards in two minutes for Madibaz – for an illegal cleanout by prop Le-Kleu Stokes and a deliberate knockdown by wing Luciano Jones – opened the door for WSU.

Mihlali Mosi duly took advantage on 21 minutes, as the eighthman peeled off a scrum, hit and spun past the first Madibaz defender and barged his way over.

Nkula missed the conversion, as flyhalf Lwandile Mapuko did when Mosi doubled-up his try scoring efforts in the 28th minute.

This time the 24-year-old wrecking ball took advantage of a turnover. On the stroke of halftime, Mapuko put a penalty over to make the score 13-0.

With coach Madibaz Jarryd Buys making early changes in the second half, the Madibaz looked like a better outfit and it didn’t take long for the changes to take effect.

In the 51st minute, replacement prop Tembelihle Yase rumbled over from a pick-andgo to bring the Madibaz to life with Jordan Koekemoer adding the extras.

Scorers:

Madibaz 14: Tembelihle Yase, Robert Lyons. Conversions: Jordan Koekemoer (2).

WSU: 19: Tries: Mihlali Mosi (2). Penalties: Litha Nkula (3)

In the early game, Fort Hare proved too strong for Rhodes, winning 52-7.