FNB UP-Tuks bounced back from last week's home loss to the FNB Maties, thrashing FNB Wits by 52-0 in Varsity Cup, Round Five action in Pretoria on Monday evening.
The home side scored eight tries to nil, with livewire flanker Shaun Adendorff grabbing two and his opposite flank, Jacques du Plessis, walking off with the official Man of the Match Award.
The defending champions, who had lost twice this season going into tonight's clash in Pretoria, dominated the match from start to finish against a Wits side that is still looking for its first victory in the 2013 FNB Varsity Cup presented by Steinhoff International.
Powerhouse lock Paul Willemse opened the scoring for UP-Tuks in the seventh minute, with flyhalf Willie du Plessis - playing alongside Baby Bok Handre Pollard (who started at inside centre) - adding the extras to make it 8-8 in the champs' favour.
Wits, to their credit, kept things tight right up until the second quarter when captain and No.8 Jono Ross crashed over to make it 13-0, hooker Mbongeni Mbonambi following him over the tryline soon after to make it two tries with the Pink Ball - raising money for charity and resulting in free beers for the crowd in the process.
Tuks were not done yet in the first half as prop Basil Short rumbled over in the 35th minute to seal the bonus point and to leave the half-time score at 26-0 - after their four tries and two successful conversions - in favour of the hosts.
UP-Tuks, despite again dominating possession and territory in the second half, started slowly after the break and had to wait until the 54th minute when Marvin Orie joined his lock mate Willemse on the try-scorers' list.
Scrumhalf replacement Emile Temperman notched up try No.6 for the hosts, their third 'Pink Ball' try of the night (in the 62nd minute), before the industrious Shaun Adendorff opened his account in the 66th minute.
Pollard took over the goalkicking from Du Plessis and converted Adendorff's five-pointer to make it 47-0 in favour of Tuks after 66 minutes, but the inside centre missed his next conversion attempt as Adendorff crossed for his double to take UP-Tuks past the 50-point mark.
Tuks' win, and FNB UJ's away defeat to FNB NMMU, saw the defending champions move back up to second place on the 2013 FNB Varsity Cup presented by Steinhoff International standings.
The scorers:
For FNB UP-Tuks:Tries: Willemse, Ross, Mbonambi, Short, Orie, Temperman, Adendorff 2. Cons: Du Plessis 3, Pollard.
The teams:
UP-Tuks: 15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Vainon Willis, 13 William Small-Smith, 12 Handre Pollard, 11 Courtnall Skosan, 10 Willie du Plessis, 9 Danie Faasen, 8 Jono Ross (captain), 7 Jacques du Plessis, 6 Shaun Adendorff, 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Paul Willemse, 3 Basil Short, 2 Mbongeni Mbonambi, 1 Juan Schoeman. Replacements: 16 Jaco Visagie, 17 Andrew Beerwinkel, 18 Schalk van Heerden, 19 Wesley Kotze, 20 Emile Temperman, 21 Riaan Britz, 22 Piet Lindeque, 23 Stephan Pretorius.
Wits: 15 Riaan Arends, 14 Jeremiah Latana, 13 Kayde Fisher, 12 Jared Meyer, 11 Jacques Erasmus, 10 Kyle Peyper, 9 Mathew Torrance, 8 Jason Fraser, 7 Carel Greef, 6 Juan-Pierre Jonck, 5 Charles Baggot, 4 Devin Montgomery (captain), 3 Phakamilu Zuma, 2 Katlego Kgame, 1 Hannes Ludik. Replacements: 16 Rory Anderson, 17 Thato Mavundla, 18 Peter van Biljon, 19 Shai Korb, 20 Joshua Durbach, 21 Greg Blom, 22 Michael Sephton-Poultney, 23 Ferdinand Kelly.
Referee: Jaco Kotze