Plucky Pukke breaks Tuks hearts
FNB NWU-Pukke broke FNB UP-Tuks hearts when they defeated the home side 29-28 in a tense battle to secure their spot in the FNB Varsity Cup presented by Steinhoff International final.
Tuks outscored their opponents five tries to four but Johnny Welthagen, who made headlines for all the wrong reasons in the 2014 final, scored a great individual try with two minutes remaining to hand Pukke their spot in their second consecutive final.
but it was the boot of Rhyno Smith which proved to be the difference between the sides which secured Pukke their second consecutive final.
The match got off to a frantic start as both teams went in search of early points but it would be Tuks who would have much of the possession and territory advantage. Pukke's task was made harder when their captain Jeandre Rudolph was sent to the bin in the eighth minute.
The home side took full advantage of the extra man when they set a rolling maul which allowed captain Wiaan Liebenberg to dot the ball down but their joy was short lived as Marno Redelinghuys ran a superb line form a set-play to score under the uprights. Rhyno Smith made no mistake with the conversion to hand Pukke the lead after 16 minutes.
Pukke would extend their lead on the stroke of the first Strategy Break when Smith popped over a penalty from in front of the poles. Tuks emerged stronger after the break and got their reward when John Jackson crashed over the line from close range. Stander failed to add the extra points as the scores remained level at 10-all.
Smith would add another two points to Pukke's total when he slotted another penalty in the 26th minute. A dominant Pukke scrum would find reward in the 28th minute when Rudolph redeemed himself for his earlier yellow card to extend the visitors' lead to seven points. The lead became nine just before halftime when Smith slotted his third penalty of the night as Pukke closed out the half in the ascendency.
The visitors picked up where they left off and were putting Tuks under all sorts of pressure. However, Daniel Kriel would intercept a pass and ran all of 80 metres to reduce Pukke's lead. Stander would finally slot a conversion to reduce the deficit to a solitary point after 46 minutes.
Pukke piled the pressure onto their hosts and spent majority of the half inside Tuks' 22. Their pressure would bare fruit in the 57th minute when Dillon Smit cantered over unopposed after excellent work from the forwards to extend the lead to six points at the second Strategy Break.
Pukke continued to pile on the pressure before, completely against the run-of-play, Jermaine Kleinsmith showed a clean pair of heels to race down the left touchline and from Tuks' 22 to within centimetres of Pukke's try-line. The ball was quickly recycled and found the hands of Clyde Davids who displayed a nifty side step before stretching over the line to reduce the deficit to just one point with 15 minutes left in the match.
That try sparked Tuks into life as they threw the ball around with confidence. The ball found Davids who broke through a tackle before releasing a pop-pass to Riaan Britz who sprinted down the right touchline to dive in the corner as Tuks took the lead for the first time since early in the first half.
The drama would continue to the bitter end when Johnny Welthagen scored an absolutely majestic individual try by running around and through the Tuks defence to hand Pukke a slender one-point lead with two minutes remaining in the match. They managed to hold onto that lead to claim a thrilling victory.
FNB Player that Rocks: Marno Redelinghuys
Scorers:
For FNB UP-Tuks:
Tries: Liebenberg, Jackson, Kriel, Davids, Britz
Con: Stander
For FNB NWU-Pukke:
Tries: Redelinghuys, Rudolph, Smit, Welthagen
Con: Smith
Pens: Smith 3
Yellow Card: Jeandre Rudolph (NWU-Pukke, 8 - repeated infringements, hands in the ruck)
Teams:
FNB UP-Tuks: 15 Riaan Britz, 14 Damian van Wyk, 13 Daniel Kriel, 12 John Jackson, 11 Jermaine Kleinsmith, 10 Joshua Stander, 9 André Warner, 8 Clyde Davids, 7 Rudolph Smith, 6 Wiaan Liebenberg (captain), 5 Reniel Hugo, 4 Irne Herbst, 3 Andrew Beerwinkel, 2 Jan Enslin, 1 Justin Forwood.
Replacements: 16 Jan Van der Merwe, 17 Nqobisizwe Mxoli, 18 Dennis Visser, 19 Hein Viljoen, 20 Emile Temperman, 21 Dewald Human, 22 Adrian Maebane, 23 Dayan van der Westhuizen.
