Cobras make yet another final
The Steinhoff UCT Koshuis League has become so popular that it brought Springbok Sevens captain Kyle Brown down to the Green Mile on Thursday night to watch the Cobras reach yet another Internal League Final.
On the evening it was a match that both teams - the Steinhoff Cobras and the Steinhoff Wild Boys - had a chance to win.
The Wild Boys took an early lead through the boot of Tim Carr after they won a penalty on the Cobras' 22-metre line.
Immediately afterwards, the Cobras hit back with a converted try manufactured by Warren Butler and James Bailes as their winger finished off their move. The early stages were played in the Cobras' half as Wild Boys had the majority of the possession up till then.
The Cobras were also struggling a bit with their scrumming, as the Wild Boys took advantage with another penalty by Carr which saw the deficit reduced to just one point.
After the restart some good work by Jamie Manuel - the younger brother of Varsity Cup lock, Pallo - from the line-out saw the Cobras score through some good diagonal running by Brendan Raubenheimer which saw Bailes eventually finish the move as the Cobras went into half-time at 14-6 up.
From the restart the Steinhoff Wild Boys worked well from the scrum which saw a perfectly-weighted Sonny Bill-esque pass from Carl Jansen to Chris Davis who then scored - narrowing the Cobras' lead to 14-11 in the process.
The Steinhoff Wild Boys were now trying to get momentum - at just three points down - but they kept on making silly mistakes which hampered their progress.
The Cobras, on the other hand, took advantage of the all the Wild Boys' mistakes. One such error led to a penalty and the Cobras took a quick tap which saw Dale Dunn break the Wild Boys defence for what looked to be a certain try - only to hear the sound of the referee's whistle as he blew up Dunn for a knock-on.
However, another mistake from the Wild Boys, by their flyhalf this time, saw his clearance kick land in the arms of Mikhail Maasdorp, who then sprinted in for the match-clinching try - the missed conversion leaving the Cobras up by 19-11.
With five minutes to play, the Wild Boys played like their lives depend on this match pulling out all the stops. Their unforced errors seemed to cost them the match. Cobras kept on absorbing the pressure eventually holding out for a 19-11 victory and a place in the final.
By Clement le Roux
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