{"id":297148,"date":"2026-04-02T09:18:53","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T07:18:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/?p=297148"},"modified":"2026-04-02T09:18:55","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T07:18:55","slug":"maties-secure-2026-varsity-cup-semi-final-spot-against-high-flying-eagles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/maties-secure-2026-varsity-cup-semi-final-spot-against-high-flying-eagles\/","title":{"rendered":"Maties secure 2026 Varsity Cup semi-final spot against high-flying Eagles"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>FNB Maties will travel to Potchefstroom to face FNB NWU Eagles in an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.varsitycup.co.za\/\">FNB Varsity Cup<\/a> semi-final clash at the Fanie du Toit Sports Ground on Monday 6 April.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This after the Stellenbosch team secured their play-off place with a convincing 45-23 victory of CUT Ixias in Bloemfontein on Monday 30 March. Hooker CJ Erasmus was the hat-trick hero for the visitors on the night, as they ran in seven tries \u2013 including a penalty try \u2013 to the home side&#8217;s three at CUT Stadium.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For the Ixias the defeat brings a heartbreaking end to their Varsity Cup dream, as they are relegated to the Varsity Shield after failing to register a single win throughout the campaign.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-momentum-swings\">Momentum swings<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>It didn&#8217;t take long for the five-time champions to get on the scoreboard, with Erasmus crashing over from a maul. Shortly afterwards flyhalf Christiaan van Heerden-Smith extended the lead when Maties won a heel against the head at a CUT scrum. He pounced on the loose ball to dot down for an unconverted try.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Ixias responded with real intent, as hooker Malekela Malothane powered over from a maul to open their account, before flyhalf Devinto Vergotine sliced through to level matters. A penalty by Matthys Malan then edged the hosts into the lead.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As half-time approached the momentum swung again. Maties nudged ahead with a penalty try before Louis Fourie produced a moment of magic, scoring a point-of-origin try straight from the restart to give the visitors a commanding 26-15 lead.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-experience-shows\">Experience shows<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The hosts came out firing in the second half. Malan added another penalty and Hope Seyaga crossed from a lineout move to close the gap to just three points, setting up a tense contest.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But once the Maroon Machine found their rhythm they shifted through the gears. Erasmus peeled off the back of a maul to complete his brace on the hour mark, restoring some breathing room for Maties. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Eight minutes later he was at it again, powering over from yet another dominant maul to seal his hat-trick and put the result beyond doubt.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On the stroke of full-time, replacement tighthead prop Ammaar Burton added the finishing touches after sustained pressure, with fullback Elridge Jack slotting the conversion to compound the Ixias&#8217; misery.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Maties march into their semi-final encounter with confidence, having secured a 30-26 victory over the Eagles at the Danie Craven Stadium on 23 March. The match kicks off at 16:45.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>FNB Maties booked their place in the semi-finals of the 2026 FNB Varsity Cup, convincingly beating CUT Ixias in Bloemfontein.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":297149,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_yoast_wpseo_linkdex":"69","_yoast_wpseo_content_score":"90","_yoast_wpseo_inclusive_language_score":"90","_yoast_wpseo_is_cornerstone":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-title":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-description":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-image":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-image-id":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-title":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-description":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-image":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-image-id":"","newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","_crsspst_to_novanewscoza":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozabloemnewsexpress":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozacityvision":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozadistrictmailhelderberg":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozahermanustimes":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozakomani-karoo":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozakougaexpress":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozamthathaexpress":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozanoordkaapbulletin":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozapaarlpost":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozapeexpress":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozapeoplespost":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaswartlandgazette":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozatygerburger":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaudexpress":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozavistanews":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozavrystaatkroon":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaweskusnuus":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaweslander":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaworcesterstandard":false,"_EventAllDay":"","_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":"","_EventShowMapLink":"","_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":"","_EventVenueID":"","_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":"","_VenueShowMapLink":"","_application":"","_batch_id":"","_company_name":"","_company_tagline":"","_company_twitter":"","_company_video":"","_company_website":"","_custom_id":"","_EventDuration":"","_EventOrigin":"","_EventTimezoneAbbr":"","_featured":"","_filled":"","_job_expires":"","_job_location":"","_media_credit":"","_media_credit_url":"","_menu_item_menu_item_parent":"","_menu_item_object":"","_menu_item_object_id":"","_menu_item_target":"","_menu_item_type":"","_menu_item_url":"","_menu_item_xfn":"","_navis_media_can_distribute":"","_navis_media_credit_org":"","_OrganizerOrigin":"","_provider":"","_pum_built_in":"","_pum_default_theme":"","_pum_form_conversion_count":"","_remote_id":"","_remote_name":"","_remote_position":"","_report_frequency":"","_report_reference_dates":"","_send_attempts":"","_site_id":"","_sitemap_exclude":"","_sitemap_frequency":"","_sitemap_priority":"","_source_url":"","_subscription_period":"","_subscription_period_interval":"","_subscription_price":"","_tec_slr_enabled":"","_tec_slr_layout":"","_template_type":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_ticket_start_date":"","_tribe_aggregator_allow_multiple_organizers":"","_tribe_aggregator_content_type":"","_tribe_aggregator_file":"","_tribe_aggregator_finalized":"","_tribe_aggregator_hash":"","