FNB NWU-Pukke: 15 Rhyno Smith, 14 Dalen Goliath, 13 Rowayne Beukman, 12 Johan Deysel, 11 Dillon Smit, 10 Johnny Welthagen, 9 Malherbe Swart, 8 Jeandre Rudolph (captain), 7 Marno Redelinghuys, 6 Armandt Liebenberg, 5 Walt Steenkamp, 4 Loftus Morrison, 3 John-Roy Jenkinson, 2 Wian Fourie, 1 Johan Smith.
Replacements: 16 Wilmar Arnoldi, 17 Mogau Mabokela, 18 Daniel Jordaan, 19 Moletsi Bouwer, 20 Johannes Briers, 21 Marnus Tack, 22 Kurshwill Williams, 23 Cayle Denner.
Referees: Rodney Boneparte, Francois Pretorius
Assistant referees: Local
TMO: Willie Vos
Gaan kyk bietjie wat vermag Piet Allen en Naas Rossouw by Pta Polisie.
Mens hoef nie ver te gaan soek vir goeie afrigters nie.
My hoop is vir Frans Lukeke direkteur en Robert du Preez afrigter.
Just a quick one, does anyone know which Lions start signed for the Bulls? I just saw the headings saying "Lions star crosses jukskei?
Ek wonder wat is dit deesdae met Frans dat hy sal span laat aankondig?
Man so gehoop dit kan Dreyer, Redlinhuys, Kriel , Faf, Warthog of Warren wees. Kan maar net droom ne
15. Andries Coetzee, 14. Ruan Combrinck, 13. Lionel Mapoe, 12. Harold Vorster, 11. Anthony Volmink, 10. Elton Jantjies, 9. Ross Cronje,
8. Warren Whiteley (captain), 7. Warwick Tecklenburg, 6. Derick Minnie, 5. Franco Mostert, 4. Andries Ferreira, 3. Ruan Dreyer, 2. Robbie Coetzee, 1. Jacques van Rooyen
Substitutes: 16. Armand van der Merwe, 17. Corne Fourie, 18. Julian Redelinghuys, 19. Robert Kruger, 20. Jaco Kriel, 21. Faf de Klerk, 22. Marnitz Boshoff, 23. Howard Mnisi
The bench is ook explosive.
Weet nie hoe ons span gaan lyk vir Saterdag nie maar daar sal nie veel verrassings wees nie indien enige. Die Leeus is op n high en om drie wedstryde weg van die huis te wen wil gedoen wees. Dit se net vir my dat die span vir mekaar speel, die gees goed is, hulle vertrou hul wedstryd plan en hul verdediging is baie goed. Ek glo egter dat die Bulle Saterdag kan wen alhoewel dit nie maklik sal wees nie.
Ja die kostes is erg. Ons doen dieselfde maar van die ooste kant af. So twee games 'n jaar werk ook vir ons, en ek kies hulle versigtig. Kaap toe is egter, soos jy sê onbekostigbaar. Gelukkig speel my seuns gereeld teen die Jhb en PTa skole rugby wat my dan verplig om te ry want die ouers wil ook die kids ondersteun.
Maar meer erenstig, om Loftus te boikot help nie veel nie. Al wat dit vermag is om die ondersteuners van die besoekende spanne 'n stem gee. Bul ondersteuners wat in Pta en Jhb woon nie wedstryde boikot moet mooi dink want dis 'n voorreg om so naby Loftus te woon. Deur weg te bly benadeel ons ook ons kinders en wat graag saam gaan en dit as 'n uitstappie beskou. My seuns is mal oor Loftus en daardie tiener oggies blink as die Loftus besoek ter sprake kom.
Vriend geniet die Kaap. dis duur vir jou maar ook die moeite werd. Soms is dit goed om ook in ander stadiums rugby te kyk en Nuweland is slegs 'n droom vir ons gesin. Ek sou graag eendag wil ......
Een van my seuns is darem by Emerits Park om die Bulle vs Leeus wedstryd te kyk Saterdagmiddag. Hy is by die o/16 rugbyweek by Jeppe. Hy tart my al 'n week daaroor.....