The 2019 Varsity 7s final will be contested between UJ and Maties after the two two teams claimed surprisingly comfortable semi-final victories at Pirates Rugby Club on Saturday.
UJ MAKE IT A THREE-PEAT
The first semi-final between UJ’s Orange Army and the Madibaz go off to a tentative start before UJ eventually scored the first points of the game courtesy of Shaun Williams. Madibaz were not going to be pushovers and scored a try as the game was heating up, to make it 7-7. Odwa Nkunjana then scored a lovely individual try by showing great feet and saw UJ go into halftime with a 14-7 lead.
The second half was a tight affair and then Madibaz’s hopes of a maiden Varsity 7s final appearance were dashed when they received a red card. UJ capitalised on the numerical advantage as Williams scored his second try. Despite being a man down, Madibaz threw a spanner in the works and scored a vital try to make it a nervy final two minutes for UJ. Mpho Khubeka settled those nerves by scoring scored a crucial try at the death to make it 26-12 to UJ and saw the Orange Army advance to a third-straight Varsity 7s final.
MATIES END UP-TUKS’ REIGN
The second semi-final saw a titanic clash between defending champions UP-Tuks and rugby powerhouse Maties to decide who would seal theother spot in the final.
Maties got on the scoreboard first and converted their try to lead 7-0 before UP-Tuks responded brilliantly through the ever-present Irvin Ali as the match was a two-point game at 7-5. The technical team of Maties activated the Powerplay on the cusp of halftime and capitalised by scoring a 10-pointer to change the complexion of the game as they led 19-5 going into halftime.
The score was unchanged for the majority of the second half, however the longer the game went, the more likely it was that the defending champions were going to be eliminated. That was confirmed when Maties put the final nail in the coffin to compile UP-Tuks to a 24-5 defeat to set up a final meeting with UJ.
VARSITY 7S SEMI-FINALS RESULTS
Madibaz 12 UJ 26
UP-Tuks 5 Maties 24
VARSITY 7S FINAL FIXTURE
16:09 UJ vs Maties
By Nkosinathi Shazi
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