Semi Final Wrap...

At 17h30 there was an eerie silence over the long Green Mile that separates UCT from the rest of the world, but within minutes this change to a cacophony of raucous sideline support, loud on field game talk and the pumping beats of the Sound Guy testing Bokjol Sokkie Treffers Ses on his newly erected sound stage...but focus mustn't be taken away from the games that separated the men from the boys...


The Semis lived up to the hype and expectation and the evening was the busiest one down on the Mile for the entire season. The vibe was tangible and the rugby entertaining...

Apart from the Spanners no-show the evening was one played in the true spirit of the league bar one or two minor incidents and generally, in fact overwhelmingly so, the night was one for what Varsity Internal League is all about. Sure, there will always be critics but those that have not found favour in the league and its new format are unsurprisingly the ones with a L ticked in the results column. Stop bitching and come back next year prepared...

Marquard v Turtles was a great spectacle of rugby. The young boys from lower campus came out playing a rugby brand that you usually wouldn't associate part timers with and it showed on the scoreboard. Their first try was champagne 7 pointer that wouldn't look out of place on a shelf of Dom Perignon. It start from a long down field Turtles kick. Marquard fullback Ed Scuur through a long ball infield to flyhalf William Nesi Ryder on the run. He stepped it up into the opposition half where quick ruck ball saw Marquard attacking up the left flank. Again involved, Scuur made a linebreak got the offload, the ball went from 13 to 11 who streaked away to send the ball back infield to charging GQ lock Brett Snjders who dotted down under the posts.

Marquard scored again but Turtles reiterated why they had got this far in the league with heavy defence and clawed back into the game when they scored a brilliant try straight after half time. Marquard resurged though and scored a further two tries, both again from William Nesi Ryder magic.

The 18h30 games entertained a back to form Easterns side handing it to the Clarendon Knights (22-0) and the Barbarians getting schooled by the Wildboys (19-5). The latter game was a match between two sides that had higher hopes that a semi final place but the result means the Wildboys will play Marquard for 5th place whilst the Barbarians must beat the Turtles for 7th.

At 19h30 the Shebeen Boys beat College House to advance into the Bowl final. The game was tighter than Os Du Randts jersey going into the half but Shebeen scored twice in the second to win 12-0. The other game was found in the Oxford Concise dictionary for Advanced Learners under "contest".

Con-test:, (kon-test') n. - 1. struggle between two rivals, namely the Nadoes and Panthers for higher glory. 2. Hard fought battle. The game was titanic. Both sides attacked and defended recklessly with the game flowing at a high pace for long passages of play. The Panthers have an impressive Internal League record but have never played out of the anachronistic B League structure. Here they stepped up and showed that top side monikers don't by default fall to the traditional A league sides as there are other sides that are more capable. Backline talisman Scott Dyson was again the trigger that shot the Panthers scoreboard to an impressive 10-3 lead late in the second half.

The Nadoes aren't 10 time world champions for nothing and they came back strongly having to show serious mettle to get the necessary field position from which to launch an assault on the Panthers goal line. Eventually they broke through to score under the poles. 10 all! Panthers had a last minute penalty attempt from far far out that definitely sent the Nadoes minds back to similar circumstances versus Ubumbo in the pool matches and even employed unnecessary sideline "gamemanship" (an Aussie term for puss like unsporting behaviour) in refusing to lend a kicking tee. The kick didn't have the legs and it went to extra time.

Extra time was uneventful. And as per the IRB rules in regard to perpetual deadlocks it went to the Kick out. The soccer-esque penalty kick out isn't the best way to decide an encounter but it is the only way the International Rugby Board has come up with so we do it. The fact remains, only one side can advance to the finals so it had to be decided. Nadoe supporters had a glum look of defeat on their faces when they were down 3-1 after 3 kicks after the two experienced kickers Myles Brown and Pietie Olivier pushed their efforts wide but the Panthers did the same in their last two attempts and it was 3 all after 5. Straight to sudden death and the Panthers missed their second shot. The relief in the cheers of the Nadoes family was resonance.


As if the crowds had not been treated to enough already then came the semi final that would cap the evening brilliantly. Ubumbo and Cobras drew 12-12 in the Pool stages and were amped to set the record straight. Unfortunately the long wait for the kick off was taxing on the teams and more so on Ubumbo in their new tight fit Reflex Nutrition sponsored white strip, (just a question: if we eat 'tomorrows nutrition today', what will we eat tomorrow?) as Cobras scored two important tries in the first 15 minutes.

Up 12-3 the Cobras were looking dangerous. The pinpoint accuracy of their kicking kept the heavy Ubumbo forwards stranded in their own 22m and the loss of inspirational captain and pressure relieving flyhalf Skud Mateza to concussion crippled Ubumbo. The Cobras prodded through a deft attacking kick the bounce right back into the hands of flying burly prop Craig Smith as he reached the goalline but a feat of super human strength from the Ubumban right winger lifted the massive prop clear off his feet and drove him back into the field of play. The trystopping effort sparked an Ubumbo resurgence.

Speedy fullback Khwezi finished a sick touchline effort to scored under the poles with a rocket man dive that would have impressed Joe Rokocoko to even it up 12-10 at halftime.

The second half was a repeat of the first with neither side yeilding an inch of territory or a minute of possession without a fight. The deadlock looked unbreakable with the Cobras holding on by 2 but not even remotely keen to play defensive rugby. They went wide with everything and their faultless skills allowed them to do it with purpose. Eventually their width gave them a linebreak far out wide that got moved back in to an unknown supporting runner who threw the crispest contact offload as two defenders merged onto him to put a runner away under the poles. 19-10.

Ubumbo didn't come to be beaten and came back to score an excellent try in the corner that couldn't be converted, but that was the ball game. 19-15.

The semi finals were without doubt the most closely contested semi finals that the league has ever witnessed and the most spectacular. All sides must be given full credit for a superb display of rugby and friendship.

The finals have been decided. Please keep an eye out for the details of those for next week.

See you on the Green Mile.