Rugby was not only about the World Cup in Johannesburg this week.

On Wednesday night at the University of Johannesburg, 2000 came to watch a club match when Randfontein beat Harlequins and last night 2500 turned up at Wits University to see UJ defend their Predator league title against first-time finalists Raiders.

Raiders, a club from Bosmont with a rich rugby history that long precedes UJ's, reached the final with a surprise win last week over Pukke (North West University), ending the Potchefstroom team's 10 finals in a row.

UJ won 27-6 last night, having led 8-3 at halftime.

Raiders had the crowd on their side, but they could not match UJ in the scrums.

However, the university team was unable to exploit a majority of possession, with handling errors costing them dearly and off-target goal-kicking even more.

Luan Steenkamp, who put UJ ahead with a penalty in the ninth minute, then missed five penalties in a row.

Raiders, to their credit, held UJ to 15-6 until the last 10 minutes before UJ substitutes Loto Waka and Tulip Marole - there's a quaint name for a forward - scored late tries.

Waka's try came off a scything run, in which UJ had spread the ball wide before bringing in the wing off the cut. Marole got his with an intercept near the end.

In the first half, Andre Smith, the UJ fullback and international gymnast, made all the running in the best move of the night for a try. Steenkamp kicked a penalty and two conversions for UJ with Raiders flyhalf Curtis Sias kicking two penalties, one in each half.