Cobras too strong for Bastion

The Steinhoff Cobras got their Steinhoff Koshuisrugby Championship started with a great 34-29 win over Steinhoff Bastion in Cape Town on Monday.

It was an incredibly hot Monday afternoon as the Cobras lead but Bastion hit back in an exciting game that saw eight tries being scored.

Both teams were not scared to give the ball some air and matched each other punch for punch but the side from Cape Town just had too much at the end of the day.

The Cobras opened up the scoring through scrumhalf Matthew Crawford who went over under the posts which meant a simple conversion for Dale Austin.

This seemed to kick the side from Johannesburg into life who hit back a few minutes later when flyhalf Kofi-Michel Appiah went over for his first of two tries. The conversion was good and the scores were level at 8-8 after ten minutes.

Bastion took the lead in the 20th minute after centre Michael Bean bust through the defence from about 40 metres out and scored. The try was converted and Bastion lead for their only time in the match, 16-8.

Once again the opposition hit back and the Cobras scored and converted to tie the match up again at 16-16.

A try each meant that at the break the teams were locked-up at 24-24.

The second-half saw the home team put the foot on the gas and score ten unanswered points through a Roberto Inskip converted try and one Austin penalty.

Bastion did manage to score a try of their own at the death when reserve Marcus Modisenyani went over for their crucial four-try bonus point try.

Cobras inside-centre Dale Austin produced a phenomenal kicking performance and it turned out to be the difference between the two sides after he knocked all five of his kicks at goal over.

Man-of-the-match Jonathan Ford was solid at the back for the Cobras and managed to give the side some great go-forward when he came into the line.

The Cobras travel up to Bloemfontein for what will be their toughest pool game when they take on Steinhoff Vishuis next week.

The scorers:

For Steinhoff Cobras:
Tries: Crawford, Doyle, Matheson, Inskip
Cons: Austin 4
Pen: Austin

For Steinhoff Bastion:
Tries: Appiah 2, Bean, Modisenyani
Cons: Lizemore 3

Steinhoff Cobras: 15 Jonathan Ford, 14 Nick Boswell, 13 Gareth Theessen, 12 Dale Austin, 11 Cockburn Michael, 10 Philip Jacobs, 9 Matthew Crawford, 8 Dino Loizides, 7 Callan Artus (captain), 6 Roberto Inskip, 5 Dale Manning, 4 Cameron Doyle, 3 Stephan Hartzenburg, 2 Seb Matheson, 1 Jonty Tatz.            
Replacements: 16 Robin Murray, 17 Kiernan Rabie, 18 Wesley Kennedy, 19 Jordan Artus, 20 Curtis Cloete, 21 Matthew Foster, 22 Geoff van Rynveld, 23 Jason Bissict.            

Steinhoff Bastion: 15 Qhawe Magwethu, 14 Ruan Classen, 13 Michael Bean, 12 Brendan Lizemore, 11 Jarred Branco, 10 Kofi-Michel Appiah, 9 Ethan Searle, 8 Pieter Meyer, 7 Siyanda Yaka, 6 Raymond Herron, 5 Gerber Kapp, 4 Sean Xulu, 3 Charlie Guila, 2 Jason Gradidge, 1 Tighten Haylock.
Replacements: 16 Rico van Niekerk, 17 Tshepo Kubeka, 18 Donovan Buitendag, 19 Zain Janse van Rensburg, 20 Cornel Vermeulen, 21 Martin Eichstadt, 22 Marcus Modisenyani, 23 Joshua de Bruin.