FNB Maties suffered their second defeat of the 2026 Varsity Cup, going down 33-17 to the competition’s only unbeaten team, FNB UP-Tuks, at Tuks Stadium in Pretoria on Monday evening (2 March).
The home side delivered a commanding performance in the third-round outing, which was played in front of an electric home crowd. The high-flying Tuks outfit combined clinical finishing with disciplined defence to overpower the Maroon Machine in a fiercely contested clash.
The result not only reinforces their early-season dominance, but also sends a strong message as they set the pace at the top of the standings.
The encounter was physical from the opening whistle, but it was the hosts who broke the deadlock in the 21st minute after they dominated the physical contests. Jean Fourie dotted down from a powerful driving maul (5-0).
Maties quickly punched back to take the lead, with back-to-back tries courtesy of CJ Erasmus and Ryan Manuel. Erasmus touched down from a driving maul before Manuel pierced through Tuks’ defence after a clinical intercept. Flyhalf Christiaan van Heerden Smith made no mistake from the tee, converting all kicks. He returned with a penalty, handing Maties a 12-point lead at the interval (5-17).
But Tuks refused to back down, returning rejuvenated and immediately reducing the deficit as Munashe Dukuswa slipped through Maties’ defence to make it 12-17.
With the men from Stellenbosch still in the lead, they were caught napping as Tuks showed their dominance in the scrum and Ben Jansen van Vuuren crossed over to level matters just five minutes later (17-17).
It was not long until Tuks regained the lead through Fourie with a brace, again from a driving maul. Jayd Austin wrapped up his top performance for the night with a point-of-origin try to end things off 33-17 in favour of home team.
After three matches, the Maroon Machine are now in sixth place on the log after a two defeats and a sole victory.
They will look to returning to winning ways when they host FNB Emeris at the Danie Craven Stadium on Monday 9 March. The match kicks off at 19:00.
