Sunday, September 27, 2009

What it all means

The following words come courtesy of Xhanti Nesi aka Nessi aka Cobra till I die aka Club Captain aka Mayor of P.EEEEEEEEEEE. Truly inspirational....

Cobras Till I Die........

Gentle men of the Purple Cobras, it is a pleasure to write to you. It has been awhile since I have had the opportunity to address you. I am in no position to be offering solace for the dubious happenings of the internal league, but I can say that the emotional turmoil and frustration that plagues you is a familiar feeling to me as well. It’s often said that the measure of a man is not the amount of victories he has achieved but rather how well he handles defeat. 

I have often asked myself what are the Purple Cobras. Is it merely a rugby team? Perhaps a group of friends that get together to jol some rugga or opportunity to showcase some sublime ball skills? The answer to all the above is NO. 

Purple Cobras is not just a rugby team, it is not just a group of friends and it is not merely a classy side with slick handling ability. Gentle- to me the words Purple Cobras have come to mean so much more than all the above. Purple Cobras is Brotherhood. It encamps so much more than rugby. Our starting point admittedly is rugby but this team far exceeds what goes on between the four white lines. 

When I joined the Cobras I was welcomed with a cold beer, big smiles and an amazing song. I have gone on to share some of my fondest UCT memories with you gentlemen. I know that this year I was not part of the team but that was because of Club Captain duties. Without delving into too much explanation, as Exco we wanted to retain most of the residence players that stopped playing after their U/20 season when they moved into digs. My role is to work with the Marquard boys that I lived with and start and Old Marquard Boys team to retain all these players that fall through the system. I hope you will reach your satisfaction. 

I hope that you have enjoyed this season and reached the markers that you set out for yourselves. It is an absolute pleasure to be associated with you and my chest swells with pride at the mention of Purple Cobras. I have come to accept that I will never attend another fines meeting like yours and I am glad that I am always welcome to join you. 

In closing. The next time you look at a Cobras badge. Look not at the symmetry of the lines or the colors that it comprises off. Look deeper and think of all that it means to you. The friends, the big tackles, the nights at Tiger Tiger, the line-breaking runs, the massive PE Bus Jol, the anticipation before a game, the bail-outs, the fines meeting, the guest list at bang bang and most importantly the relationships we have come to have with one another- That is the Purple Cobras.   

I’m a COBRA Till I DIE........


Tuesday, September 22, 2009

One last hurrah!

Tomorrow sees the Cobras men fight it out against the Wild Boys for the 3rd place spot in the 2009 UCT internal league. Many are predicting tomorrow curtain raiser to be the match of the night...

so catch the 2008 champions in their last showing of the season tomorrow at 19:30!

Wednesday 23rd
Purple Cobras vs Wild Boys
curtain raisor to the final
19:30
on Rugby A

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Not to be...

The Green Mile turned from friend to foe for the Purple Cobras last night, producing the biggest upset of the season. Things on the Groote Schuur strip weren't quite right, actually they were very off-ish. There was not a breath of wind, the evening was actually rather pleasant as opposed to usual bitter bite in the air, all culminating in, well, the Cobra's first loss in 11 internal league fixtures after going to down 14-5 to Ubombo last year! The opponents this time round were Ikaya! The only other meeting between the two sides came back in 2007, which saw the Cobras taking the spoils in a comprehensive 65-0 win! This time round however the outcome was to be vastly different. Ikaya, controversially packed with a number of Villagers first and second team players(but thats a story for another day), came out with more of a purpose catching the 2008 champions a bit off guard. There was nothing much between the sides seeing the game locked scoreless for quite some time. Ikaya grabbed onto everything they got and pounced onto two ultimately fatal mistakes by the Cobras resulting in two converted tries. The Cobras simply could not shift out of first gear and as the time started to slip away the side found themselves playing scatter rugby, frantically trying to breach the Ikaya defence. In a position very unfamiliar to the Cobras men, they were playing catch up rugby and could not seem to put any phases together. The death rattle of the whistle drew the game to an end, with Ikaya edging out slender 14-8 victors.

An unfortunate at the helm for the mighty Cobras, it just proved purhaps that even the UCT Purple Cobras are human and capable of mishap?

Despite the loss, the atmosphere in the change room was more electric than ever, proving that there is more to Cobras rugby then titles and silverware!!

The season is not over however, the Cobras will be playing for the third place title next week!

