Round 2 done…

The waterhead idiot that predicted no rain for last night is probably the same guy who predicted the Stormers would never beat the Crusaders. He couldn’t have been further from the truth…

One finds it difficult to say whether it actually rained last night or not. There was certainly some form of precipitation but it kinda just swirled and floated around instead of actually doing anything. Come to think of it, it was very similar to the Rochester defence.

From the results you will see that the wet conditions weren’t exactly conducive to champagne running rugby and only Ubumbo, aka the Junior Spears, managed to secure a 4-try bonus point. The weather did permit underdog sides to play above the level they were rated before the game and forced some tight results.

- The Nadoes bench practiced so hard, that rain wasn't going to stop them!

In the A-League Soco Thoco kept the highly rated Nadoes very honest and only went down 12-0. It was great to see a new side in the league giving the old guard such a good run for their money. Kopano also kept the table-topping (albeit after 2 rounds) hissing not-so-purple Cobras from reproducing their round 1 flurry of tries.

In the B-league, Smuts narrowly beat Turtles, in a game wrought with big hits, big runs and plenty of scrums. From the 3 inch ledge of shelter the ivy covered walls provide spectators would have been forgiven for thinking they were watching Phil Kearn’s DVD ‘The Best 100 Reset Scrums Ever’. Hidding Hall then produced an effective victory out of a tight game with the Spanners. Brett Roux crossing over for both of their 2 tries.


The final game in the B-league was an absolute upset with the Klippies & Cola Wildboys holding out 11-0 to the highly rated Pulse Panthers. This brought an end to Pulse’s 10 game winning streak since the beginning of 2005. The Wildboys strayed from the brand of rugby you would expect their brand sponsorship to suggest and played some entertaining rugby in the first half including a cracking try. Laddbrokes have been up all night re-thinking the odds they are now giving for the 2006 B-League.

Team of the Week: It was a toughie this week with sides like the Wildboys and Hidding sticking up their hands, but the prize has to go to Ubumbo for managing to score 5 tries in those conditions. (4 out of 5 were scored by forwards, but in support play not like Bulls forwards score) Yes, we wish our fields were as porous as Rochester D so the rain could drain away but take nothing away from Ubumbo, especially their case of zamaleg.

Tries of the Week:
3rd place: The game changer, Brett Roux’s first one for Hidding Hall.
2nd place: The game ender, Nadoes’ second and final try. Every player should get a mention except Ricketts.
1st place: I think it was Ubumbo’s 3rd try but when Phil Kearns edits his ‘Best 100 tries’ dvd it’ll be there.

Round 3 on the Green Mile next week, 10 May.