There was silence, except for the death rattle reverberating across the Fanie du Toit sports ground. This was not how it was supposed to start, was it? With barely a minute gone, the University of the Free State (UFS) Shimlas had already crossed the whitewash in their Varsity Cup clash against the North-West University (NWU) Eagles in Potchefstroom on 27 February.

The same-said Shimlas caused an upset against the mighty Tukkies (University of Pretoria) a week prior, and now they were looking to do the same against the Eagles who had their tails up after beating the University of Johannesburg at the same venue.

About an hour-and-a-half later, when the hurly-burly was done and the battle was lost and won, the score read 63-16. For the NWU Eagles.

Not long after Shimlas had dotted down, the Eagles struck back and never stopped striking. They scored nine tries in all thanks to Vernon Paulo, Theuns Pretorius (two), Naiden Jaarts, Arminn Posthumus, Jandre de Beer, Keano Windvogel (two) and Ruben du Plessis. Zinedine Robinson slotted four conversions and six penalties while Martin Venter added a conversion of his own.

One of the hallmarks of the Eagle’s stunning victory was the collisions where the home team was surgical in defence…if surgery was performed by sledgehammers, bulldozers and battering rams. The Eagles’ scrum was one of the scourges causing the Shimlas’ downfall, with the victor’s enterprising backs being magicians in all but name.

Coach Burger van der Westhuizen could not have asked for a better start to his tenure as head NWU coach of the Varsity Cup side. His team now tops the log after two rounds.

The NWU Eagles will face an embattled Stellenbosch University (Maties) at the Fanie du Toit sports ground on Monday, 6 March.

Maties lost 23-19 to the Central University of Technology in one of the biggest upsets in the history of the competition. They’ll have nothing but revenge and retribution on their minds. It should be a cracker.