If the half-time score was anything to go by, the visitors from Port Elizabeth would have upset the Danie Craven Stadium after leading the encounter 11-5 at the break.

Hawies Fourie’s chargers, however, rallied in the second stanza to score four tries for a bonus point which ensured that they leapfrogged both the UFS Shimlas and the NWU Pukke into the top spot.

It has to be mentioned that the Shimlas derby against the CUT was postponed until Tuesday due to a flooded field in Bloemfontein.

The Madibaz played with the wind in the first half and one would feel that perhaps they didn’t use it to their advantage as well as they should have, especially after dominating the scrums.

The host, however, did and started the second half with Ian Groenewald crashing over for a Maties try.

In the final ten minutes of the match, the Maties opened the floodgates and this saw Brendon Nell, Craig Barry and Michal Haznar all going over the whitewash for the bonus point victory.

The Madibaz only had themselves to blame for the loss after being reduced to 13 men with Stephanus Nieuwoudt and Henry Brown both being sent to the naughty chair in those final ten minutes.

Maties capitalised on the advantage by scoring two of their tries in the final three minutes.

The men from Stellenbosch will be hitting the round next week, however, it’s a short trip down the N1 highway to the Green Mile where they will tackle their old foe, the Ikeys.

Player That Rocks - Brendon Nell (Maties)

Scorers:

Maties (35): Tries - Niel Oelofse, Ian Groenewald, Craig Barry, Michal Haznar, Brendon Nell (7 point try) Pen. - Chris Smith 4

Madibaz (16): Tries - Wynand Grassmann, Rouche Nel Pen. - Thomas Kean

Morgan Piek/OFM Sport