_tribe_aggregator_import_id":"","_tribe_aggregator_import_name":"","_tribe_aggregator_interactive":"","_tribe_aggregator_origin":"","_tribe_aggregator_post_status":"","_tribe_aggregator_preview":"","_tribe_aggregator_source_name":"","_tribe_aggregator_type":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_hide_attendees_list":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":"","_tribe_ticket_version":"","_type":"","_VenueOrigin":"","_wp_attachment_context":"","_wp_attachment_image_alt":"","_wp_font_face_file":"","_wp_old_date":"","_yoast_wpseo_estimated-reading-time-minutes":"2","_yoast_wpseo_focuskeywords":"","_yoast_wpseo_focuskw_text_input":"","_yoast_wpseo_keywordsynonyms":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_block-catalog":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":"22","_yoast_wpseo_primary_job_listing_type":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_nova_retailer":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_publication":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_tribe_events_cat":"","_yoast_wpseo_videositemap-duration":"","_yoast_wpseo_videositemap-rating":"","_menu_item_classes":[],"_tribe_modified_fields":[],"_wp_attachment_backup_sizes":[],"_wp_suggested_privacy_policy_content":[],"_yoast_post_redirect_info":[],"_yoast_wpseo_video_meta":[],"activation_date":"","archive_insertion_is_repeating":"","archive_insertion_posts_count":"","article_feature_media":"1","article_feature_type":"normal","article_main_image_caption":"Mckyle Volmoer of FNB Maties attempts to clear the ball from behind the scrum during his side's FNB Varsity Cup match against CUT Ixias in Bloemfontein on Monday (30 March). Photo: Hannes Naude\/Asem Engage","article_media_icon":"1","article_template":"news","author_byline":"","background_color":"","block_editor":"1","byline":"","cmplz_hide_cookiebanner":"","competition_end_date":"","contact_advertise_email":"","contact_advertise_phone":"","contact_editorial_email":"","contact_general_email":"","contact_general_phone":"","contact_office_hours":"","contact_physical_address":"","enabled":"","featured_image_custom_caption":"","featured_video_url":"","fields":"","font_body":"","font_header":"","frequency":"","headline":"Maties to semi-finals","hide_border":"","icon":"","is_wp_suggestion":"","issuu_download_url":"","issuu_embed_url":"","language_version_url":"","large_border":"","name":"","nm_contact_name":"","nm_contact_number":"","nm_date_lost":"","no_overlay_background":"","node-url":"","obituary_born_date":"","obituary_died_date":"","obituary_memoriam_text":"","origin":"","overlay_color":"","overlay_opacity":"","overlay_size":"","placement":"","plural_label":"","post_author":"","post_id":"","post_language":"en","secret-key":"","sponsored_utm_campaign":"","sponsored_utm_content":"","sponsored_utm_medium":"","sponsored_utm_source":"","sponsored_utm_term":"","start_date":"","utm_suppression":"","video_embed_url":"","wp_pattern_sync_status":"","data_version":[],"enclosure":[],"pongrass_image":["tcmaties_P1"],"_newspack_byline_active":false,"_newspack_byline":"","newspack_content_restriction_is_exempt":false,"scaip_prevent_shortcode_addition":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[9821,7915,7975,7979],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"publication":[],"class_list":["post-297148","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sport","tag-cut-ixias","tag-rugby","tag-stellenbosch-university","tag-varsity-cup"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/TWE_1248_22956.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":295288,"url":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/fnb-varsity-cup-rugby-set-to-return\/","url_meta":{"origin":297148,"position":0},"title":"FNB Varsity Cup rugby set to return","author":"Eikestadnuus","date":"26 January 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Rugby that Rocks is back as the Varsity Shield starts on Friday 13 February and Varsity Cup on Monday 16 February.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sport&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Sport","link":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/sport\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Luan Botha, mobile loose forward of FNB Maties, on the attack during his side's 19-7 victory over FNB UFS Shimlas in the semi-final of the FNB Varsity Cup at the Danie Craven Stadium in Stellenbosch on Monday evening (7 April). Photo: Luigi Bennett\/Varsity Cup","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tcvarsity_03165.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tcvarsity_03165.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tcvarsity_03165.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tcvarsity_03165.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tcvarsity_03165.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":75900,"url":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/maties-keep-marching-on\/","url_meta":{"origin":297148,"position":1},"title":"Maties keep marching on","author":"Eikestadnuus","date":"14 April 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"All roads lead to the Danie Craven Stadium Monday (14 April), when the all-Cape 2025 FNB Varsity Cup final will be contested by FNB Maties and FNB UCT.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Community&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Community","link":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/community\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Luan Botha, mobile loose forward of FNB Maties, on the attack during his side's 19-7 victory over FNB UFS Shimlas in the semi-final of the FNB Varsity Cup at the Danie Craven Stadium in Stellenbosch on Monday evening (7 April). Photo: Luigi Bennett\/Varsity Cup","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tcvarsity_03165.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tcvarsity_03165.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tcvarsity_03165.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tcvarsity_03165.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tcvarsity_03165.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":75526,"url":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/maties-set-to-host-shimlas\/","url_meta":{"origin":297148,"position":2},"title":"Maties set to host Shimlas","author":"Eikestadnuus","date":"3 April 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Maties set to host Shimlas in 2025 FNB Varsity Cup.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tcvarsity_20440.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tcvarsity_20440.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tcvarsity_20440.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tcvarsity_20440.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tcvarsity_20440.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]}],"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Eikestadnuus","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297148","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=297148"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297148\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/297149"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=297148"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=297148"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=297148"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=297148"},{"taxonomy":"publication","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/publication?post=297148"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}