Wrap of the Semis…

The green mile was silent for much of last night. The teams warmed up in silence, lineouts were executed in silence, scrums were engaged in silence, tackles were no more audible than the thud of bone to muscle, the kickers lined up the balls in silence and bar the odd round of applause celebrating the awesomely planned balmy weather conditions the crowds were silent too…

The stillness that lay over the mile was like the foggy blanket that usually covers it in winter. The eerie calm must have emanated from the unusually high stakes that every passage of play had on it, but however unlike the relentless fog this stillness was intermittently punctuated by friggan loud raucous cheers and support from the massive turn out of spectators…

Every dropped ball, every yard lost, every tackle missed, every kick cooked meant one thing to sides last night, and that was the disappearance of a shot at higher glory. Every side made mistakes but some held on, to retain the passage into the final.

The games kicked off punctually at 20h00. Last night was not a night of frivolous excuses like usual, guys were there to play and play they did.

The two epic encounters at 8 were between the 2nd and 3rd placed sides in either league. They were always going to be the closer matched games, although the results proved they all were.

The Cobras after dominating the league in their inaugural season hosted the Barbarians in the first A league semi. The slap slap hiss purple cobras have been to the UCT RFC internal league what Isaia Toeava was to Graham Henry’s sleepless nights. Young, talented, enthusiastic and spirited the team has shown up many sides to claim the 2nd spot on the log but they were faced by the mighty Barbarians side that arrives and plays the way their names suggests.

The Baabaa’s outfit changes its line-up more often than Dick Muir on a Thursday and they brought in the big guns for the semi. Their early dominance proved successful and they scored an impressive try out wide through Adrian Rheeder although the whole team gets lauded for the result. 5 zip down the Cobras fought back when Brad Milne crossed over to make the large support base erupt with noise and the score 5-5.

The score remained 5-5 at full time and initiated the new ‘draw procedure’ that has been brought into align with IRB standards. They sides played a further 7 mins each way of extra time and although opportunities came, no tries did.

The sides then had to battle it out over a goal- kicking shoot out. Much sympathy should be extended to the crowd (and players and other brainless rugby I-think-I-know-it-alls) who criticised this options saying ‘this has no place in rugby’! Well you should familiarise yourself with the IRB procedures then buddies before July next year, and in future please remain your side of the wors curtain.

The shoot out was nail-biting with the Baabaas shanking the first 2 attempts but then hitting the next 3 whilst the Cobras missed the crucial 2nd, 4th and 5th attempts to lose 2-3. Sure it’s a tough way to end a season but it’s the lesser of two evils.

The first semi of the B-League was a much hyped up grudge match between the Pulse Panthers and the Shebeen Boys. Playing in the same colour strip is about the only thing these two sides share and the animosity off and on the field retarded the game from turning into a spectators dream. The pre-match antics of the Shebeen Boys with online taunts and a ‘flyers on campus’ attempt to build support raised the game from been one about rugby to one about off the ball scuffles.

Scuffle would be the correct word here because despite all the time spent away from the ball not one real punch was thrown. The game could have been decided over Tekken 3 since that’s how close any physical confrontations came.

The little rugby that was played was very tight. SB spent the entire first half in the opposition half of the field but failed to turn pressure, possession and territory into points. Actually on the stroke of halftime the Panthers managed to get just out of their half for the first time but conceded a penalty that the SB kicker nailed, despite fluffing an earlier one from right in front.

The second half saw much of the same antagonistic play from both sides; which was only broken by the only score of the match. SB were attempting the outside up-and-in rush defence (although I doubt they practiced it, let alone knew they were doing it) off a scrum in their own half. The outside backs went up quickly to close down the outside space but the insides backs didn’t close the seam and Panther flyhalf (and Tiger cult hero) Greg Bastard scythed through, showed pace (which must be new) and stormed up field to draw both the cover and the fullback in contact to release a sneaky offload that supporting fullback Bruce Johnson glided onto to finish in the corner. Greg the General then middled the conversion from the touchline amongst heckling SB support to take the lead to 7-3 and the man-of-the-match title.

SB had plenty of time and possession to strike back but were denied the success due to strong Panthers defence and the inexplicable insistence of trying to goal every penalty instead of keeping the pressure on. They took 5 shots at goal and only got 1.

The second B-League game was another close thriller but played in a much better spirit. Smuts pulled together another awesome effort but weren’t able to breach the Wildboys defence or prevent them scoring twice through Jonty Rhodes-Harrison and Mike Davies.

Wildboys always played the subsidiary role to the Panthers last year but have emphatically proven that this year was to be different. They topped the log and have really progressed into the later stages as a side that has the balance to kick ass in defence and offence. The final is set to be a cracker.

The second semi in the A league saw the minnows Soco Thoco up against the ‘can anyone stop them’ Nadoes. ST are the second new comers this year that have made the semis on their first attempt (like the Cobras) and refused to let the result reflect their underdog status.

Looking at full strength the Nadoes came out firing dominating all the phases of the game. It was one of those dam-bursting games where you expect floodgates any second but the ST wall held time and time again.

The big Nadoes pack had gained immensely from their week live scrumming against the Bulls and were in usual impressive form. They reversed the ST pack back into their 22 like a little red mini and out came hooker and party liaison Renzo Puccini careering toward the line, he was held up virtually over the line but Nadoes recycled fast enough to send the ball out wide for fullback Pietie Olivier to cross for another try this season.

However the score line didn’t advance from 5-0 up for the Nadoes and the second half lost much impetus when the game was forced into uncontested scrums. Besides some good interplay and some stellar line running from Nadoes Neil Quayle the Nadoes didn’t score again. Soco Thoco were awesome on defence putting in hit after hit after hit and despite the odd go wide effort never looked like putting together a score.

However the meagre result stands and begs the question whether the Nadoes can in fact be beaten and whether the Barbarians (or the side that arrives) can do it?

It has been a tough route getting to the finals but the four sides contesting the cup (read beer and cane) certainly deserve to be there!

Try of the week: Only 6 were scored so lets give it to all 6.
Kick of the week: Too many to call.
Miss of the week: Even more, to call
So lets do, Quotes of the week:

5.) “Sorry do you know if Nic Fenton-Wells playing here?” – Fat blonde girl to just about everyone.
4.) “That’s why you don’t go for polls in internal league you moron” – Panthers centre to forlorn SB kicker after missing the sitter.
3.) “God the cane is going to taste good after this” – Renzo after a leg drive.
2.) “Walk it off!!!” – Spectator to a player that had badly twisted his ankle
1.) “It was a try, it wasn’t given but it was a try!” – Unmentioned semi-final loser. (surely it has to be given to be a try?)

After the holidays, see you on the mile.

Finals 23rd September!!!!