The UFS Shimlas recorded a third-straight bonus point win after a hard-fought 38 – 26 win over the University of the Western Cape (UWC) in Bloemfontein, and they did this with 14 men on the park.
Three minutes into the match on Monday, on Shimla Park, Shimlas captain Pierre Uys received a yellow card for a grass-cutter tackle – and this put pressure on his team.
It was however handling errors and penalties early in the game that led to the Shimlas struggling to get going. UWC managed to capitalise on this through inside centre, Bryan Brenda, who powered over for a converted try.
It took a full 20 minutes for the Shimlas to find their rhythm, and once they did scrumhalf Makwande Dlamini flew over for a point-of-origin try, after an initial break by Zane Bester in their 22. Shortly before the break, Fracisco Dos Reis crashed over and then Siviwe Zondani scored straight from the restart for a second seven-pointer – securing a 25 – 7 lead at half time.
The second stanza saw hooker Liyema Mgwigwi scoring, while Michiel Genis and Nkoka Ngobe also added their names to the score sheet.
Uys received a second yellow that was upgraded to a red card for a high tackle, and this gave UWC a sniff, but the hosts managed to remain composed while being a man short.
UWC certainly did not go down without a fight, and the team’s valiant effort was rewarded with tries by Ruben Swanepoel, captain Romuan Nsombamanya and winger Will Vraagom.
The CUT Ixias of the Central University of Technology, Free State, lost 44 – 7 against the University of Cape Town (UCT) Ikeys in their match.
CUT utility back Juan Arnold Smith scored the only try for the visitors from a good line-out ball. Flyhalf Natanael Young secured the conversion, but it was too little, too late.
