Clock beats Ikeys fightback

Maties 38:31 Ikeys

Maties retained the Superleague title, as well as the Intervarsity trophy, after surviving an amazing second half fightback from the spirited Ikey Tigers.  

An unfocused first half, saw the Ikeys down 31:3 but after catching another soft try in the opening minutes of the second spell which made it 38:3, the men in blue and white turned things around and produced some fantastic rugby and 28 unanswered points to come ever so close to an upset.

Report by Chad Barker:

The Ikey Tigers ventured out to Danie Craven Stadium for the final match of this years season to take on the mighty Maties on Saturday 27 September 2008. Both teams had much to play for, the Ikeys had come for the Intervarsity trophy, also dedicating the match (and next season) to the late Monte Taljaard and the Maties for this year’s league title (League standings before the match Hamilton 80points, Maties 78, UCT 49 [4th place]). This game would also see the end of Kevin Foote’s rugby playing days, who, after a great career, including Captaining UCT and the South African 7’s team, decided to hang up his boots. Unfortunately the Danie Craven Stadium was not loaded to the hilt as one would expect from past experience for a match of this calibre and infamy amongst the students. Debaucherous supporters or not, a perfect stage was set for the biggest game of UCT’s season.

UCT started the 1st half sluggishly, and were not able to hold onto much decent possession. This was partly due to mistakes and to a superb Maties rush-defence. Ironically the Ikeys were one of the few teams that successfully implemented a rush-defence in the Varsity Cup. The Maties drew first blood with a well worked try. UCT’s opportunities remained minimal, with one penalty from Kyle Wickens (9). Wickens missed another penalty from right in front of the uprights. This may have seemed disappointing at the time, but it was nothing compared to the devastation that was to follow. The Maties racked up another four unanswered tries. Two of the tries were scored by the Maties fly half Andries Volgraaff, who had a superb match. The last of the four tries was a soft try in the corner on the stroke of half time. This try took the scores 38 – 3 to Maties at half time. The Ikey Tigers ran into the change room looking, disappointed in their performance so far and shell shocked.

The second half was started. One can only imagine the exuberant speech the 1st team coach expelled at his team at half time. This is because right from the kick-off the team appeared to be different. The want of a victory was clearly evident from their every action. John Dobson’s oration seemed to work, because UCT opened the scoring for the second half, with a superb team try. UCT made a few early substitutes such as Matt Rosslee for Kevin Foote (10) and Stuart Commins for Kyle Wickens (9). This combination change alongside others proved to be a great success, as UCT sped up the delivery of the ball at the breakdown which seemed to negate the Maties rush-defence. The Ikeys were now breaking tackles instead of being driven backwards as in the 1st half. It was apparent that there was an awesome change in mind set and personal belief at half time. One wonders how much of this can be attributed to the seasons worth of work that Professor Tim Noakes has done with the Ikeys. It seemed that at every ruck and maul UCT fought against the clock and not against the Maties. With ten minutes to play UCT had scored another three unanswered tries, and the scores stood at 38 – 31 to Maties. The Maties must have been having flash backs of their first game of this years Varsity Cup where 16 unanswered points were scored against them in the last thirteen minutes. They lost that game by one point. For ten minutes the entire crowd sat on the edge of there seats, oohing and aahing every tackle and every pass. Unfortunately for the Ikeys, the clock won the race and the Tigers were unable to score a final try. The final score of the match stood at Maties 38 – UCT 31.

Congratulations Ikeys, it was a sterling comeback which was carried out in true Varsity Spirit!! It was another epic encounter and end off for this season. To quote the great Cecil Moss, “There is only ONE INTERVARSITY!!!”, thank you for the amazing spectacle.

UCT’s man of the match was flank Luzuko Panya who had an outstanding match.   

Tries: Jody Burch, Peter Engelbrecht, Dave Edgar, Tim Whitehead,
Penalty: Wickens, Conversions: Rosslee

Ikey Tigers:
1. Dylan Rogers, 2. JP Koster, 3. Thembelani Mayosi, 4. Michael Passaportis, 5. Bodo Sieber, 6. Luzuko Panya, 7. Jody Burch 8. JJ Gagiano (c), 9. Kyle Wickens, 10. Kevin Foote, 11. Pete Haw, 12. Pieter Engelbrecht, 13. Dave Edgar (vc), 14. Matt Turner, 15. Dave Clayton 

Reserves:
Mark Goosen, Vakai Hove, Martin Muller, Craig Kleu, Kyle Brown, Stuart Commins, Matt Rosslee, Tim Whitehead

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