Steinhoff Cobras retain their title

After getting off to a slow start, Steinhoff Cobras put in a convincing display as they retained their title against a promising Steinhoff Turtles side. The match ended 36-10, with Steinhoff Cobras qualifying for the FNB Varsity Cup presented by Steinhoff International for the second year in a row.

“It was a really good final, the Turtles were well on top early on and I think the score line flattered us a bit at the end. But it was a really strong final and a really strong season; it was definitely the toughest competition around. We showed our ability to run the ball well and scored some awesome tries in the semis and the final,” said Ty Wills, captain of Steinhoff Cobras.

Leading up to the final, Steinhoff Turtles had already made history by being the team who prevented Steinhoff Nadoes from taking part in the finals for the first time in fifteen years. Steinhoff Turtles came out swinging in the first half, forcing Steinhoff Cobras to camp inside their own half for extended periods of time. Their pressure resulted in them (Steinhoff Turtles) going 3-0 up through a penalty, but two tries by Steinhoff Cobras saw them leading 12-3 at halftime.

The second half was much of the same, and although Steinhoff Turtles would score and convert a try, it wasn’t enough as the defending champions’ slick passing and movement saw them score three more tries to close the game off.

It’s good to go back-to-back, and hopefully we can keep going with more silverware in next year’s Varsity Cup because it’s all about getting entrance into that great competition. We’re really looking forward to it, and we hope that the Cobras continue to grow and that the internal league will get bigger and bigger,” said Wills.

The Steinhoff Cobras team that took the field:

1 Daniel Russell, 2 Dylan Hadzigrigoriou, 3 Marty Chandler, 4 Jaime Manuel, 5 Oliver Neill, 6 Christian Stehlik, 7 Devon Stone, 8 Jordan Artus, 9 Ross Church, 10 Luke Leach, 11 Chris Heunis, 12 Justin Heunis, 13 Byrone Kennedy, 14 Brandon Tattam, 15 Ty Wills.

Replacements:

16 Mikaeel Adam, 17 Wahl Enslin, 18 Tom van As, 19 Luke Kuhn, 20 Harry Makin, 21 James Macdonald, 22 Nicholas Zille, 23 Josh Attenborough.

The Steinhoff Turtles team that took the field:

1 Seb Remmelzwaal, 2 Anthony Lake, 3 Devon Arendse, 4 Nic Frankenfeld, 5 Oliver Hennings, 6 Rhys Driver, 7 Niels Khunnemanne, 8 Ryan Thompson, 9 Frank Lane, 10 Anele Siyepu, 11 Andrew Butler, 12 Dale Stephen, 13 Kyle Thompson, 14 Eddie Murphy, 15 Brandon Driver.

16 Andile Majola, 17 Bayanda Cele, 18 Nick Midgely/Josh Lubbe, 19 Cheyne Robertson, 20 Kalonde Mtuna, 21 Nic Bijl, 22 Warren Driver, 23 Richard Montgomery.