Local Varsity Cup teams the Shimlas of the University of the Free State (UFS) and Ixias of the Central University of Technology (CUT) will face each other in a derby on Monday (27/03).
Both teams will be hungry for a win since a single point separates them on the Varsity Cup log – CUT in fourth place with 16 points and Shimlas in fifth with 15 points.
This comes after a close win for Shimlas on Monday (20/03), beating the University of Johannesburg (UJ) 31 – 30.
The match at Shimla Park had plenty of drama, including a total blackout in Bloemfontein some 19 minutes into the game.
UJ opened the scoring with flanker Christiaan Pretorius going over for the first of his two tries, while Rowan Malgas converted. Minutes later, Shimlas struck back with hooker William Moffat dotting down, with the try being converted by Litha Nkula.
Pretorius went over again to complete his brace, but once again the home side struck back when Nkula flew over for his try.
And then the lights went out.
After a couple of minutes, the generators kicked in and the game resumed while the entire city was still in the dark.
With four minutes’ play left before the half time break, Shimlas’ Siviwe Zondani scored the first of his two tries to hand his team a 23 – 14 lead at the break.
Ten minutes into the second half, Zondani completed his brace for the evening, but this time Nkula could not add the extra two. He did, however, land a penalty that proved to be vital.
Tries by Prince Nkabinde and Kelvin Kanenungo for UJ made it a one-point game with five minutes to play. After the hooter, UJ stood a chance with a 5 m lineout, but were penalised for holding the ball on the ground.
The Player That Rocks title was awarded to Zondani.
The CUT team suffered a 23 – 12 loss against the Eagles of the North-West University (NWU). The Eagles still lead the log with 22 points.
The match this coming Monday starts at 19:00 at Shimla Park.