Cobras rugby is still very much alive, with a record of 34 matches, 28 wins, 4 loses and 1 draw, they very possibly hold the best win record in UCT internal league history...

COBRAS TILL WE DIE!

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

It is our time...

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After starting touch sessions 8 months ago, we are down to the last two fixtures of the long season. Tonight The Cobras take on Ikhaya in the Internal League Cup Semi-Final, kick off 18:30. All the hours out on the touch field, all the blood and sweat on the Green Mile every Wednesday night, it all boils down to this fixture to send us through to our 3rd final in as many years, and then ultimately keeping our Cup which we won last year.
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We have the passion, we have the pride, we have the class, we have the skill, and most importantly, we have the belief. This is our time Cobras...it's going to be one helluva great ride.
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UCT INTERNAL LEAGUE CUP SEMI-FINAL
WEDNESDAY 16 SEPTEMBER
The Cobras vs. Ikhaya
Kick off: 18:30 UCTRFC Field-C
Meet 17:30 below Cecil
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Oh so brave

Thursday, September 10, 2009

The final stretch...

The following itinery is COMPULSORY if you wish to be apart of the final two games of the season:

Touch: Friday 11 Sep 4pm
Touch: Sunday 13 Sep 4pm
Semi-Final: The Cobras vs. Ikhaya 18:30 UCT C-Field
Touch: Friday 18 Sep 4pm
Touch: Sunday 20 Sep 4pm
Final Day: Wednesday 23rd Sep

Oh so brave

Tuesday, September 08, 2009

Transfer news...


UCT Ikey Tigers hero and winger Justin Bijl seen above showing what he will do to play for the purple and white at last years formal He has set his eyes on playing for The Cobras in the 2010 competition. Local media reports have surfaced that Bijl will be signing with The Cobras on a 3 year contract starting in February '10 to add even more value to an already established Cobras centre pairing and loose forward combination, he was quoted as saying "I just can't resist the urge to play for such a team as The Cobras any longer, I was born for it."
If all goes to plan Bijl will be joining up with the squad in February 2010.
Oh so brave

The road taken...

The road to the semi's...

Cobras 33 - 0 Kopano
Cobras 28 - 5 Wild Boys
Cobras 24 - 0 College
Cobras 0 - 0 Barbarians (Cobras get 5 points)
Cobras 62 -0 Panthers
Cobras 31 - 13 Clarendon

Quaterfinal:
Cobras 40 - 15 Kopano

Points for: 218
Points against: 33

Played 7 Won 7 Lost 0 Draw 0

Oh so brave

Sunday, September 06, 2009

And then there were 4...

The UCT Purple Cobras cantered, albeit a bit shakily, into the semi- finals of the koshuis internal league last Wednesday night. The game got off to an uncustomary start, which saw the current champions trailing at the half time break. Perhaps it was the ever present head strong wind, which haunts the green mile, the fact that half the Cobras side played earlier in the day in an old boys game, or and most likely, it was due to the fiery performance which the opponents, res side Kopano, put on display. After some swift words by captain Greame 'stumpie' Steen at the interval accompanied with the added wind advantage, the Cobras men took the game to their opponents who by this stage of the match offered very little in return.

Soon it was back to characteristic Cobras running rugby. Seeing the Cobras men run in 4 unanswered tries, taking the score from 12-15 down (the half time score) to the end result, 40-15. Aided by the Cobras elusive winger JP Van Huffel who ran in an amzing 4 out of the Cobras 6 tries! Our opponents just can't seem to keep this man at bay! Another stella performance from stand in flyhalf Richard Morris, marshalling his back line and slotting over 4 conversions from his 5 attempts, according to sources thats his first 80% effort in any sphere of life. The forwards too stood up to the challange!

A couple of new caps were earned on Wednesday night, non over then Bishops 2nd XV number 8 and brother of na na na Nico, Dino Lozides, drinking on a school night, nice!

The Cobras, as do the rest of the league, have an deserved 2 week break from Wednesday night action, before the heading into the semi's!

Final score Cobras 40- Kopano 15.

BOOM!

Thursday, September 03, 2009

Another victory...

The Cobras kept their unbeaten record intact for 2009 as they brushed aside an extremely motivated Kopano side who gave it their all to knock the defending Champions out of the competition, however this wasn't the case as The Cobras scored 28 unanswered points in the second half to make the win an easy one, final score 40-15 to the Cobras.

Match report to follow.

Oh so brave