The FNB Varsity College Comets suffered their first loss of the FNB Varsity Shield when they were beaten 75-21 by FNB UP-Tuks at the Tuks Stadium in Pretoria on Friday night.
The opening stanza of the match was well-matched with the sides trading blows with two tries apiece as Jacques Marais bundled over for a characteristic driving maul try for the Comets.
The first try for the visitors levelled the scores at 7-7 after Tuks opened their account early in the match.
The hosts went ahead again before Varsity College hit back to level it up again. This time it was a try from captain Abande Mthembu.
The score came off a line break from Mbasa Nkonki who found his captain on the inside as the skipper went over for an important try.
Marx converted both of the Varsity College tries, however the momentum then shifted in favour of Tuks who dominated the rest of the half.
The home side then went on to score another four tries before halftime to take a commanding 35-14 lead into the break.
Tuks scored soon after the restart which added to the pressure on Varsity College.
The Comets could not gain any momentum as the hosts continued their dominance with three more tries to hold a comfortable 54-14 lead heading into the final 25 minutes