Wrap Round 8:

It has been a long 6 months of rugby that has only yielded eight rounds spent tossing the pigskin out on the Green Mile. For some sides last night they played their 7th and final game of the season, whilst other sides played their 6th with one remaining and then the rest also have that one remaining and then will have to determine their own destiny come the play-offs.


7 games of rugby over 6 months is hardly a recipe for player burn out but if you witness how hard these men throw themselves at the game each week you can understand why the pictures of internal league sides hanging on the dormitory walls of Tugwell girls are littered with tired, battered and bruised men.

I thought about not raising this next point because I don’t want to tempt fate but stuff it I am going. I would like to point out that not once yet this season has a round or game had to be rescheduled, cancelled or postponed to a later date. This is in stark contrast to the constant upsets we toiled with last season so must thank all those involved in allowing this.

Round 8 was pre-empted by nervous play-off jitters with sides doing the mental arithmetic to calculate their play-off chances. Obviously some sides struggled more than others as MAM102W was such a long time ago they have even changed its name. Lucky that Nadoes are top of the log because some of them last did first year math nearly a decade ago.

In the A-League, Round 8 saw the Cobras and the Barbarians cement their position next to the Nadoes in the semi-finals. The Cobras had a come-from-behind victory over an impressive Marquard outfit which they won 26-21. Had I paid closer attention to the game I would write a more detailed account of it but that would be blown out of the water by the Cobras’ website write up anyways so you can rather check it out at uctpurplecobras.blogspot.com. It’ll be like listening to Phil Kearns and Greg Clarke in the commentary box at Stadium Australia, one eyed but good for a laugh. The Baabaas’ beat off the challenge of Soco Thoco and the latter’s chance at securing a semi by a tight 12-0 margin.

The final game in the A-league was a wooden-spoon contest with the only two beaten (as in the opposite to unbeaten) sides left on the log. Fate wanted to force a draw but Kopano rose above it and convincingly beat Rochester 43-7. They actually showed that they were an unlucky good side this year and could have been far more competitive.


In the B-League Smuts forced themselves into play-off contention with a rousing 14-0 victory over the Shebeen Boys. Unbeaten before round 7 the Shebeen Boys have now lost 2 on the trot and face the still unbeaten joint log leaders the Wildboys next week in what looks to be a cracker. Smuts haven’t won a game since Round 2 and in their last 3 have drawn with Hidding, narrowly lost to Wildboys and being pumped by Panthers. However they just need 1 point next week to make the play-offs.

The Panthers had a rusty start to their game against a struggling Spanners side but turned it on in the end scoring 3 tries at the death to win 27-nil. That secures them a semi-final place and the top of the log although Wildboys have a game in hand. Maybe they will spend their three week break practicing goal kicking or just let their good looking once off fullback try slot a few?

The result of the last B League made many a hair on the back of little grey history proffessors’ necks stand on end. College won a game. I’m not lying. College won a game. The History department in Beattie was thrown into utter chaos with profs ordering strippers and beer kegs to mark such a monumental moment in history. Not since a try was 3 points has such an event occurred. College’s victory drought was longer than Dylan Rogers’ drought at Tiger but sadly for Drunkguy he is alone now. Actually College didn’t just win, the produced a clean and precise 19-0 victory over Hidding Hall with both tries coming from the Vass brothers.

A detailed analysis of play-off contention will be posted soon and we will talk to some experts, old hands and fans to try and predict what next week will bring.

Team of the Week: College House. Nothing else has to be said.

Tries of the Week: The Solo Week
(1) Quarmi Antwaan – the skinny Smuts winger definitely spends more time on the sprinting track than in the gym and it pays off. He scythed through the Shebeen Boys defence to score a cracking 55m try. There is no substitute for pace.
(2) Scotty Dyson – the perennial panthers try scorer took a flat ball from a lineout deep in his own half and covered the distance untouched to score under the sticks. Solo is the theme today and his effort reeked off it.
(3) Khotso Micha – the nuggety Kopano hooker wasn’t born with selflessness as a rugby quality but he certainly got the rest. He scored a try from 40m out where he seemed to get stopped every 5m but would still stay on his feet and heading for the line.
(4)* Since its solo week we have to make special mention of Kyle Dutton’s pseudo-girlfriend that came all the way out to the Green Mile on her OWN just to watch him play. Pity he didn’t play well enough to score.