Highlights:
FNB Maties vs FNB Shimlas: A crowd of 15800 fans in the stands saw the FNB Maties demolish the visiting FNB Shimlas 60-16 to indicate it would take something special to beat the men in maroon during the 2020 FNB Varsity Cup.
FNB Player That Rocks: Adriaan van der Bank (Maties)
Steers Kinging Award: JP Duvenhage (Maties)
Scorers:
FNB Maties:
Tries: Ben-Jason Dixon, Munier Hartzenberg, David Brits (seven-point try x 2), Mike Mavovana (seven-point try), HJ Luus, Remu Malan, Schalk Erasmus, Marcel Theunissen.
Conversions: Adriaan van der Bank (6), Reinhardt Fortuin (2)
FNB Shimlas:
Tries: JP Duvenhage (seven-point try, five-point try)
Conversions: Duvenhage x 2
FNB Maties thump FNB Shimlas to open account!
A crowd of 15800 fans in the stands saw the FNB Maties demolish the visiting FNB Shimlas 60-16 to indicate it would take something special to beat the men in maroon during the 2020 FNB Varsity Cup.
The crowd had barely sat down after the national anthem when some powerful carries among the forwards saw captain Ben-Jason Dixon go over to open the hosts account. Fullback Adriaan van der Bank kicked the difficult conversion and before they even knew what had hit them the visitors were down and the scoreboard. A kick through saw speedster Munier Hartzenberg dot down in the corner before Van der Bank hit the post with his touchline conversion. After the frenetic start it was 12-0 at the first strategy break and despite the visitors being from a city at altitude they looked like the pace of the game was too much!
A few minutes later a break by Van der Bank down the touchline saw the ball go through the hands and burly centre David Brits dive over acrobatically and claim a seven-point try. Van der Bank added the extras and suddenly the FNB Maties only needed one more try to claim a bonus point. Pocket-rocket Mike Mavovana obliged shortly thereafter when he showed the would-be FNB Shimlas a clean pair of heels on his way to the tryline to rack up the second seven-point try of the afternoon. The Van der Bank conversion saw FNB Maties lead 30-0. Veteran hooker HJ Luus rounded out the scoring in the first half with his try and at 37-0 the signs were ominous for the men from Bloemfontein.
It was a strong run and some slick hands by Luus that saw the nippy number 9 Remu Malan go over after the break before a strong run down the touchline by Brits saw him grab his second seven-point try of the evening and the FNB Maties lift the bat as they went past the fifty point margin!
The game deteriorated as the second-half progressed and both teams deployed their replacements in the last stanza. A rare light for the FNB Shimlas was the superb solo skills shown by outside-centre JP Duvenhage when he broke, chipped the ball and collected it before scoring. Duvenhage also converted the try to make it 53-9. A comedy of errors saw Duvenhage score again for the FNB Shimlas after a ball was dropped and the FNB Maties made a hash of defending the ball on the ground.
The FNB Maties went back to basics thereafter and mauled the FNB Shimlas over the try-line with Schalk Erasmus being credited with the try. Flyhalf Fortuin had taken over the kicking duties and made no mistake. The final try of the match belonged to eightman Marcel Theunissen and the conversion by Fortuin made it 67-16 at the final whistle. New coach Drikus Hancke would be very happy with his team’s first performance of the season and even happier that his team goes into the bye week with no serious injuries.
FNB Maties:
15 Adriaan van der Bank, 14 Munier Hartzenberg, 13 David Brits, 12 Waqar Solaan, 11 Mike Mavovana, 10 Reinhardt Fortuin, 9 Remu Malan, 8 Marcel Theunissen, 7 Driaan Bester, 6 Geor Malan, 5 Ben-Jason Dixon (captain), 4 Gerrit Huisamen, 3 Leon Lyons, 2 HJ Luus, 1 Dian Bleuler.
Replacements:
16 Schalk Erasmus, 17 Ricky Nwagbara, 18 Christian Hamman, 19 Albert Liebenberg, 20 Gift Dlamini, 21 Luciano Elias, 22 Anton du Toit, 23 Lynn-Jay Hendricks.
FNB Shimlas:
15 Cham Zondeki, 14 Francois Agenbag, 13 JP Duvenage, 12 William Eybers (captain), 11 Charl Pretorius, 10 Tiaan Schutte, 9 Rewan Kruger, 8 Bertie de Bod, 7 Mihlali Peter, 6 Janco Cloete, 5 Keanan Murray, 4 Sibabalo Qoma, 3 Gerrit Visser, 2 Hanno Snyman, 1 Bhekinkosi Qaba.
Replacements:
16 Wihan Marais, 17 Danie Wessels, 18 Jan Meades, 19 Rholane Ncubuka, 20 Kamohelo Chabana, 21 Chadd Adams, 22 Keegan Haman, 23 Siyana Cele.
FNB Maties home games in 2020:
FNB Maties vs FNB CUT – 17 February 2020
FNB Maties vs FNB UP-Tuks – 2 March 2020
FNB Maties vs FNB UCT – 9 March 2020
