Green Mile finals day draws nearer

The 2009 UCT Steinhoff Internal League is heading towards a thrilling climax, with finals day - on Wednesday, September 23 - just a little over a week away now.

The usual suspects, the Nadoes, the Wildboys, Ikhaya and the defending champion Cobras will all contest the semifinals on September 16, with the two winners heading into the final the following week - on September 23.

The Nadoes marched into the semifinals with a 31-0 win over College House, Wildboys beat Marquard 17-0, Ikhaya edged out Clarendon 10-5 and the Cobras smashed Kopano 40-15.

The ever-present Nadoes will face up to the unpredictable Wildboys in the top four semifinals, whilst the Cobras - who played in the 2009 Steinhoff Koshuisrugby Championships - will come up against Ikhaya. Both matches should be crackerjack affairs at the home of UCT rugby, the Green Mile.

In other action, the rest of UCT's Internal League outfits will play off for fifth to sixteenth place.

College House v Marquard and Clarendon v Kopano are the 5th/8th-place play-off fixtures, Spanners v Shebeen Boys and Smuts v Turtles are the 9th/12th-place play-off fixtures and University House v Ubumbo and Panthers v Baa-baas will contest positions 13 through to 16.

All the winners - and the losers - from the 16th will once again line up on the 23rd to decide those final places; positions one through to thirteen.

Of course, UCT's Internal League would not take place without the generous sponsorship of Steinhoff - co-sponsors of the FNB Varsity Cup presented by Steinhoff International - and the main sponsors of the national Koshuisrugby Championships.

The annual Steinhoff Koshuisrugby Championships takes place at the same time as the Varsity Cup, with Free State University side, Armentum, claiming the 2009 title in convincing fashion.

The Cobras - who are once again in with a shout of qualifying for the Koshuisrugby Champs - were one of many sides to suffer at the hands of Armentum earlier this year, but that experience would have put them in good stead ahead of the UCT Internal League play-offs.

All the UCT Steinhoff Internal League quarterfinal results:
Steinhoff Barbarians 14 Steinhoff Spanners 35
Steinhoff Ikhaya 10 Steinhoff Clarendon 5
Steinhoff Nadoes 31 Steinhoff College House 0
Steinhoff Turtles 3 Steinhoff Ubumbo 0
Steinhoff Shebeen boys 0 Steinhoff  Panthers 0
Steinhoff Cobras 40 Steinhoff Kopano 15
Steinhoff University House 0 Steinhoff Smuts 45
Steinhoff Marquard 0 Steinhoff Wildboys 17