The University of Johannesburg’s opening-round bonus-point victory in the Varsity Cup on Monday was changed to a draw on Tuesday after an appeal by the Central University of Technology.

UJ opened their Varsity Cup campaign with a thrilling 44-42 away win over CUT in Bloemfontein on Monday night.

However, the hosts lodged an appeal after the match as they felt one of their tries, scored by loose forward Ulrich Stander just before half time, was a point-of-origin try and therefore should have been worth seven points instead of five.

In the Varsity Cup, any try that originates from a team’s own half of the field is deemed a point-of-origin try and worth seven points.

On Tuesday, Varsity Cup chiefs agreed that Stander’s try was indeed a point-of-origin try, a decision that was ratified by SA Rugby.

This means that the result was changed to a 44-44 draw and UJ came away with three points instead of five.

UJ coach Jonathan Mokuena expressed his frustration with the decision as his team is expected to battle relegation this year after finishing second from bottom in last year’s tournament.

“My only objection is that there are many other things in the game that we cannot question afterwards. If the referee missed it, he missed it,” Mokuena told Netwerk24.

CUT head coach Braam van Straaten was delighted that the right decision was made in the end.

“We are happy with the result,” Van Straaten said. “There was never any doubt about it it.”

Photo: Asem Engage – Hannes Naude