Cobras v Wildboys the game to watch
The past two weeks of Steinhoff Internal League rugby have certainly set quite a precedent with some fast paced, try-rich games being plentiful in the first two rounds of competition. This week spectators will be hoping for more of the same as some of the top sides square up against each other on the Green Mile.
The highlight game of this week will be the Cobras taking on the Wildboys.
The Cobras are fresh off of their thrashing of Kopano Res last week where they dominated physically from the outset. They’ll be hoping to do more of the same against the Wildboys in order to nullify there strong loose trio.
Whilst the Wildboys have a strong history in the UCT League, rumours abound about the loss of key personnel could affect their chances of putting up any sort of strong opposition to the professional looking Cobras outfit.
If the Wildboys can play with the same energy and panache as characterised their rugby last year then we should see an exciting fixture, though it is hard to see how this squad will perform against the super-fit Cobras.
The Barbarians will also be playing once again after they had a bye last week. They’ll be up against the Shebeen Boys in their group’s (Group B) main game.
Both sides have played only one game thus far in the competition. The Baa-baas took on a vastly improved Smuts and were nearly caught napping by the way the Smuts boys took the game to them, whilst Shebeen Boys played a weak looking University House.
Of the two sides, the Shebeen Boys definitely looked the more cohesive unit after the first round of fixtures, whilst the Baa-baas are still missing some key personnel in the back line due to injury.
History favours the Baa-baas who have won all of their encounters against the Shebeen Boys in previous years though, as we saw in the first round of fixtures, that can count for very little in this competition. Whilst the Baa-baas may have looked a little but lackadaisical in their last encounter, they should have been able to sort things out in their own camp to come away with the win this week with some of their injured players returning to help their cause vastly.
In a Res Derby this week Kopano will be up against College House with Res pride at stake.
The winner of a Res Derby gets bragging rights for the year and there will be no shortage of Kopano and College house members putting their bodies on the line to ensure that they come away with the win.
Both sides will be hungry for their first win of the season after College lost 19-0 to the Wildboys last week, whilst the Cobras put paid to Kopano. Though this fixture may not be between two of the 2009 title contenders, it will definitely be worth a watch.
Ubumbo are also back in action this week. After coming so close to getting a bonus point win last week against the Turtles, they’ll be hungry for a big win against 2008 surprise semifinalists, the Spanners.
The Spanners did not show much of their 2008 form last week as they were downed by Clarendon Res 16-10, but they’ll surely want to come out firing this week against one of the 2009 title hopefuls.
It is always difficult to know what to expect from the Engineering boys each week as they are full of surprises, game-breakers some days and also-rans on others. Depending on which Spanners side decides to pitch up for the match, we could be in for a very interesting clash.
Full fixtures for this week:
Spanners v Ubumbo
Turtles v Clarendon
Cobras v Wildboys
Kopano v College
Barbarians v Shebeen Boys
University House v Smuts
Log standings:
Group A:
(Under played, won, points)
1. Nadoes 2, 2, 10
2. Panthers 2, 1, 5
3. Marquad 2, 1, 4
4. Ikhaya 2, 0, 0
Group B:
(Under played, won, points)
1. Sheebeen Boys 1, 1, 5
2. Barbarians 1, 1, 4
3. Smuts 1, 0, 1
4. University House 1, 0, 0
Group C:
(Under played, won, points)
1. Cobras 1, 1, 5
2. Wildboys 1, 1, 4
3. College House 1, 0, 0
4. Kopano 1, 0, 0
Group D:
(Under played, won, points)
1. Ubumbo 1, 1, 4
2. Clarendon 1, 1, 4
3. Turtles 1, 0, 0
4. Spanners 1, 0, 0
By Rory Holmes
